Teaching Sequence

Work through this resource material in the following sequence:

10 minutes – Part A: Activating Prior Knowledge
45 minutes – Part B: Case Study: Shane Fitzsimmons
60 minutes – (Optional) Part C: Local Leaders Investigation
5 minutes – Reflection

Part A: Activating Prior Knowledge

Step 1.

On the board, write the word LEADER in large capital letters. Without any initial discussion, ask students to write down on their Student Worksheet, in 2 minutes, 3-5 adjectives they would use to describe a leader. Depending on student knowledge, you might like to remind students that an adjective is a word that describes a noun, for example, a chocolate cake or a refreshing ice cream.

Step 2.

Ask students to share the adjectives they wrote with the person next to them. Give them 2 minutes to discuss their choices, and ask them to write down any of the adjectives their partner had that they did not.

Step 3.

Working around the room, ask each pair to share one of their adjectives and start building a word cloud on the board, collating as many adjectives as students can share.

Step 4.

Ask students to add any adjectives on the board that was not on their list. This can help students build on their vocabulary and ensure students have a detailed understanding of new words.

Part B: Case Study

Step 1.

Explain to students that they will be watching an Australian Story episode about Shane Fitzsimmons, who was the Commissioner of the New South Wales Rural Fire Service between September 2007 and April 2020, and led NSW through the Black Summer Bushfires: How Shane Fitzsimmons became Australia’s leader through a black summer | Australian Story

You could project this video onto the board, or students could watch it on their independent devices with earphones. The latter option would allow them to pause the video to write down an idea.

Step 2.

The task for students is to identify the traits and potential values that they think make Fitzsimmons a good leader, and then include some evidence to support their point of view. They are encouraged to use the list of adjectives that they have collated as a starting point but may discover new traits during their viewing time, so they shouldn't feel restricted by the list.

Students should fill in the table found on their Student Worksheet while watching. Encourage students to identify between 3 and 5 attributes and values.

Remember to ensure students know the difference between attributes and values as this could facilitate a meaningful conversation later in the lesson.

Definition from oxford language:

Value (noun): principles or standards of behaviour; one's judgement of what is important in life.

Attribute (noun): a quality or feature regarded as a characteristic or inherent part of someone or something.

Step 3.

At the end of the viewing, facilitate a class discussion about their identified traits and the evidence to support them. Try to pick up any identification of resilience, hope and strength in their analysis of Fitzsimmons, and drill down a little into these to encourage students to see the importance of these attributes and values in leading a community through a crisis. Ask students whether they can see any similarity between Fitzsimmons as a schoolboy and themselves - did people expect him to become the leader he is today? What was it that moulded him into the man he became? Students should begin to see that leaders are ordinary people who cultivate and develop their skills over time and that each one of them could be a leader in the future.

Australian Story has other leaders that you might like to explore, and this part of the lesson is not limited to Shane Fitzsimmons. In fact, a comparison is rather encouraged. A great example of an organisation that shows outstanding leadership is BackTrack.

About BackTrack: In the early days of his youth work career, Bernie Shakeshaft saw young people dropping out of school, getting into trouble and falling through the cracks of a mainstream system that couldn't meet their complex needs. BackTrack was his solution. With just a shed, a passionate crew of volunteers and a mission to keep kids alive, out of jail and chasing their hopes and dreams, he founded the organisation in 2006.

Fifteen years later, BackTrack has gained national recognition for how it engages, educates, trains and employs vulnerable young people. The organisation offers the holistic, flexible and long-term support they need to get their lives back on track, through a combination of educational, training and diversionary activities, transitional employment, residential accommodation and youth work. As they participate, young people develop their life, work and leadership skills and experience a deep sense of belonging.

BackTrack believes in the power of community and is always ready to lend a hand to people doing it tough. In the midst of devastating bushfires, floods and tornados, the organisation has deployed crews of young workers to affected properties where they can pitch in and show generosity to those who need it.

Step 4.

Present the BackTrack clip to your class and complete the same exercise to investigate the attributes and values that BackTrack (organisation) and the people in the clip embody.

What traits and values are highlighted in the video clip?
Why are these traits important for a leader/s to possess?

Ensure you explain to your class that there are various types of leaders and discuss how people show leadership.

How can an individual show leadership?
How can a community show leadership?
How can an organisation show leadership?

Note: Here are some additional resources that you might like to explore:

Backtrack Boys Trailer (https://youtu.be/3QIAcuyXZxQ)
BackTrack Bushfire Recovery Efforts (2020) (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T_e2-5fTgLs)
ABC Breakfast Coverage (2019) (https://youtu.be/13Yy-4uoGAc).

Part C: Local Leaders Investigation

Step 1.

Explain to students that the next stage of their learning requires finding a local leader in their community and investigating what makes them effective leaders. This person may have had to respond to a disaster, but it could also be someone they admire and who shows some of the attributes they brainstormed about leadership. Students will use the planning structure on the Student Worksheet to craft an informative speech describing three characteristics they believe make their chosen person a good leader.

Provide students with some prompts to get them thinking:

Do leaders always lead from the front? Are leaders as evident as we believe?
What types of personality traits or attributes do leaders have? Are these personality traits loud or discrete?
Do you have to be an adult to be a leader? Are there children, teenagers in your community or other parts of Australia showing outstanding leadership?

Step 2.

Provide students with time to research and interview their chosen leader if possible. They should use the planning information on the Student Worksheet to help structure their speech and practise this at home before presenting.

Step 3.

Schedule a time for students to present their speeches to the class. Provide formative feedback to students using the ‘Two Stars and a Wish’ strategy - identify two things they did well (the stars), and one area they could improve on (the wish). Their classmates could also complete this as a structured peer feedback activity.

If appropriate, invite the local leaders to attend or record the speech for students to send out to their nominated leader.

Reflection

Give students 5 minutes to write a reflection on the following question on their Student Worksheet:

How can I demonstrate exemplary leadership in my community?

Differentiated Learning

Extension – Confident students might like to read the complimentary ABC article about Shane Fitzsimmons - From disengaged teenager to fire chief: How Shane Fitzsimmons became a leader during the bushfire crisis - ABC News, and select quotations from this to support their table of analysis further.

Provisions for Learning Support – Students with individual needs should find this lesson accessible. If writing things down from the board proves difficult, they could take a photograph, or teachers could take a note of the collated list to share with students. Students may find it helpful to be able to watch the video in their own time or be provided with a reduced length of the video to watch - they could still get some good understanding of leadership from the first 5-10 minutes of the episode.

Teacher Reflection

Take this opportunity to reflect on your own teaching:

What did you learn about your teaching practice today?
What worked well?
What didn't work so well?
What would you share?
Where to next?
How are you going to get there?

Resilient Australia - Resilient Communities - Leadership

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