Teaching sequence

Work through this resource material in the following sequence:

20 minutes

Tune In: Campaigning for equality

20 minutes

Find Out: Representation of women in sport

20 minutes

Take Action: Use your voice

5 minutes

Reflection

Learning intentions and success criteria

Students will:

examine digital media and work to identify the author's opinion through the author's use of language features.

Students can:

read and understand media texts seeking to persuade
identify and analyse media texts for techniques of persuasion
present their findings orally, with visual support
evaluate the use of sources and quotations, and present an opinion about how an author has supported an idea.

Tune In: Campaigning for equality

Preparation

Watch ‘Trailblazers’ with your students. This documentary will provide background information and set the scene for students for this lesson.

Trailblazers (https://clickv.ie/w/INpy)

Step 1

Show students this short clip from the film:

Trailblazers Clip - 17:35-21:50 (https://clickv.ie/w/nYpy)

This clip covers the context surrounding the Australian Women’s National Football Team’s decision to strike in 2015. At the end of watching, ensure students understand the following points:

The Australian Women’s National Football Team was the most successful football/soccer team Australia had ever had, having just made it to the quarter-finals of the World Cup.
Football Federation Australia had not organised a new collective bargaining agreement for the team after the previous one expired, meaning they were not guaranteed any payment for an upcoming tournament.
The previous agreement left the players earning two-thirds of minimum wage.

Step 2

Project this article onto the screen: This World Cup star earns less than a Maccas worker | The New Daily

Read the article out loud to the class. Students can then complete the table on the student worksheet, identifying the language technique and impact of key quotations from this text. You may choose to model one answer and then let students try to complete this independently or in pairs before sharing together as a class. Or, you may like to complete this activity as a class, discussing each quotation together, deciding on the correct language technique and impact, and taking notes on the board for students to follow along. This decision will depend on how much experience students have in engaging with opinion pieces and analysing persuasive written language.

Suggested answers below, although if students come up with different ideas that are supported by evidence, these should be celebrated.

Quotation	What language technique is being used by the writer?	How does this position the reader to think/feel/do?
Title: ‘This World Cup star earns less than a Maccas worker’	Analogy	By comparing the wage of a player on Australia’s National Women’s Football Team to that of a fast food worker, the reader thinks the football wage is too low, as they are not comparable professions skill wise.
‘She, like other players in the national women’s football squad, is paid just $21,000 a year’	Statistics	By seeing how low their annual wage is ($21,000), the reader feels frustrated on behalf of the players as they know it is not enough to live on.
‘“I’m nearly 26 and I still live at home because I can’t afford to live out of home,” she said.’	Personal anecdote	Using the personal anecdote from player Laura Alleway personalises the issue and the reader feels pity or sadness for her inability to support herself financially.
‘Wage comparison Call centre worker: $49,728 Butcher: $47,106 Hairdresser: $44,004 Bartender: $41,808 Waiter: $32,555 World Cup star: $21,000 Source: payscale.com and PFA.’	Evidence	Laying out all the wages for other low-paying jobs next to that of a player on the National Women’s Football Team highlights how low their wage is and the reader is led to think their wage is too low.
‘“We’re not asking to be on what the Socceroos are being paid – we’re just asking to be treated fairly.”’	Appeal to justice/fairness	By including this quotation that appeals to fairness, the reader thinks the requests of the National Women’s Football Team are reasonable.
‘[Gallop] added that it was “nonsense” that the Matildas have been caught up in wage claims for male players.’	Attack/denigration	As the entire article is focused on legitimising and justifying the request for a pay increase, Gallop’s description of their requests as ‘nonsense’ positions him negatively and as someone the reader thinks is unreasonable.

Find Out: Campaigning for equality

Step 1

Split the class into small groups and provide each group with one of the articles below. Share one of the articles and worksheets below with each group:

Students should read the article in their group and use the table on their worksheet to track how their sportswoman is represented in the article. Responses will vary depending on the article assigned and the group.

Extension: Anna Kournikova: How 'marketing monster' seduced world | CNN - a challenging article for more confident students.

Take Action: Use your voice

Step 1

Ask students to display the information from their article and table in an engaging manner on a slide (you could use PowerPoint, Google Slides, Canva, etc.). Students should include an acknowledgement of how important it is to approach media texts with a critical eye, given that women’s representation can be so biased.

Step 2

Each group should project their slide and present their learning to the class. As the presentations occur, help students to synthesise the learning through making connections across the sportswomen, encouraging them to see the issues are societal and ideological rather than individual.

Reflection

Ask students to spend five minutes freewriting in response to the reflective prompt at the end of the student worksheet:

Why is it important to challenge the way the media reports on women in sport?

Digital Media: What Are You Saying?

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Summary

Lesson guides and printables

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