Abstract

Heroes are the role models of a society who are known to have exemplary values. One example is Dr. Jose P. Rizal, who was declared a national hero in the Philippines. To highlight the significance of Rizal’s life, works, and writings, Republic Act no. 1425 was enacted mandating all schools and universities in the Philippines to teach a Rizal Course. However, the challenge is to consider teaching strategies that may contribute to active participation and interest among twenty-first-century students in order to promote Rizal’s life and values. This study sought to describe the effectiveness of role play vis-à-vis values integration when teaching a Rizal course. It employed a descriptive research design involving the participation of two groups of college student-participants from a Filipino university in focus group discussion and 147 participants in a self-made survey questionnaire from class sections that had experience staging a role play in a Rizal Course. Qualitative data from the focus group discussion were analyzed using Braun and Clarke’s phases of thematic analysis, while data for the quantitative portion from the survey were analyzed using descriptive statistics. Results revealed that student-participants had a good and challenging experience in staging a role play. Furthermore, participants experienced comprehension and application of Rizal’s values through role play. The article concludes that role play is an effective teaching strategy to learn the values taught by Rizal’s life and works. Based on the results of the study, it is recommended that future researchers explore the extrinsic and intrinsic motivations of students when staging a role play and that role play is applied to learning about the lives of other historical subjects and heroes.