Role playing vs RPGs as teaching strategies in educational procedure

Christina Gatsakou,Athanasios Drigas,Nikolaos Bardis

doi:10.47577/tssj.v26i1.4896

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to shed new light on an innovative teaching strategy and specifically presents the comparison between the use of Role Playing and the use of Role-Playing Games (RPGs) in the educational procedure emphasizing on the unique characteristics of the latter. I will present the theoretical framework of Role Playing and RPGs as well as their benefits and characteristics, concluding to their substantial difference.

Highlights

From a tender age, role playing is a considerably decisive milestone for one’s development as it indicates the proper regulated growth of certain developmental stages
In the hands of a highly knowledgeable educator, games may offer meaningful and active learning and a significant development in several skills necessary for tackling all daily challenges of life. Both meaningful and active learning is substantial for the well-being of a learner in terms that they become a part of an experiential, interactive, challenging and integrated procedure and eventually they turn out to be critical thinkers. This present paper introduces in broad terms the Role playing in education in contrast to the use of the tabletop Role- Playing Games (RPGs)
“The various uses of role playing have evolved from substantial theory and research on social relations and social interaction, the universal experience of all people, beginning with the young child's awakening to the social world around him and continuing throughout his life.” (Chesler and Robert Fox,1996) It is of paramount importance that Role playing as a teaching strategy offers the opportunity to the learners to assume different social roles and in this way, they can develop, improve and evolve their multiple intelligences in different circumstances and situations related to any topic

Summary

Introduction

The learning procedure can be sometimes unbearable, stressful and unedifying for students and the burden is mainly on teachers. Moreno was the person who first founded sociometry, sociodrama and psychodrama His life’s goal was to change the society and to bring all individuals together and eventually to function as unity. In order to succeed this, he created “a technique of freedom, a technique of balancing the spontaneous social forces to the greatest possible harmony and unity of all” (Moreno, 1936) Role playing is a methodology derived from sociodrama and can be used by students in order to understand literature in depth, social studies, science and mathematics. As I aforementioned, Role Playing is widely used in different fields as a learning and teaching strategy in education, as a method in psychology or in a workplace as means of training or evaluation, with miraculous results around the world. Role Play has found its right place to the group of innovative teaching strategies and it has an application in all educational grades (nursery, primary, secondary, tertiary)

Stages of a Role Playing

Findings

Conclusion