Teaching Sequence

Work through this resource material in the following sequence:

10 minutes

Tune In: Finding your target audience

35 minutes

Find Out: Campaign strategy

10 minutes

Take Action: Campaign presentation

5 minutes

Reflection

Tune In: Finding your target audience

Step 1

Play this video:

Uncles Advice (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tf5xibzL_8s)

Invite students to share their initial thoughts on the video.

For example, did they feel that they identified with the speaker in any way?

Explain to students that this video was produced by the Dhelk Dja Action Group in East Gippsland to raise awareness of family violence within Aboriginal communities. It is a work of poetry that targets a particular group in a way that speaks to them.

Note: Ensure that students speak to this video and topic with respect and that they understand that family violence is a widespread issue for many groups in Australia, not just Aboriginal communities.

Step 2

Invite students to identify what about the video would appeal to its target audience? Some suggested answers might include:

It is a man speaking to fellow men
The speaker is a respected elder - we know this by the use of the term ‘Uncle’
The speaker identifies with the listener’s experiences and shows empathy - this builds trust
Using the word ‘you’ makes it sound like he’s speaking directly to the listener.

Step 3

Explain to students that they will be creating an anti-violence campaign message for their peer group or a group in the community that they identify closely with.

Invite them to spend some time talking and listing specific groups they identify with that might benefit from an anti-violence message (such as a local team they play for). They might like to work individually, in pairs or in a small group.

Step 4

Invite students to select one of their listed groups to focus on. At this stage, they may change who (or how many people) they are working with so that the target audience feels comfortable for them.

Step 5

Have students list some key violence-related issues and messages that would relate to this group.

Find Out: Campaign strategy

Step 1

Ask students to think about what media or communication channels this group might be most exposed to, or interested in. For example, the local elderly group might enjoy checking the noticeboard in the community hall, whereas a church group might respond best to words spoken by a pastor during a service. Other groups might prefer social media, television or radio.

Step 2

Explain to students that they are going to create a social campaign strategy that will appeal to their primary audience and use a variety of the most relevant communication channels for this group. They should integrate the violence-related issues and messages they already identified.

Make sure they know that they don’t need to launch their campaign for this task, but that may be something they might consider for the future.

They can include information around the topics they have explored during this unit, such as:

the bystander effect
the role of substances
anger management strategies
de-escalation strategies.

They could also include any of the following (or anything else that may be relevant):

challenging their beliefs and values about certain situations or behaviours in others
effective coping strategies
tips for how to respond in different scenarios
barriers for those who need help and how to overcome them
myth-busting
how to support someone who needs help
how to be an upstander
communication strategies
how to get help
tools or tips.

Their campaign needs to include the following elements (see Student Worksheet):

Target audience and platform
Who will you talk to and how/where?
Purpose of the campaign
What do you want the campaign to achieve?
Audience needs
Does your audience need to feel seen, or do they need education?
Key message/s
Tip: having one key message is usually best and will be reinforced by repetition)
Style, imagery, design
How will you stand out? Mock up some samples or storyboards.
Language or phrasing
Will you be formal, use a language other than English or use local slang?
Timing
How often or in which locations will your message be communicated? Have you considered behind toilet doors, for example? When will you most likely get the audience’s undivided attention?
Evaluation
How will you know your campaign has had an impact? Consider setting measurable targets.

Step 3 (optional)

Before students get started, you might like to evaluate some existing or past social campaigns. Invite students to share any that they may be aware of, such as STOP the Coward Punch. Ask students what they notice is effective about the campaign and what might be useful for them to implement in their own campaigns.

Consider how you groups students together. You might like to arrange groups so that various skills are employed in the campaign development, such as design, filming, writing, and public speaking. This will allow students to thrive in an area of comfort and develop collaboration skills.

Take Action: Campaign presentation

Step 1

Depending on available time, you may like students to present their campaigns via a class website, oral presentation or to one other group. Allow students time to discuss and give constructive feedback on each other’s campaigns.

Learning extension: Students could compare the features of successful social campaigns and suggest strategies that future campaigns need to consider to stay current with potential changes in societal views of violence and managing violent behaviour.

Reflection

Invite students to respond to these questions individually:

What was the most effective campaign strategy you saw and why?
What might you like to improve in your own campaign strategy?
Do you think that social campaigns are an effective way of reducing violence in our community? Why/why not?

Coward Punch - Campaigning Against Violence

Go to

Summary

Lesson guides and printables

In this lesson