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Learning objectives: • Tolearnaboutthedifferentwaystobea

leader.

• Tonameourskillsandstrengthswecanuseasaleader.

• Todiscovertheissueswecareabout,andwouldliketoseechangein.

Lesson Plan: Student Leadership

TheSchoolsStandingUpToRacismresourcewassupportedbytheVictorianGovernment.

Success Criteria:

• Studentsareabletoidentifyandcommunicatetheirstrengthsandpassionsfromwhichtheycandrawmotivationtocreatepositivechange.

• Studentsareabletoidentifythedifferentwaysinwhichleadershipcanbeunderstoodanddemonstrated.

Required Materials:Human bingo

• Humanbingoboardforeachstudent(seeAttachment:Human bingo board)• PensPrioritising values• Fourstacksofdifferentcolouredpaperwithenoughsothateachstudentcantaketwoof

eachcolour• PensI stand for… • Paperoragoalcardforeachstudent(canuseleft-overpaperfromPrioritisingValuesactivity)• Pens/markers(additionalartsuppliesifyouwanttomakeitacreativeexercise!)

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Establish group rules Introductory points:

• Informstudentstoday’slessonwillinvolvepersonalexplorationoftheirvaluesandpersonalstrengths.

• Highlighttostudentsthatwhilstopenconversationisencouraged,itiscompletelyuptothestudentsastotheextenttowhichtheywouldliketosharetheirpersonalinformation.

• Asagroup,askthestudentstodefinealistofrulestoguidetheconversation.

• Encouragestudentstodefinetheirownboundariesinthediscussion,howeversomesuggestionsorcorerulescouldinclude:

ʴ Confidentiality–whatstudentssharewithinthisclass,remainsintheclass

ʴ Demonstraterespectforothers’opinionsbylistening,notinterrupting,usingrespectfullanguageifprovidingfeedbackorchallengingsomeone

ʴ Notmakingjokesorusingoffensivelanguageaboutthebeliefs,valuesorcultureofanother

ʴ Informingtheteacherifanyofthecontentoftheclasswasparticularlydifficultorchallenging

ʴ Participationandcontributionbyall–evenifitdoesnotinvolvedisclosureofpersonalinformation

ʴ UnderstandthatwearealllearningFormoreinformationregardingfacilitatingconversationsaroundcultureanddiscrimination,consider:

Facilitating

conversations about racism

guide

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Initiating conversations about racism within the school setting is intimidating

for many.

Common fears about starting these dialogues can include:

• Fear of saying the wrong thing and offending or upsetting someone

• Fear of making matters worse, not being able to contain a situation

• Concerns about the difficulty of reconciling different opinions.

Initiation of such conversations can be hampered by:

• Lack of recognition of the presence of racism in the school setting, thus no

perceived need for these conversations

• Seeing the topic as ‘bigger’ than the school due to the external influences

that contribute to a student’s experience of racism.

Why a conversation is needed?

Although conversations regarding racism can be difficult, silence and evasion of the subject has

been shown to be destructive.1 When students can name, navigate and process racism, they are

given the opportunity to develop resilience.2 The most crucial factor in the success or failure of

addressing racism within schools is whether there is a genuine and sincere commitment within

the school to do so.

Facilitating

Conversations

About Racism -

A guide for

teachers and

school leaders

The Schools Standing Up To

Racism resource was supported

by the Victorian Government.

1 Kohli, R., Pizarro M., and Nevarez, A. (2017) The “New Racism” of K-12 Schools: Centering Critical Research on Racism.

Review of Research in Education, 41, pp.182-202

2 Ibid

Check in activity: Human Bingo (10-15 mins)

• Thepurposeofthisactivityistopromotegroupinteractioninorderforstudentstoidentifytheirownstrengths,andtorecognisestrengthsheldbyothers.

