Afraid of the Deep: Reflections and Analysis of a Role-Play Exercise Gone Wrong

Abstract

Experiential learning exercises have the potential to elicit emotional responses in students and instructors alike. This article takes an auto-ethnographic approach in detailing the author’s experience facilitating a role-playing activity that triggered an unanticipated emotional reaction in a session participant. In the narrative, the author connects her experience and response to the event to the shadow side of role-playing where the potential for harm to students and instructors may be present. The article explores how to create a learning environment capable of supporting students’ emotions as well as strategies that instructors can deploy to manage and learn from their emotional reactions. It concludes with a discussion of the steps one might take to re-engage with role-playing after a negative experience.

Keywords

role-playing experiential exercises experiential learning shadow side management education

Experiential learning has been defined as “the process whereby knowledge is created through the transformation of experience” (D. A. Kolb, 1984, p. 38). One of the values of experiential learning is that it creates opportunities for students to critically reflect on their experiences and emotions (Finch, Peacock, Lazdowski, & Hwang, 2015). Experiential learning has the potential to be emotionally charged and challenging for students and instructors (e.g., Dean & Forray, 2015; Gilmore & Anderson, 2011; Kisfalvi & Oliver, 2015; Ramsey & Fitzgibbons, 2005), and emotional reactions have the potential to facilitate or inhibit learning and achievement (e.g., Beard & Wilson, 2013; Finch et al., 2015; Gilmore & Anderson, 2011; Kisfalvi & Oliver, 2015; Pekrun, Elliot, & Maier, 2006; Vince, 2008). Facilitating experiential learning requires instructors to support students’ emotions as well as understand their reactions to this methodology (Meyer & Turner, 2007). Nevertheless, some instructors may venture into experiential learning unaware of the emotional minefield that can accompany learning through experience or be ill-equipped to handle a student’s emotional response to an experiential activity. It is critical that instructors be capable of assessing the emotionality of the learning environment and possess the skills to work with the emotions produced by an activity in order to help create an opportunity for reflection and learning (e.g., Gilmore & Anderson, 2011; Kisfalvi & Oliver, 2015; Ramsey & Fitzgibbons, 2005).

Developing the skills and the abilities to navigate the affective landscape that accompanies experiential learning may seem daunting and a possible reason why some instructors resist experiential learning methods. While some instructors may be adept in undertaking the emotionally laden work of experiential learning, others are sorely underprepared for the shadow side of experiential learning where student and instructors may feel challenged in unhelpful ways (Dean, 2017; Gilmore & Anderson, 2011). In order to help instructors develop proficiency in facilitating experiential exercises, it may prove useful to examine a first-person account of an instructor facilitating an experiential activity with unexpected emotional outcomes. Capturing and drawing insight from personal experience through introspection and theoretical examination can be accomplished through auto-ethnography (Borders & Giordano, 2016). Auto-ethnography is a form of self-observation and analysis where the author seeks to provide insight about a first-person account of an experience through reflection and analysis of that experience (e.g., Anderson, 2006; Borders & Giordano, 2016; Ellis, Adams, & Bochner, 2011; Hays & Singh, 2012). It examines one’s experiences and connects those experiences to group or societal knowledge. This article takes an auto-ethnographic approach in telling a story about a role-playing exercise that triggered a strong emotional response in a session participant, how the instructor reacted, and the connections between that experience and the experiential learning literature. A brief overview of the role-playing literature is presented, followed by a description of the exercise and details of the event. In an attempt to model the transformational process from experience into knowledge (D. A. Kolb, 1984), I relate the experience along with my ideas, reactions, and feelings to explicit knowledge (Tomkins & Ulus, 2016). I conclude with a discussion of the steps one might take to reengage with role-playing after a negative experience.

Role-Playing

Role-playing is an experiential learning activity that immerses participants in a social scenario where they assume roles and experience the consequences of their actions and the actions of others (van Ments, 1999). Role-playing has been shown to be effective in reaching learning outcomes in the affective, cognitive, and behavioral learning domains (Rao & Stupans, 2012). It accelerates the acquisition of knowledge, skills, and attitudes (Sogunro, 2004); increases student absorption and retention of information; and positively affects student satisfaction with the course (McCarthy & Anderson, 2000). Role-playing also helps students develop and practice the skills needed to deal with stressful, unfamiliar, complex, or controversial situations (Grant, 2006); encourages participants to view situations from new perspectives (Sogunro, 2004); and illuminates the effects and consequences of how one acts and communicates during social interaction (Daly, Grove, Dorsch, & Fisk, 2009).

