Role play involves students assuming specific roles in a scenario and engaging in simulated conversations and interactions. While it may be challenging for some, both to be in the role-play and to facilitate the role play, the benefits are huge, and include active participation, critical thinking, empathy, and the application of knowledge in real-world contexts.
A particularly effective, albeit complicated style of roleplay, is to allocate Debono’s six thinking hats. Within the role play, students must try to speak only from that hat’s perspective. This activity allows students to explore and understand various perspectives, practice problem-solving skills, and develop effective communication and collaboration abilities.
White Hat (Facts and Information): This hat is focused on objective, factual information. When wearing the white hat, participants gather data, seek information, and analyse facts without expressing personal opinions or emotions. It involves looking at what is known, what information is available, and what additional data may be needed.
Red Hat (Emotions and Feelings): The red hat represents emotions, intuitions, and gut feelings. When wearing the red hat, participants can express their emotional responses, personal feelings, and subjective reactions to a situation. It encourages a free and open sharing of emotional perspectives without the need for rational justification.
Black Hat (Critical Judgment): The black hat symbolises critical thinking and caution. When wearing the black hat, participants focus on identifying potential risks, weaknesses, and potential problems associated with a decision or scenario. It involves playing the “devil’s advocate” and critically evaluating potential drawbacks.
Yellow Hat (Positive Judgment): The yellow hat is associated with optimism and positive thinking. When wearing the yellow hat, participants emphasise the benefits, opportunities, and positive outcomes of a decision or situation. It encourages an optimistic and constructive viewpoint.
Green Hat (Creativity and Innovation): The green hat represents creativity, innovation, and new ideas. When wearing the green hat, participants generate creative solutions, brainstorm ideas, and explore alternative approaches to a problem. It involves thinking outside the box and encouraging imaginative thinking.
Blue Hat (Meta-Thinking and Organisation): The blue hat is responsible for meta-cognition and organisation. When wearing the blue hat, participants take on a facilitator role, guiding the thinking process, managing time, and summarising discussions. It involves the overall organisation and orchestration of the thinking session.
Tips
If manageable and if time permits, repeat the same activity with different dilemmas as the semester progresses, and ensure students are rotating through the roles and working with different people.
Depending on the scenario, try using only specific combinations of hats and have students reflect on the process. For example, only include the yellow and black hat, or the green hat and white hat.
Example: Cultivating an inclusive curriculum in school
Step one: introduce the scenario
First, the educator introduces the scenario to the students. For example:
You are a member of the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion committee of the high school you teach at. Recently, parents have raised concerns about the inclusiveness of the curriculum. Some parents have expressed worries that their family perspectives are underrepresented, and their children are feeling isolated in the school.
It’s important to ensure this scenario is visible at all times during the role play in case students get off track.
Step two: Set roles and allow preparation time
Students will need time to organise their thoughts and prepare for the role play. They may be required to think from a perspective that they have never considered before, so this time is critical for the success of the activity. Allocate the different hats so there is only one colour hat per group. It would be helpful to have some information about each hat on cards for the students, along with some prompting questions if they get stuck. If this is the first time running an activity like this, it may be helpful to get the same colour hats together so they can brainstorm as a group how they might respond from that hat’s perspective.
Step three: Conduct the role play
Periodically check in with each group to ensure they are discussing topics relevant to their assigned perspective. Redirect the conversation if it veers off track. Facilitate discussions by asking open-ended questions that prompt participants to contribute from their assigned perspectives.
- From the Red Hat perspective, how might emotions impact the response to this challenge?”
- As the white hat, how could you gather to better understand the current state of the curriculum’s inclusivity? How might these facts help in making informed decisions about potential changes?”
Step four: Debrief and reflect
At the end of each discussion, ask the blue hat participants to summarise the key insights and ideas generated from their assigned perspective. The presentations should include a summary of the proposed curriculum changes, the rationale for the changes, and potential strategies for overcoming challenges. After each group has presented, ask prompting questions about the differences between the group proposals. Identify any significant differences between the groups and elicit potential reasons for these differences.
To leverage the benefits of multiple perspectives, have the students reflect on the role of their hat in comparison to their usual ways of thinking.
- Was the activity challenging for you because of the hat that you were allocated? Would the activity have been easier if you were allocated a different hat?
- Were there any hats in the group that were more dominant or submissive than the others? Do you think this was because of the perspective of the hat, the person in the role play, or something else?