Policy Paper - Drama Improves Lisbon Key Competences in Education

R e s u l t s
Humour was both the most important competence that teenagers already brought to the
learning process and the reason why they enjoyed the problems so much. Paradoxically,
offering them the role of experts did not mean becoming serious or pretending to be like
adults. The source of the humour was often the discrepancy between their role and the
level of competence in real life.
“ “
It was always easier to play a dumb businessman but they had to end up in
presentations as losers. When I improvised the clever one our misses (coach)
teased me with questions I had no idea how to answer. I did my best not to burst
out laughing but the others had too much fun so I lost it as well… I think in real life
it is faster to study and really know your stuff than pretend… Entrepreneurs are not
that stupid and they like having a good laugh at each other too, I think. 63
The participants sought the recognition of their peers and adults from the school or local
community. They said they competed hard to represent their school as best as they
could, but they still wanted to be seen by peers as “cool”. Humour was a useful tool in
that sense as well, although it may be assumed that for the winners it was matched by
the level of innovation that the young people were determined to bring to their school
to regain the feeling of agency. They found the entrepreneurship education the best
opportunity to change something about their school, as they experienced unanimous
support from parents, other teachers, head teachers, and peers, as they collected the
votes over the internet.
“
In our school we had two teams in the final. They competed against each other
and the competition seemed to be limited to the issue of who will make the school
famous and be appreciated more. My kids said they were genetically creative. But
they won because they accepted me as somebody who can change the role in a
minute; so they were playful with me speaking out loud all the ideas and concerns.
There was no barrier because of humour. They appreciated my distance and
flexibility which helped them to own their work. They seemed more optimistic about
teachers in general – it was an important change in their attitude to school and
studying. 64
Trying out a new learning approach and experiencing a drastically different relationship
with a teacher they valued for the subject of entrepreneurship was the second meaningful
motivator for the participants of the programme. Pupils of middle schools in Gdansk are
not generally familiar with “mantle of the expert” or more generally with drama. When
asked if they would like their teacher to use it in the class, 74% said they would rather
not. 65 Yet when faced with such an opportunity, reinforced by the nature of the problem
role-play in which they assumed the role of an expert or interacted with peers from
that perspective, it was the second best source of their satisfaction. They discovered
that learning from the best does not necessarily mean physically finding and talking
to experts. In fact experts are practically unavailable to average children. However,
pupils can use this method of taking on experts’ perspectives and gaining insights into
their thinking strategies, exploring the context of their work, checking their sources of
information, reading their opinions, etc.
When we made up these characters they seemed so real to us that we felt as if we
actually made those decisions, went to these yachts and expected the profits. Once
you feel it you want to continue. It makes you feel like a king even though I know it is
more work than I originally thought… 66
Once the students realised that all they had known about entrepreneurs before were just
stereotypes, they were highly motivated to take on their roles.
“
You had to get into their skin to find out how it is to invest all you have in something
that others don’t see as normal, manage other people, risk and worry every day, run
with invoices, taxes, bank papers to be in time, etc. To play them on stage for your
friends was like proving yourself – you can be one of them. The ideas for business
are everywhere around us. You just need to know a bit more than others in your
area. You have to be the best. It’s cool. 67
Teachers found the “mantle of the expert” approach
highly effective in changing stereotypes about
entrepreneurs. They no longer thought they
were just “clever thieves” or “ruthless employers
sucking the blood of their workers”. This is how
most of the students behaved themselves when
they assumed the roles of the interviewers. They
were arrogant and tried to cheat their future
employees into lower salaries, longer hours, and
more workload just to maximise the profit for the
made-up company. Their questions tended to be rude,
arrogant, sexist and simply inhuman when talking about age,
health or problems in the family. It came as a real shock when, in interventions by the
judges-in-role, they lost the opportunity to employ the right experts who refused to be
treated in this way. They realised – as a consequence of getting lower scores than the
teams who used higher ethical standards in hiring staff – that profit is more complex than
immediate gains, expressed in any currency.
R e s u l t s
63 Student in report 17.
64 Teacher in report 49, as above.
65 Michalina, S. (2010) Unpublished MA thesis, University of Gdansk.
66 Student in report 23.
67 Student in report 18.
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