While there is a significant body of literature championing the benefits of role-playing across multiple disciplines, there is limited information on the shadow side of role-playing where the potential for harm to students and instructors may be present. Role-playing may evoke intense emotional reactions, which can serve to inhibit student learning (Vince, 1998) and create anxiety in instructors (Tomkins & Ulus, 2016). Northcott (2002) presented three narratives where role-playing elicited intense feelings on the part of participants resulting in a negative learning experience and an aversion to future role-playing activities. In one instance, the role-play mimicked a student’s negative experience with a supervisor. After participating in the role-play, the student felt upset and left the classroom. The instructor did not respond to the student’s sudden absence and never followed-up with the student. In another case, the participant felt reluctant to role-play, pressured to participate, and chastised for opting out. In the third situation, the debriefing session took place a month after the role-play, and the student received negative feedback on her “acted-out” behavior during the role-play. Sogunro (2004) also discussed common negative responses to role-playing activities he facilitated such as students not enjoying group work, role-players feeling intimidated, and the tendency for role-playing to invoke the use of stereotypes.

Other authors, while not providing specific examples of role-playing mishaps, caution instructors about the possibility of having to manage students’ adverse reactions. These reactions can include not wanting to participate (e.g., Kettula & Berghäll, 2013; McHardy & Allan, 2000; Woodhouse, 2007), defensiveness (van Ments, 1999), performance anxiety and frustration (Kettula & Berghäll, 2013; Tolan & Lendrum, 1995; Northcott, 2002), over dramatization of roles (Westrup & Planander, 2013), and role dysfunction, role conflict, and role ambiguity (Hughes, Ginnett, & Curphy, 1993).

There is also the risk that instructors will experience adverse reactions to role-playing. For example, some instructors experience a loss of control over student learning when facilitating role-plays (Bonwell & Sutherland, 1996; Moizer, Lean, Towler, & Abbey, 2009; van Ments, 1999; Woodhouse, 2007). Also, role-play has the potential to elicit feelings of anxiety, fear of rejection, and fear of personal failure (Tomkins & Ulus, 2016). It is difficult if not impossible to anticipate the degree to which an experience-based learning activity will produce emotional reactions (Gilmore & Anderson, 2011). Thus, when instructors wade into role-playing without adequate preparation and knowledge of potential perils, they can quickly find themselves being tossed about in the waves of emotional reactions.

A Role-Playing Exercise With Unexpected Outcomes

I created an exercise designed to help students realize how their actions and behaviors have the potential to influence the quality of the relationship they have with their leaders. In the exercise, students were asked to think of two situations, one where they felt like they were members of the leader’s in-group and one where they felt like they were members of the leader’s out-group. In-group members participate in important decisions, have social ties and easy access to their leader, experience support from their leader, and are granted extra responsibilities as well as special favors (Graen & Uhl-Bien, 1995). Alternatively, out-group members have limited opportunities to participate in decision making; experience restricted access to the leader; receive little attention, positive encouragement, or recognition; and are managed by formal rules and policies (Graen & Uhl-Bien, 1995). After identifying the two different situations, students were placed in pairs and shared their experiences with each other. Next, they were asked to focus on the out-group relationship and role-play a discussion between a supervisor and a subordinate where the subordinate tries to improve the quality of the relationship by asking for constructive feedback and using impression management techniques.

After facilitating the role-play with undergraduate students and receiving positive student feedback, I decided to share the exercise with fellow academics and practitioners at a teaching conference. Unfortunately, at the conference, the exercise did not go as planned. One of the participants offered to role-play a low-quality relationship with a previous supervisor. The participant, a female, felt her poor relationship with her male boss was a result of gender-related discrimination. She had taken family leave for the birth of her son and returned to work to find her role diminished. According to the participant, she was no longer part of the in-group. As the role-play progressed, it became apparent that the exercise was creating a strong emotional response in the participant. It seemed she had previously and unsuccessfully attempted to influence her supervisor by asking for constructive feedback and engaging in self-promotion. The role-play was a re-enactment of a negative and frustrating experience. Instead of feeling empowered, re-enacting the exchange through the role-play seemed to re-victimize the participant.

