Out of Syria: A process drama in mathematics with change of roles and perspectives

In this article, we examine the possibility of changing communication patterns in teaching mathematics through the use of process drama, based on a research project themed on the refugee catastrophe in Syria. In the process drama, we applied change of perspective: the students had different roles, such as refugees, traffickers and the Italian coastguard, and they investigated some selected role types or categories in these situations (the authority, the curious one, the sceptic and the mediator). We found that change of roles and perspective may have different effects on the students, but that it can contribute to more student activity and in-depth learning. For teaching mathematics, we revealed the potential for more student activity through bigger attention to questions, explanations and argumentation, and found that the learning process was stimulated by change of perspective and the use of role categories.