Estimated Time: 40 minutes

In this lesson, students engage in various role plays to explore wealth disparity within the context of a fictional society. They use conventions like simulation, meetings/town halls, values line, and writing in role to respond to inequity.

Connection to Financial Literacy

Students will gain an understanding of how social and political structures impact upon personal economic realities.

Learning Goals

At the end of this lesson, students will

  • work with peers to resolve a common problem regarding the unequal distribution of wealth
Readiness

Ensure that there are established rules for role play in the classroom where students understand that they are to work within the established limits of the drama when improvising in role. This skill will be particularly important in situations where some students may have higher status than others in the initial role play scenarios; watch closely so that this ‘power’ is not abused in the context of role play.

When engaging with issues related to class that may make students aware of their own socioeconomic status or relate to their lived experiences of poverty, a trauma-informed approach is necessary. Build your own knowledge of class using CODE's Artists as Disruptors - Learning Hub to prepare for challenging discussions. Knowledge of your students will support your approach.

Be prepared for seemingly outsized reactions to "unfairness" and consider selecting groups of "haves" and "have nots" for the token role play based on your knowledge of your students' capacity to handle unfairness (this is an example of being culturally responsive - students who may be at risk of dysregulation may be on the ASD and/or ADHD spectrum or may experience economic marginalization).

Terminology
Social Studies
  • Feudalism
  • Feudal roles: king, knight, lord, baron, serf, peasant, noble
  • Fief/Manor
  • Tax
Drama
  • Tableau
  • Thought tracking
  • Teacher in role
  • Meeting
  • Role play
  • Writing in role
  • Corridor of voices
  • Flash forward
  • Level
Materials
  • Information about Feudalism
  • Internet connected device with projection capabilities
  • Sticky notes
  • 20 tokens (could be chips used for bingo or cubes)
  • 10 individual pieces of chewing gum
  • Paper for writing in role
  • Chart paper and markers
  • PDF #1 Jot Notes Organizer
  • PDF #2 Guiding Questions for Revisions to Token Economy Structure

Minds On

Whole Class > Status Journey

  • Have students start at one end of the room as a character of low status.
  • As they move across the room, they must gradually transform into a character of high status.
  • Encourage students to think about how their walk, gestures, and facial expressions change as their status changes.
  • Discuss the journey and how movement can depict a change in status.

Explore other Status Games in CODE's Members-Only resource. 

Classe entière > Voyage de statut

  • Demandez aux élèves de commencer à une extrémité de la pièce en incarnant un personnage de statut inférieur.
  • Au fur et à mesure qu'ils se déplacent dans la pièce, ils doivent progressivement se transformer en un personnage de statut élevé.
  • Encouragez les élèves à réfléchir à la façon dont leur démarche, leurs gestes et leurs expressions faciales changent en fonction de leur statut.
  • Discutez du voyage et de la façon dont le mouvement peut illustrer un changement de statut.

Examinez des autres Jeux de statut au sein de la ressource pour les membres de CODE.

Action

Whole Class > Unequal Distribution of Rewards Role Play

Randomly give out tokens to ten of the students in class (in doing so, be very careful not to favour one gender or racial/ability group over another so that the injustices in the game do not too closely mirror injustices in the children’s actual lived experiences). Provide the token bearers with some gum and allow them to chew it openly, blowing bubbles if they wish.

Assuming the teacher in role as a village leader, announce that the village needs a well to be dug. Give all those without the tokens imaginary shovels and instruct them to start the role play by digging while the token bearers sit in a shaded part of the imaginary garden. Invite them to play imaginary games of cards or eat their fill of imaginary delicacies.

Ring an imaginary bell indicating to the token bearing students that it is time for them to join you in the classroom where they will learn to read and write while the token-less continue to mime toiling away outside.

Whole Class > Town Meeting Role Play

Still in role as the leader of the village, call for everyone to gather together for a town meeting, including the token-less villagers.

Script: (Enter with your head held high, slowly taking a seat at the centre of the space) This being the third Thursday of the month, it is now time for new tokens to be laid upon the palms of the worthy. Approach only if thou art named or else be still. (Proceed to call the names of 2 or 3 people and ceremoniously offer them more tokens. Silence anyone who tries to question you about your actions, going so far as having an imaginary bailiff take the complainers to jail to assert your ultimate power.) The ceremony is now adjourned. All rise. (Wait until they have done so and exit.)

Small Group > “A Slice of Home” Role Play

Signal the class to come out of role and ask students to gather into three groups: those with more than one token, those with one token, and the token-less.

Tell them that the tokens are like money in today’s society where the more tokens one has, the richer one is. Ask students to consider what the home lives might be like of those with and without tokens. Give groups 5-10 minutes to rehearse what eating a meal at their home would look like, as well as showing us what they might do to entertain themselves in the evening. Post the following prompts on chart paper for students to consider as they develop their scenes.

Prompts: 

  • Since tokens are like money, what would the home of someone with no tokens look like? How might it be constructed? 
  • How many rooms might there be? What would the home of someone with many tokens look like?
  • What might you eat? Where will you get it from? Who will prepare it? How much food will there be? Where will you eat it?
  • What kind of entertainment is possible when you have a lot of wealth? Where might that entertainment take place in the home? 
  • How can you entertain yourself without money?

After groups have had time to rehearse, invite them to share their role play with the other groups.

Consolidation

Whole Class > “Is This System Fair?” Value Line

Ask students to assume the roles of their characters in the drama and line up on an imaginary line. At one end of the line is “fair” and the other “unfair.” Ask them to assume a position that matches their thoughts on the fairness of the token distribution.

Have students at opposite ends of the line articulate the reasons that they put themselves on this spot in the line. Next, give students an opportunity to rearrange themselves on the line if their opinions have been swayed by others.

Individual > Writing in Role Letter to the Village Leader

Ask students to consider their experiences thus far and write in role as their characters to their village leader explaining their feelings about the way that people in their community are being given tokens. Prompts: Is the system fair? Should it be maintained or changed?

Assessment for Learning (AfL)

Give feedback on students’ letters from the writing in role exercise related to the concepts of financial literacy explored and related to their ability to convey their character using language/register in their writing.

Assessment as Learning (AaL)

Have students voice their own thinking about the lesson via the value line activity.