Her reaction to the role play dominated the debriefing. Her “real” experience and how that experience made her feel took center stage. The purpose of the exercise—to help students realize how their actions and behaviors can influence their leaders—was lost. I hobbled through the debrief, trying to elicit responses from other participants while acknowledging that attempts to influence others may be unsuccessful. At that moment, two things were apparent to me: The exercise was not going as planned and the participant’s response to the activity was casting a shadow of discomfort throughout the room. I had lost control of the exercise and the classroom. When the session came to a close, I felt emotionally exhausted, incompetent, and certain I would never again conduct that role-play.

Knowledge and Reflection

To effectively facilitate experience-based learning, instructors must be capable of helping students reflect on their emotions and re-engage with the learning process (Kisfalvi & Oliver, 2015; Pekrun, Elliot, & Maier, 2009). Furthermore, instructors need emotional resilience to acknowledge and process their feelings (Tomkins & Ulus, 2016). This section summarizes and applies to my experience the literature on how to create a learning environment capable of supporting student emotions as well as strategies that instructors can deploy to manage and learn from their emotional reactions.

Supporting Student Emotions

According to Kisfalvi and Oliver (2015), defensive or resistant behaviors can emerge as unconscious reactions to threatening material. Emotional responses allow students to learn about themselves; thus, it is essential to stay with and explore those feelings rather than downplaying or ignoring them (Kisfalvi & Oliver, 2015). The goal, according to Kisfalvi and Oliver (2015), is for the experiential classroom to become “a space that can allow intense situations involving frustration, anger, and conflict as well as playfulness and discovery to arise but also to be contained” (p. 272). Establishing that space requires, among other things, mutual trust and respect, suspension of judgment, active listening, the use of ground rules, instructor modeling, a willingness to share, and reflective discussion (Kisfalvi & Oliver, 2015). Negative emotions have the potential to detract from the learning experience (A. Y. Kolb & Kolb, 2005). Therefore, supportive relationships need to be built between the instructor and students, and between the students themselves, so that challenging issues can be openly and honestly explored (Ramsey & Fitzgibbons, 2005). There are strategies that every facilitator should follow when implementing role-playing to minimize potential problems. As summarized by Woodhouse (2007), they include things such as establishing supportive relationships; identifying objectives for the experience; briefing the group on the process and objectives; ensuring that participation is voluntary; monitoring the role-play process and students’ reactions; providing an opt-out clause; making the link between the exercise and real life; and thoroughly debriefing the role-play. Woodhouse (2007) also suggests that instructors new to role-playing should observe experienced facilitators and experience role-playing as a participant. Sogunro (2004) identifies 10 fundamental principles for ensuring successful role-playing that include a focus on role clarity, student preparation, feedback, and consideration of students’ interests and background. It is also vital that the role-playing exercise aligns with the intended learning outcomes (Bonwell & Sutherland, 1996; van Ments, 1999), takes into consideration the experience of students participating in the role play (Moizer et al., 2009), and accurately reflects the nature of the problem or situation under study (Moizer et al., 2009).

In applying what is known about preparing for and conducting role-play, it becomes clear what I could have and should have done differently. While I had briefed the group on the learning objectives and process and monitored the role-play along with the students’ reaction to the exercise, I had not provided an opt-out clause or ensured that participation was voluntary. There were no stated ground rules, and I had not built supportive relationships between myself and students, and between the students themselves. These were conference attendees. I assumed that anyone coming to an experiential-based teaching conference was willing and ready to participate and that such precautions were unnecessary. I also failed to provide a trigger warning or to discuss the potential impact of personal disclosure. I had not prepared the participants for a possible adverse emotional reaction, and when it occurred, I was not prepared to handle it. Had adequate preparation taken place, then the scaffolding needed to move from an emotional reaction to student learning and development would have been present (Meyer & Turner, 2007). It is not enough to tolerate emotions; instead, the instructor needs to help the student give it meaning (Gilmore & Anderson, 2011). When an experiential exercise such as a role-play produces unintended or unexpected emotional fallout, skilled instructors should be able to help students work through the intense feelings that arise. The value of experiential learning is that it creates opportunities for students to critically reflect on their experiences and emotions (Finch et al., 2015). A skilled reading of the emotionality of the learning environment may have allowed me to work with the negative emotions produced to help create an opportunity for reflection and learning (Gilmore & Anderson, 2011). Last, I was not prepared for my emotional reaction.

