Epistemic video games and Mantle of the Expert: A communities of practice approach

This paper examines the relationships and overlap between Dorothy Heathcote's Mantle of the Expert drama technique (MoE), epistemic games, and a Communities of Practice learning theory (CoP). Within the educational environment there are currently converging attempts to introduce a more practice based, life long, socially embedded approach to learning. Flaws in the current approach to learning and teaching outlined by Wenger (1998) have been clear for some time to teachers and practitioners across a wide range of disciplines. Less clear is how institutions are to provide an alternative model of education, based on a more social and self-directed form of learning, which emphasises authentic connections to solving real-world problems. The following synthesis examines the developing synergies between the converging teaching strategies of Mantle of the Expert drama and epistemic games using a common communities of practice learning approach.