Why Comics? KS3 PSHE Lesson Plan

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Why Comics? KS3 PSHE Lesson Plan

Why Comics? Key Stage 3 (age 11-14) Personal, Social, Health and Economic [PSHE] education Lesson Plan:

Conformity and Prejudice

IntroductionLooking   to   engage   your   students   in contemporary human   rights   and   social   issues? Based at SOAS University   of   London, Why Comics? Education Charity brings contemporary   humanitarian   and   social issues   into   the   classroom (such as racism, conflict, migration, trafficking and climate change) through interactive literary comic books based on real-life testimony.

Our free  easy-to-use  Key  Stage  2-5  resources build  empathy  and enhance   learning   for  7-18-year-old students and teachers alike, alongside UK national-curriculum relevant lesson plans to support multiple subjects.

Each sample UK National Curriculum based Lesson Plan is provided as a Word.doc – so you can use it as a building block. Please feel free to adjust the content to suit your teaching style and students’ needs, all the content is only suggested.

Our innovative resources help enhance   learning to support   multiple   subjects (such as English,   ESOL, Personal,   Social,   Health   and   Economic [PSHE] education,   Citizenship   Studies,   Art   and  Design,  Media Studies,   Business   Studies,   Information   Computing   Technology   (ICT) and Geography). Our support materials are intended to inspire teachers and enhance teaching practices and different ideas.

Why Comics? resources are embedded with a wealth of age-appropriate contextual multimedia  (such as news articles, maps, videos, infographics and reports) to educate   and   inspire   pupils   across   a   wide demographic.

Our materials encourage   learners   to   make   connections   between   their   own   lives   and   the   lives   of others throughout the world, promoting critical  and reflective thinking on vital  global   themes. In this way, Why Comics? can help combat racism and intolerance in schools.

Already, over   600   schools   in   27   countries have provided detailed feedback on our free interactive educational resources to overwhelmingly positive feedback. From September 2017, our materials will be disseminated to over 25,000 schools worldwide.

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Why Comics? KS3 PSHE Lesson Plan

Please help us by filling out a short anonymous SurveyMonkey questionnaire after you have used our materials for our funders. This helps ensure that our great resources remain free.

Please email info@whycomics.org for more information. Thank you.Why Comics? Charity number - 1172791

Table of ContentsIntroduction..........................................................................................................................................2

UK National Curriculum PSHE requirements........................................................................................3

Suggested Why Comics? PSHE Lesson Plan for Zein or Sagal:  Conformity and Prejudice..................3

Aims......................................................................................................................................................3

Learning Objectives...............................................................................................................................3

Lesson plan 1.........................................................................................................................................4

Follow Up Lesson Plan: Reasons for conformity and discrimination...................................................5

Aims......................................................................................................................................................5

Learning Objectives...............................................................................................................................5

Lesson plan 2.........................................................................................................................................5

Feedback...............................................................................................................................................6

Future Plans..........................................................................................................................................7

Who backs Why Comics? - About PositiveNegatives.......................................................................7

UK National Curriculum      PSHE      requirements:   [Source: Gov. KS3 National Curriculum Guidance]

Personal, social, health and economic (PSHE) education is an important and necessary part of all pupils’ education. All schools should teach PSHE, drawing on good practice, and this expectation is outlined in the introduction to the proposed new national curriculum.

PSHE is a non-statutory subject. To allow teachers the flexibility to deliver high-quality PSHE we consider it unnecessary to provide new standardised frameworks or programmes of study. PSHE can encompass many areas of study. Teachers are best placed to understand the needs of their pupils and do not need additional central prescription.

Please note teaching notes are in purple.

Suggested      Why Comics?      PSHE      Lesson Plan:    Conformity and Prejudice

Here is a suggested PSHE lesson plan about Conformity and Prejudice told through the eyes of Zein , Julius, Daria or Sagal and a suggested follow-up lesson plan. Both lessons are 50-

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Why Comics? KS3 PSHE Lesson Plan

minutes long, consisting of a reading in class, followed by group discussion and an assigned homework. The lesson introduces ideas of prejudice and how conformity can lead to people discriminating against those who are different. The class can either read the comic collectively via projector, or at home via the web (www.whycomics.org /comics ).

