How does moe work?
In the Mantle of the Expert, there is always an “enterprise” to be run. And always a client who needs help with a job needing to be done. The emphasis is on the tasks the children need to do, to make the “enterprise” a success and to serve the needs of the clients.
The system permits the normal school context of class responsibility to change. Instead of the children relying on the teacher’s energy to drive the work and evaluate achievement, teacher and class share the responsibility for the quality of work. Running the enterprise is, like an enterprise in real-life, based in action and processes; thus it generates a range of different tasks: talking, listening, writing, speaking, making, designing, planning, measuring, weighing, etc. These tasks are channelled by the teacher towards the requirements of the school curriculum.
An Example
Trialled and tested at Tanys Dell CP Harlow
The children are running an “enterprise”: a store. They have to consider the needs of all their clients and customers particularly as the context is invented to challenge the abuse of recreational drugs. (One of the people running a section of the store-the teacher in role-is attempting to bring the plight of her son to the attention of the public by distributing leaflets in the store.) The teacher operates from two distinct standpoints-one within the fictional setting-taking various roles to challenge the class further in their learning through imagined experiences. The other standpoint is as teacher of standards and new knowledge, perhaps as a teacher who has seen a misconception occurring that needs reviewing –each standpoint brings with it different possibilities for learning giving teachers new horizons in choosing which pedagogic tools to apply.