Students engage in a warm-up activity that allows them to see that they share common ground with others in the classroom, but that while they belong to some groupings, they do not belong to all groupings. Students view a YouTube video "The Sneetches" as an example of exclusion and "power over." Through discussion students analyse the power dynamics and make connections to personal choices related to inclusion and exclusion. Students use critical literacy techniques and prompts to 'read' a picture, and then create tableaux with captions depicting the moment before and the moment after to develop an exclusion scenario.  Forum theatre is used to explore approaches to problem-solving the scenarios. Finally, students compete a personal reflection focusing on their circle of belonging.

Learning Goals

By the end of this lesson, students will be able to:

  • use tableau to respond to the ideas in the picture and extend its meaning
  • make judgements and draw conclusions about inclusion and exclusion and support their opinions with evidence
Terminology
Materials
  • Appendix 8 Exclusion
  • Appendix 9 Picture Analysis Journal Reflection
  • Images for group analysis and interpretation (printed or projected). For example, Alienation by Ben Shahn.
  • YouTube video of The Sneetches
  • Girl on the outside
  • Chart Paper
  • Pencils / Pens / Markers
  • Music / Music Player

Minds On (~15 minutes)

Whole Class > Step in

Instruct students to sit in a circle. Read a variety of prompts to the students directing students to step in if the sentence read applies to them. As students stand and step in, encourage them to look around to see what they have in common with others in their class. Encourage them to step into the circle, make eye contact, and mingle with others that share something in common with them. Allow students to elaborate and share details about why they are standing with others who are inside the circle as others in the outer circle listen. After mingling, instruct the students to return to the outer circle. Repeat with another prompt and repeat.

Example prompts for "Step In"

Step in to the circle if...

  • You are very tall
  • You speak two languages
  • You are a student
  • You like math
  • You were born in a country other than Canada
  • You are left handed
  • You walk to school
  • You like to play sports at recess
  • You have more than two pets
  • You have a sibling
  • You are part of this classroom community

When choosing your prompts, be careful to use statements that are not too risky or infringe on issues of equity. You may choose to invite students to name categories of belonging.

Prompts: 

  • How does it feel to be in or out of a group?
  • Were you in more than one group?
  • How did it feel if you were in a smaller grouping? larger grouping?
  • Were most people in more than one group?
  • Do the groups we belong to change over time? Explain.

This activity is intended to illustrate that we all belong in a variety of groups at the same time; we never belong to just one group.

Whole Class > Viewing and Analysing a Media Text

Show students the YouTube video of "The Sneetches." Continue the discussion of the relationship between power, inclusion and exclusion. Further discuss the overlapping and often arbitrary nature of exclusion/inclusion.

Guiding Questions for Discussion
  • What makes some Sneetches feel superior to other Sneetches? (Emphasize the arbitrariness of this classification.)
  • Who holds the most power in this video? Of what sort? Why?
  • The Sneetches without stars on their bellies are sad and disempowered. Did the have any other choices? How might they have empowered themselves?
  • Is having stars added to their bellies a good solution to the problem? Why or why not?
  • Why might you exclude someone?  What in your personal and social experiences would make you want to do so?
  • What role might popular representations of powerful people have on whom you wish to include/exclude from your life?
  • What benefit would you gain from excluding someone? 
  • What would affect your decision to include or exclude someone as a friend or part of your social circle?
Critical Literacy Focus

The prompts for "Step In" deepen students' understandings of how certain aspects of their identity might give them status -- or could be used to exclude them. They can be used to help them understand how arbitrary inclusion or exclusion may be.

Teachers might both select texts that focus on social justice issues and use questions that ask students to consider relationships between power, identity and representation/portrayal. (e.g., NFB ShowPeace series - Dominoes https://www.nfb.ca/film/dominoes/).

Action (~75 minutes)

Whole Class > Brainstorm

Write the following statement on chart paper:

People often feel excluded because.... 

Invite students to brainstorm and record their ideas on the chart paper. This list can be added to the wonder wall. See Appendix 8 Exclusion for some examples.

Teacher Tip: When modeling this process, it would be helpful to create a chart with the questions, and write the answers developed by the class on the chart. Display this chart as an example for students to refer to when they work through the process in groups.

Whole Class > Modeling Analysis of an Image

Choose a picture from the wonder wall or use one suggested in the notes section. Use the questions provided in Appendix 9 Picture Analysis Journal Reflection to dig deeply into the interpretations of meaning in the picture.