Aims: This session will focus on conformity and prejudice, as embedded in Zein or Sagal’s stories. Students will:

Consider the definitions of prejudice, discrimination, and conformity Think about examples of these terms, in the comics and in their own social context Think about how conformity can lead to prejudice.

Learning Objectives: By the end of this session, students will be able to:

Explain the meaning of the terms ‘prejudice’, ‘discrimination’ and ‘conformity’ Give examples of prejudice, discrimination and conformity in the comics Give examples of prejudice, discrimination, and conformity elsewhere (in their communities, on the news, etc.)

Lesson plan 1:      1. Read through the comic as a group – Project the story in class and go through the comic panel by panel. You may ask different students to read each panel aloud. If there is time, you could explore several of the additional resources in the interactive boxes dispersed throughout the comic. You could also look briefly at the discussion points provided at the end of the comic. (20 minutes) 2. Group Discussion/Focus groups – Either as a whole class or in smaller groups, discuss the meaning of conformity, discrimination, and prejudice. Discuss where these things are visible in the comic and if the students can recognise any examples in their own lives. Discuss how it would feel to experience the discrimination/prejudice shown in the comic. (25 minutes) 3. Homework – Ask the class to look up one news story that shows prejudice or discrimination and to write a short descriptive piece explaining their reasons for choosing it. (5 minutes)

Teacher’s Notes [Source: Simplypsychology.org]

What is Conformity? Conformity is a type of social influence involving a change in belief or behaviour in order to fit in with a group. This change is in response to real (involving the physical presence of others) or imagined (involving the pressure of social norms / expectations) group pressure. Conformity can also be simply defined as “yielding to group pressures” (Crutchfield, 1955).  Group pressure may take different forms, for example bullying, persuasion, teasing, criticism, etc.  Conformity is also known as majority influence (or group pressure).

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Why Comics? KS3 PSHE Lesson Plan

The term conformity is often used to indicate an agreement to the majority position, brought about either by a desire to ‘fit in’ or be liked (normative) or because of a desire to be correct (informational), or simply to conform to a social role (identification). Prejudice and Discrimination [https://www.simplypsychology.org/prejudice.html] Prejudice is an unjustified or incorrect attitude (usually negative) towards an individual based solely on the individual’s membership of a social group. For example, a person may hold prejudiced views towards a certain race or gender etc. (e.g. sexist). Discrimination is the behaviour or actions, usually negative, towards an individual or group of people, especially on the basis of sex/race/social class, etc. A prejudiced person may not act on their attitude.  Therefore, someone can be prejudiced towards a certain group but not discriminate against them.  Also, prejudice includes all three components of an attitude (affective, behavioural and cognitive), whereas discrimination just involves behaviour. Conformity as an Explanation of Prejudice and Discrimination Influences that cause individuals to be racist or sexist, for example, may come from peers parents and group membership. Conforming to social norms means people adopt the “normal” set of behaviour(s) associated with a particular group or society. Social norms - behaviour considered appropriate within a social group - are one possible influence on prejudice and discrimination. People may have prejudiced beliefs and feelings and act in a prejudiced way because they are conforming to what is regarded as normal in the social groups to which they belong.

Please help us by filling out a short anonymous SurveyMonkey questionnaire after you have used our materials for our funders. This helps ensure that our great resources remain free.

Please email info@whycomics.org for more information. Thank you.

Follow Up Lesson PlanReasons for conformity and discrimination

Aims:         This session will focus on the reasons behind conformity and discrimination. Students will:

Consider why people conform to certain norms and behaviours Consider why some people choose not to conform Consider the causes of prejudice Consider measures that might be taken to reduce prejudice.

Learning Objectives:      By the end of this session, students will be able to:

Suggest why people often conform and give examples of conformity in their lives Suggest why some people do not choose to conform and the challenges that might

accompany this

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Why Comics? KS3 PSHE Lesson Plan

Suggest why people develop prejudices Suggest how prejudice and discrimination might be reduced.

Lesson plan 2:      1. Summarise   the   previous   lesson: recap on the comic and on what the class

discussed. Discuss the homework and any thoughts the class might have about prejudice and discrimination in their community. (20 minutes)

2. Group Discussion – Either as a class or in smaller groups, discuss possible reasons why people do and don’t conform in certain situations; provide a scenario in which they need to consider if they would conform or not (i.e. if their friends were all bullying someone, would they join in?) Then ask them why people may develop prejudices and ways that they think they might be able to stop this. (25 minutes)

3. Homework – Ask the class to think about ways that prejudice and discrimination might be reduced in their school, or in schools in general. (5 minutes)

Teacher’s Notes [Source: ctb.ku.edu ]

Strategies and Activities for Reducing Racial Prejudice and Racism

Form a diversity task force or club. Recognize holidays and events relating to a variety of cultural and ethnic groups.

