Teaching Sequence

Work through this resource material in the following sequence:

Description of the worksheet

15 minutes

Part A: Understanding The Experiences Of Others

15 minutes

Part B: Reflecting On Generalisations

25 minutes

Part C: Challenging Generalisations With Our Mindset

10 minutes

Reflection: Journal Entry

Part A: Understanding The Experiences Of Others

Step 1. Invite students to reflect for one minute about a situation where they were unfairly generalised or judged by someone because of their skin colour, religion, age, clothes, gender expression, socioeconomic status, academic ability or the community or suburb they live in. If students don’t have a situation, they can reflect on a time when they witnessed someone else being generalised or judged.

Note: If students aren’t sure what it means to generalise, you could share this definition:

Generalise: “to say or write that something is true all of the time when it is only true some of the time.” (Free Dictionary)

Step 2. On a piece of paper, ask students to spend five minutes writing about this situation. Explain this will be anonymously shared with their peers. Provide your students with the following questions for their writing:

Why can stereotyping and generalising feel like someone has made their mind up about you before they have even met you?
Why do you think you/they were being stereotyped? What words or actions suggested this?
How did the experience make you feel?

Step 3. Collect each student's response, shuffle the papers and redistribute them to the students. Ensure that no student has their own response.

Step 4. Allow students time to read and reflect on the personal experience of their peer, written on the paper they have received.

Step 5. On the piece of paper they have received, invite students to write an alternative scenario on how the experience would have changed if the person acted with kindness, instead of unfairly generalising.

Step 6. Ask students to collect a piece of blu-tack (or pin if you have a pinboard) and direct them to a space on the classroom walls or whiteboard where they can display the papers.

Step 7. Invite students to conduct a gallery walk to read the experiences and responses of all of their peers.

Part B: Reflecting On Generalisations

Step 1. Explain to students that the following video features interviews with professional Australian soccer players, Kyah Simon, Andrew Redmayne and Nikolai Topor-Stanley. The athletes were asked to talk about generalisation and stereotyping.

Before playing the video, direct students to the Student Worksheet and instruct them to complete the ‘See’ box of the See Think Me We grid reflection whilst they watch.

See: Write down anything you notice about the athletes and their responses.

Step 2. Play the video:

Tackling Racism - Generalising (https://player.vimeo.com/video/771804562)

Invite students to share their thoughts about the video and lead a short discussion. You might like to use the following prompts:

What examples of generalisation were shared in the video?
How did generalisations affect the athletes?
How did the athletes think about stereotyping and making assumptions about people?
What else stood out?

Step 3. Direct students to the Student Worksheet to complete the ‘Think, Me, We’ elements of the reflection grid.

Think: Do you think people are similar to each other, or is every person unique?

Me: Do you follow the crowd or are you more likely to make up your own mind about people and situations?

We: Why do humans generalise or stereotype others?

Part C: Challenging Generalisations With Our Mindset

Step 1. Play the following video:

Growth Mindset vs. Fixed Mindset (https://youtu.be/M1CHPnZfFmU)

Step 2. Show students this image borrowed from @holisticallygrace on Instagram:

Step 3. Invite students to reflect on the video and what they have learnt about a ‘fixed’ and ‘growth’ mindset. Students may like to reflect on their own or discuss what they have learnt with their peers.

Step 4. Display this provocation and allow students thinking time to read it and reflect privately on the following question:

How can we challenge generalisations with our mindset?

Step 5. Divide students into groups of four and have them complete the Connect, Extend and Challenge activity on the Student Worksheet.

Connect: How is this information connected to what you know?
Extend: How does this perspective of a fixed and growth mindset broaden your thinking about racism, othering and generalisation?
Challenge: Why is it important to feel challenged in order to grow?

Students should note down the different perspectives of their peers.

Reflection - Journal Entry

Step 1. Explain to the students that they will have 10 minutes to journal their thoughts. They will complete their journal entry in their journals if they have one, or else on lined paper. Students can draw, write or dot-point their feelings in this journal entry. Please explain to students that their journal entries will be private and they will not be expected to share them with anyone, including the teacher.

Step 2. In their journal entry, invite students to reflect on the following question:

How can functioning with a growth mindset overcome racism, othering and generalising?

Differentiated Learning

Extension -

In Part A, students may like to create a ‘Notice and Wonder’ table to document their thoughts and observations during the gallery walk.
In Part B, students can write a paragraph that summarises their See Me Think We reflection grid.
In the Reflection, ask students to extend their thinking by responding to this additional question: How can functioning with a growth mindset improve your mental health and wellbeing, even in the face of bullying or racism?

Provisions for Learning Support -

In Part A, provide a See Me Think We reflection grid worked example to demonstrate what the task requires them to do.

Teacher Reflection

Tackling Racism - Generalising

Go to

Summary

Lesson guides and printables

In this lesson