Teaching
Ideas and Units - Beaut Ideas
Whose View is That?
Based
on a workshop activity designed by Deirdre Travers
Looking at issues and texts from other points of view is a useful
way of encouraging students to recognise and value difference. Ask
students to consider how people from different social and cultural
groups might react to a particular text such as a film, picture book,
story, novel, TV show, advertisement or poem.
Have groups of students assume different personas. Choose roles that
are appropriate for the text, the students' ages and experience. e.g.
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- a
feminist
- a
conservative male politician
- a
surfer
- a
waterside worker
- a
middle aged matron
- a
homeless youth
- a
priest
- a
teacher
- rock
and roll singer
|
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- an
old aged pensioner
- a
motor mechanic
- an
unemployed person
-
a member of the R.S.L.
- a
psychologist
- a
doctor
- an
Asian immigrant
- a
One Nation supporter
- an
Aborigine
|
As they read, view or listen to the text, students think about how
their personas might feel towards the situations and issues raised.
Ask some of these questions depending on the ages of your students:
- What
might your person think about the text? Why?
- Have
him/her rate the text as a number out or 10. Why?
- In
what ways might your person interpret the text? Why?
-
Which values, attitudes and beliefs underpin his/her views?
After
engaging with the text, the students respond as if they were the people
chosen. Responses might vary from forming a value line, sharing a
brief comment with the class, writing a letter, composing a diary
entry, presenting a speech etc. While recognising that this activity
looks only at stereotypical responses, it can illustrate very graphically
the differences in viewpoints that groups of people hold.
Example:
Have
students read Counting on Frank by Rod Clement. Divide them
into groups of mothers with sons, beer-drinking, TV-watching males,
teachers of mathematics, homeless dogs, psychologists etc. to consider
their reactions to both the words and illustrations of the story.