This can be done in a school or university setting. Your diversity group can sponsor panel discussions, awareness activities, and cultural events to help prevent racism. Observing and conducting educational activities about events like Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s birthday and other dates of significance to minority groups provides an opportunity for students to learn about the history of different cultural and ethnic groups and reduce misinformed or inaccurate perceptions.

Conduct field trips to historical places that represent struggles against racism or places that embody the values and traditions of another group of people.

Work to include anti-racism education in your school's curriculum. Develop a strategy to change racist policies in your school.

Recognizing the traditions of other cultural and ethnic groups and developing intercultural relationships will reduce racial prejudice. Examine and change school policies that perpetuate exclusion of some cultural or ethnic groups.

Develop procedures for dealing with racist acts and provide incentives (e.g., extra credits, special recognition) for efforts to promote cross-racial understanding.

Lobby your school board to make changes or additions to the curriculum to teach anti-racism and to provide seed grants to teachers or instructors to help them conduct research and activities about racism and to promote anti-racist values and principles.

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Why Comics? KS3 PSHE Lesson Plan

Examine the recruitment, application, and admissions process for students, teachers, and staff from different racial and ethnic backgrounds.

FeedbackPlease help us by filling out a short anonymous SurveyMonkey questionnaire for our funders. This will help keep our great resources free. We will be happy to hear about how it works in the classroom, and are keen to receive any comments or feedback.

We are particularly interested if you would like to receive more resources like this. If so please include on the SurveyMonkey questionnaire which topics you would like us to cover (e.g. Divorce, Migration, Racism/Prejudice, Cyber/Bullying, Identity, Memory, Racism, Conflict, Natural Disasters, Human Trafficking/Slavery, Asylum/Refugees, Homelessness, Climate Change, Remittances & Migrant Workers, and Drug Trafficking & Addiction).

We are also interested to have feedback from pupils so if it is possible, please pass on the SurveyMonkey   questionnaire link to them as well. Many thanks again, your help is most appreciated.

Future Plans

Over the coming year, we’re intending to expand our bank of database for KS2 (age 7-11) and KS3 (age  11-14) and KS4-5   (age  14-18)  and  their   teachers, and produce national curriculum based accompanying lesson plans for multiple subjects. You can view all our resources on our Teachers Resources page.

We will continue to design and test our resources to ensure that they are made by teachers for teachers.

If you would like any more information or would like to be involved further, please contact info@whycomics.org. Thank you.

With very best wishes,

Dr Benjamin Dix

Director: Why Comics? Education CharitySenior Fellow: SOAS University of London

Web: http://www.whycomics.org/Email: info@whycomics.org Twitter and Instagram: @WhyComicsOrg Facebook: Why Comics? Education Charity

Why Comics? Education Charity is based at the Faber Building, SOAS University of London.Why Comics? Charity number - 1172791

Who backs    Why Comics?    - About PositiveNegatives   

The award-winning non-profit PositiveNegatives produce literary comics, animations and podcasts about contemporary social and human rights issues. We combine ethnographic research with illustration and

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Why Comics? KS3 PSHE Lesson Plan

photography, adapting personal testimonies into art, education and advocacy materials. Since 2012, PositiveNegatives has worked extensively for an array of international organisations such as United Nations (UN), Overseas Development Institute (ODI), Open Society Foundations (OSF), The Nobel Peace Centre, The Guardian, BBC, and with leading academic institutions such as; Harvard South Asia Centre, SOAS University of London and University of Sussex.

Our work endeavours to combine literature, journalism and education. Visual story-telling engages audiences of all ages, backgrounds and levels of literacy. Approaching subjects like conflict and forced migration through the prism of personal narratives emotionally engages general readers and students alike. We have developed comics from research, policy papers and first hand testimonies for organisations such as these and many more. Each comic has reached millions of viewers, and many have been translated into multiple languages reaching diverse international stakeholders.

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