A study of primary school pupil perspectives on the implementation of role play in their lessons

Abstract

Vygotsky’s (1978) cultural historical theory suggests that role play can be applied to help children to develop socially, emotionally and cognitively, and multiple studies have revealed the advantages of role play in the classroom. However, minimal research has examined pupil perspectives surrounding the use of role play in their lessons. This proposal outlines a small-scale case study that would use both qualitative and quantitative data to examine what Year 2 and Year 6 pupils think about the use of role play in their lessons and if it is beneficial to their learning. It finds that pupils must be able to explore the use of play and role play in their lessons in order to develop socially, emotionally and cognitively, and that teachers must place their pupils at the centre of their learning for this development to occur through role play.