• ProvidestudentswithacopyoftheHumanBingoboard(refertoAttachment:Human bingo board)

• Instructstudentstheyhave10minutestogoaroundtheroomandfindtheanswerstothequestionsontheirHumanBingoboard,buttherearethreerules:

1.Eachquestionmustbe answeredbyadifferentperson

2. Youcan’tanswerthe questionsonyourownsheet

3. Thefirstpersontocomplete theirsheetshoutsBingo!

• GiveeveryonethechancetofinishtheirsheetsevenonceBingohasbeencalled

• Onceeveryonehasfinished,comebacktothegrouptodiscussthefollowing:

ʴ Revieweachquestionandaskastudenttogivetheiranswerandthenameofthepersonwhogaveit

ʴ Compareanswers–dideveryonehavethesameperson?

ʴ Wasthereanythingthatsurprisedyouabouttheactivity?

VCAATeachers

Guide:Navigating Intercultural Issues

in the Classroom

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Discussion: What is leadership? (20 mins) As a group, brainstorm the concept of leadership, including:

• Whatisthedefinitionofleadership?

• Whoareleaders?Whatjobs/rolesmighttheyhave?Wherewouldwefindthem?

• Whataresomequalitiesthatmakeapersonaleader?

Consider the following definition of leadership:

Leadershipisanactionwetaketomakepositivechange

• Whatchangeswhenweconsiderleadershipasanactionratherthanajob,andaleadernotasaspecificperson?

ʴ Whocanbeleaders?

ʴ Doleaders,leadallthetime?

ʴ Arethereanyotherqualitieswhichmayapplytoaleaderthatweremissedinthefirstsetofquestions?

Consider the following short video on “Followership” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fW8amMCVAJQ

• Whatdoyouthinkofthisvideoandhowitrelatestoourdefinitionofleadership?

• Doesitofferanynewunderstandingaboutleadership?

• Whatarethekeymessagesaboutthe“firstleader”andthe“firstfollower”?

Thisvideohighlightsthatthelarger,moreobviousactsofleadershipsuchasthoseshownbythe“firstleader”areeasilyrecognised,howeverthesmalleractsofleadershipsuchasthoseshownbythe“firstfollower”canhaveequalorgreaterimpact.

As a group, brainstorm some smaller, everyday ways in which one can show leadership. Examples may include:

• Givingupyourseatonthetrain

• Helpinganoppositionplayergetuponthefield

• Askinghardor“silly”questionsthatothersaretooafraidtoask

• Havingadifficultconversationwithsomeone

• Challengingdiscrimination–suchas“Isthatwhatyoureallythinkordiditcomeoutthewrongway?”

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Discussion: What is Active Citizenship? (10 mins)Theconceptof‘activecitizenship’isoftenassociatedwithleadershipandcanbeconsideredanextensionofleadershipasitalsofocuseson making positive change in the community.

• Thefollowingshortvideoprovidesabasicoverviewofactivecitizenship:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kiZNO_Lca8k&feature=youtu.be

Activecitizenshipisoftenunderstoodtomeanvotingorother‘formal’activities.Butasthevideosuggests,activecitizenshipismuchbroader,andcaninvolvemany‘informal’activities.

• Identifysomeofthe‘informal’waysthecharactersinthevideowereparticipatinginactivecitizenship.

• Areleadershipandactivecitizenshipthesame?Whataresomeofthedifferencesbetweenthem?

• Activecitizenshipcanbeseenasusingone’sstrengthstoparticipateinthecommunityforpositivechange–whataresomeofyourstrengths,abilities,intereststhatyoucanutiliseinactiveparticipation(thinkbacktotheHumanBingoactivity)?

Activity: Prioritising Values (20 mins)

Understandingyourvalues,passions,andtheareasinwhichyouwouldliketocreatepositivechangeareanimportantpartofleadershipandactivecitizenship.Thisactivityisdesignedtoassiststudentstoidentifytheissuestheyfeelmoststronglyabout,andissuesinwhichtheyaremostinspiredtocreatepositivechange.

Initial set up:

• Arrangefourstacksofdifferentcolouredpaper(forexample–green,blue,pink,andyellow)

• Askthestudentstotaketwopiecesofeachcolouredpaper

• Onthecorrespondingcolours,askthestudentstowritethefollowing:

ʴ Green:2thingsthatyouneed,tofunctionondailybasis.Theycanbephysical,conceptualorwhatevermakessensetothestudent.

ʴ Blue:2geographicallocationsthatareimportanttoyou.Theycanbespecific(suchassomeone’shouse)orgeneral(suchasthebeach).

