The Use of Teacher in Role to Facilitate Teaching and Learning of History Lessons in a Primary School

Abstract

Teachers in schools in Malaysia excessively use ‘role play’ to facilitate their teaching and learning. A form of theatre game known as ‘teacher in role’ is hardly used by Malaysian teachers although it is an instrumental technique for developing students’ learning ability. A research was conducted in a primary school to introduce the method of ‘teacher in role’. The teacher or facilitator takes on a role in the drama and plays along with the pupils. The teacher has to choose a piece of costume or a prop to signify that they are in the role. As soon as the teacher puts on the costume or picks up the prop, he/she becomes the chosen character and manages the learning opportunities from within the drama. Education 4.0, emphasizes on a holistic teaching method designed to assimilate critical thinking, scrutiny of emotion and moral values and to expand the learning experience and make it more relevant to everyday life situations and the ‘teacher in role’ method echos this principal. This research aims to put in practice the ‘teacher in role’ method in selected classrooms (History) as it can easily be used right across the curriculum to analyses its effectiveness in facilitating teaching and learning. The research will be conducted using the qualitative method in analyzing the effects of the History lessons via ‘teacher in role’. The outcome of the research is to re-instate the importance and to introduce history in a more relaxed and fun manner. This research is significant in helping students to liven their imaginary but at the same time to have the liberty to question, challenge and process their thoughts.