Dealing With Instructor Reactions

Teaching conditions that involve a level of uncertainty or risk have the potential to produce discomfort in instructors (Mackay & Tymon, 2013). Additionally, instructors facilitating experiential exercise can experience emotional fallout based on students’ reactions to the learning experiences. Nickerson (2007) warns that instructors need to be aware of the potential power of students’ strong emotions. Stewart, Laduke, Bracht, Sweet, and Gamarel (2003) found students and facilitators participating in Jane Elliot’s Blue-Eyes/Brown-Eyes exercise experienced high levels of stress, and facilitators expressed concern about the negative emotions provoked in students who participated. Additionally, the instructor has less control over the learning environment with role-playing than with traditional classroom strategies (Bonwell & Sutherland, 1996). Instructors entering the classroom with clear learning objectives and the desire to impart certain concepts or theories may experience frustration if their agenda is set aside to accommodate students’ interests or needs (Kisfalvi & Oliver, 2015).

When instructors experience discomfort due to student reactions or a felt lack of control, Ramsey and Fitzgibbons (2005) suggest addressing rather than ignoring the discomfort. In doing so, they state, the instructor joins “the community of learners” (p. 337). They describe this process as moving from doing something with students to being with students. In the being mode, the instructor is not in control. Instead, “the teacher and students are in the moment with each other in deep and genuine ways, and out of these moments comes the next right step” (p. 341). Similarly, Kayes and Kayes (2003) explain that learning with students means finding comfort in confusion, expecting messiness, and carefully contemplating the unintended consequences of one’s actions as an educator. Thus, it is necessary, as cited by Kisfalvi and Oliver (2015), for the instructor to become a “co-creators of learning” (Ramsey & Fitzgibbons, 2005) and shift from expertise toward the modest role of “fellow traveler” (Welker, 1991). Making this shift requires new strategies.

Ramsey and Fitzgibbons (2005) suggest letting go of expectations of what the learning experience should be like; being well grounded in the topic so that connections can be made between what is happening in the classroom and the concepts under discussion; being present and staying alert to opportunities for learning; suspending judgement about students and their behaviors; listening and being authentic; having clear boundaries; and modeling the process of discovery and learning. In addressing how to learn through student and instructor emotions, Kisfalvi and Oliver (2015) recommend being present with uneasiness, listening actively to others and oneself, reflectively monitoring one’s reactions, avoiding defensiveness, and allowing all arising issues to be discussible (Baker, 2004). Instructors are encouraged to ask students and themselves the following questions:

What am I feeling, in the here and now? What is my body telling me? Why is this situation or this person causing such feelings in me? What does it remind me of? What story can I construct out of these feelings, and what can I learn from it in order to develop my capacities even further? (Kisfalvi & Oliver, 2015, p. 721)

In recognizing that the instructor’s feelings are not taboo, we can give voice to our reactions and model emotional skills for our students (Tomkins & Ulus, 2015). As cited by Tomkins and Ulus (2015), “denial of feelings is denial of learning” (Boud, Cohen, & Walker, 1993, p. 15).

Learning: A Return to Role-Play

So, how does one wade back into role-playing after almost drowning? I expect my students to learn from experiences and to use failure as a reset button. How can I use my failure and the emotional response to my experience as an opportunity for learning and growth? At the time, I felt my best option was to retreat—to discontinue the role-playing portion of the exercise. However, there is another option. I can learn from failure and develop my capabilities as an instructor. Moving forward with role-playing will take courage and determination as I learn to better cope with emotions, uncertainty, and the loss of control in the classroom. To begin, I need to follow the steps in creating a supportive learning environment. Additionally, I need to develop further my ability to help students learn through emotions while simultaneously dealing with my emotional reactions. One means entails tapping into the wealth of knowledge possessed by experienced colleagues to gain insights and suggestions on how to better work with students’ and my emotional reactions. I can role-play with others to practice and build confidence in my ability to support students and myself when facilitating experiential learning. Remembering that I am responsible for helping students to critically reflect on their emotions is essential (Finch et al., 2015). It is also necessary for me to critically reflect on my emotions; to transform my experience into learning through reflection. While the process of learning from failure can be challenging, it also provides an avenue for growth. I know this. I teach this, but initially, it was difficult for me to see this.

Footnotes

Declaration of Conflicting Interests

The author declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Funding

The author received no financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

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