ʴ Pink:2peoplewhohavemadeyouwhoyouaretoday.Theycanbeapositiveornegativeinfluence,peopleyouhaven’tmet,peoplewhoaredeceased,orevenpets.

ʴ Yellow:2goals.Theycanbepersonal,employment,educational,oranyothergoal.Trytohaveamixofshorttermandlongtermgoals.

Prioritisation process:

ʴ Askeachstudenttoreflectindividuallyonwhattheyhavewritten,andconsiderwhichitemsareholdingthemostmeaningatthepresenttime.

ʴ Askstudentstoremovefouroftheircards(startingwithanyblanks)–itmaybehelpfultoimaginethat,astheyareeliminatingthecards,theyareremovingthemfromtheircurrentlifefocus.

ʴ Eachstudentshouldnowhavefourcardsremaining–askstudentstoremoveafurthertwocards,notasaprocessofremovingfromtheircurrentlifefocus,buttoidentifywhichtwocardsareholdingthemostmeaningforthematthepresenttime.

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Identifying the values:

• Askstudentstoreflectontheirremainingtwocards,andidentifythevaluethatthecardrepresentstothem.

• Returntothelargergrouptodiscuss:ʴ Askifanystudentswouldliketosharetheirpriorityvalueandhowtheycametoidentifyit?

ʴ Didanyonefindthistaskdifficult?

ʴ Werethereanysurprisesthatcameupasthestudentsbegantoeliminatetheircards?

ʴ Arethesevaluesreflectiveofhowthestudentcurrentlylivestheirlives?

ʴ Whataresomeofthereasonsapersonmaybepreventedfrombehavinginlinewiththeirvalues?

Need inspiration? Check out these young leaders creating amazing things across the world!

Dylan Storer – Australia

(listenfrom36:13–37:30)

https://www.dylanstorer.net/about

Malala Yousafzai – Pakistan

https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/peace/2014/yousafzai/biographical/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6-e7-5HvQ3U

Greta Thunberg – Switzerland

https://www.businessinsider.com.au/greta-thunberg-bio-climate-change-activist-2019-9?r=US&IR=T

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EAmmUIEsN9A

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mxsMrCfD3Wc

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Check out activities: Choose the one which will work best with your class.

One thing I’ve learnt about me:

Instructions:

• Asagroup,askeachstudenttotellthegrouponethingtheyhavelearntaboutthemselves,suchas

ʴ Apersonalstrength

ʴ Anareaofinterest

ʴ Anunderstandingaboutleadership

I stand for…

Introduction:

• Livingbyyourvaluesmeanssaying“Istandforthis”,“Icareaboutthis”,or“thismatterstome”.

• Wewillnowcommittoaspecificactionthatwillleadustolivemorebyourvalues,likesettingagoal.

Instructions:

• Distributeapieceofpaperor“goalcard”toeachstudent• Askthestudenttochooseavalue(maybeonethattheyfocusedonin

PrioritisingValuesactivity)andwriteitontheircardintheformofstatementsuchas

ʴ Istandfor….

ʴ Icareabout…..

ʴ …..matterstome

• Standinacircleandaskeachstudenttosharetheirstatementassymbolofacommittedvalue

IDEA:

Takeaphotoofeachstudentandtheirstatementtodisplayaroundtheclass!

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Attachment: Human bingo board

Someone who has made a speech to a large group of people

Someone who speaks 3 languages

Someone who has a creative hobby

Name:

What did they speak about?

Name:

Languages:

Name:

Hobby:

Someone who does/has done volunteer work

Someone who has done something that other people find brave/scary (or that they felt scared/afraid of doing)

Someone who teaches others how to do something

Name:

Type of volunteering:

Name:

Action:

Name:

Who and what do they teach?

Someone who has a core job, chore or responsibility at their home

Someone who has received an award

Someone who already knows how they can make the world a better place

Name:

Job/chore/ responsibility:

Name:

Reason for award:

Name:

Idea:

Pleasevarycontenttosuityourclassroomenvironmentandability.

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Attachment: Human bingo board – Make your own

Pleasevarycontenttosuityourclassroomenvironmentandability.