Small Group > Group Analysis of a Picture

Put students into small groups of 3 or 4. Project an image or give each group a copy of an image, and the questions for Appendix 9 Picture Analysis Journal Reflection. Instruct them to discuss the questions and record responses. Circulate to observe and encourage deeper responses. Upon completion, students will take turns sharing their responses with the whole class. Record key words from responses on chart paper. Instruct the students to imagine that they are newspaper editors and they need to write a caption for the image. Images and captions can later be posted on the wonder wall.

Small Group > Picture Tableaux and Thought-tracking

Tell students that their next assignment is to create 2 tableaux: one that tells the story of what happened the moment before the image and one that tells what happened the moment after. Remind the students that a tableau is a frozen picture. Distribute long strips of paper and ask students to write a 'caption' for these 'pictures.' Direct students to practise their 2 pictures or tableaux and then encourage them to create a movement transition between them, which freezes briefly in the moment depicted in their original picture. Have half the group to  show their tableaux at a time, and invite viewers to share their observations and reflections. Tap students who are demonstrating thorough commitment to their role on the shoulder, inviting them to speak aloud their inner thoughts and feelings. Suggest that they can remain silent, share a word or a phrase, in role as their character if you tap them on the shoulder.

Teacher Tip: Link to image to use when modeling the activity -  Girl on the outside. Encourage students speaking in role to express the inner thoughts and feelings of the characters they are playing by:

  • tapping into the thoughts and feelings that lie beneath the surface, serving to deepen the response and /or to contrast outer appearances with inner experience
  • activating "thoughts" said aloud by the student when given a signal from the teacher (i.e., a tap on the shoulder)

Whole Class > Identifying/Naming Acts of Exclusion

Ask students to place their tableau captions on the wonder wall, and connect each caption to one of the common reasons for exclusion listed on the brainstorm chart at the beginning of the lesson.

Whole Class > Forum Theatre 

Select one tableau sequence that provides a clear and effective depiction of exclusion. Invite the students to expand the tableau sequence into an improvised scene. Use forum theatre to explore possible ways to bring about empowerment for the person in the scene who is being excluded.

Prompts:

  • Who has the power to change or influence the situation? What might they say or do?
  • What can the characters in this scene do differently?

Explain to the rest of the class that they are spect-actors. They can spectate, which means watch, and act by suggesting strategies the actors might try to change the direction of the improvisation. Spect-actors can also freeze the action, step into the scene to replace an actor and try out a different strategy to bring about a different outcome. Discuss and evaluate the effectiveness of each attempted strategy.

Prompts:

  • When might it be most empowering to insist upon inclusion?
  • When might it be most empowering to walk away from a situation that excludes you?
Assessment for Learning (AfL)

Determine students' comfort level and understanding by circulating to different pairs. If students have a hard time sharing experiences or thinking of experiences, you might model with a personal story of your own to get them thinking. This is an important step for activating schema for what is to come in the lesson.

Differentiated Instruction (DI)

Write conversation prompts and post on chart paper to accommodate different learning styles.

Critical Literacy Focus

Forum theater offers excellent opportunities for students to explore and rehearse how they might take action --safely and realistically--to disrupt a problematic situation or dynamic.

Encourage students to consider:

  • what can the individuals who are excluding do differently?
  • what can the individual who is experiencing exclusion do to feel more empowered in this situation?
  • is it ever acceptable to exclude someone? If so, can it be done respectfully?

Consolidation (~10 min)

Personal Reflection > Web Charts: I Belong!

Introduce the idea that everyone feels excluded, or that they don't belong, sometimes. Emphasize that everyone has the right to be treated with respect, but that does not mean that we can always expect to be fully included in every group or activity. Sometimes, we may need to look for community and a sense of belonging in other places. Distribute a blank piece of paper to each student. Ask them to write their name or draw picture of themselves in the centre of the page. Ask them to create a web chart, identifying all the groups, special people, pets and places they feel connected to. Encourage students to keep this web chart as an empowering reminder of where and how they feel they belong.

Extension

If students are interested in sharing their belonging web charts, provide  a safe structure for sharing, (e.g., partners, small group sharing with the teachers, invite each student to share one example with the full class). Be sensitive to student circumstances. If you have a student(s) who may be experiencing exclusion, conference with them privately and support them in identifying a person, pet, activity or place they feel connected to.