Teaching sequence

Work through this resource material in the following sequence:

15 minutes

Part A: Who is presenting on TV?

30 minutes

Part B: Case study - The booing of Adam Goodes

30 minutes

Part C: Credibility of views

20 minutes

Part D: Optional research task

5 minutes

Reflection

Learning intentions and success criteria

Students understand...

the importance of having diversity in the presents information on TV.
some of the problems associated with the lack of representation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples in the media.
how media outlets and TV presenters share attitudes and views about social issues.
how TV presenters’ attitudes and views differ.

Students can...

identify and categorise media representation.
describe some of the problems associated with a lack of diversity in the media.
evaluate statements about the views and attitudes presented.
find and summarise relevant sources about a social issue.
share findings in small groups and with the class.

Part A: Who is presenting on TV?

Step 1

Introduce the lesson by asking students to identify television shows that have presenters – people who talk to the camera.

Students may respond with examples such as news and current affairs programs, panel shows that have regular hosts and guests, sports, music and children’s programs, talent shows and events or special programming.

If students are struggling to think of programs, encourage them to think of specific networks or for them to reflect on the programs they or their parents may have watched recently.

Step 2

Provide each student with a Student Worksheet and invite them to list as many television presenters as they can (newsreaders, hosts, panel members, journalists, etc.). If students are struggling to think of specific names, you may ask them to use the internet to help expand their list.

Encourage students to share their responses in table groups to help build up their list of presenters.

Step 3

Once students have created a list of at least ten, invite them to put an ‘F’ next to the female presenters and ‘M’ next to the male presenters. In their table groups, encourage students to discuss the data they have created.

The following questions may be useful to prompt discussion (also on the Student Worksheet):

How many female presenters are on your list? How many are male?
Why do you think you have listed one gender more than the other? (Only if relevant)
Which television presenters were listed most often? Why do you think this may be?

Step 4

While in the same table groups, ask students to list other ways that the television presenters could be categorised. Some examples could be by network, program type, age, time of day shown, etc.

Step 5

Invite each group to share their ideas with the class of how the television presenters could be categorised and write their responses on the board.

Step 6

The following step will be dependent on the responses of the previous.

If students have listed the category of cultural or racial background, ask students how many of their presenters are First Nations peopless. Why do they think this might be the case?

If students have not suggested cultural or racial background as a category type, prompt students to think about the different cultural backgrounds of the presenters. This could be followed with a more direct question asking if anyone has an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander person on their list.

Step 7

Explain to students that there are many Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples who present information on Australian television. Use this as an opportunity to share with them some names and television shows where Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples are represented. These could include:

Stan Grant
Brooke Boney
Ernie Dingo
Marngrook Footy Show (axed in October 2019) - Grant Hansen, Gilbert McAdam, Shelley Ware, Leila Gurruwiwi
The Point - Karla Grant, Rae Johnston, Allan Clarke, Ryan Liddle
NITV News - Kris Flanders, Natalie Ahmat

Ensure students understand that this list is not a definitive list, rather a list to highlight First Nations contributions in the media.

Step 8

After listing some Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander presenters, facilitate a class discussion focusing on some of the problems associated with the lack of representation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples presenting in the mainstream media.

The following questions may be used to help prompt discussion:

How many of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander presenters have you heard of? Why might this be the case?
Why do you think there are not more Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples on mainstream Australian television?
What might be some challenges faced by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples when wanting to present on television? How do you think these obstacles can be overcome?

Part B: Case Study - The booing of Adam Goodes

Step 1

Invite students to share with the class what they already know about Adam Goodes and how his AFL career finished.

Note: If students have not watched the documentary film The Final Quarter, further information about Adam Goodes, his career and the challenges he faced standing up against racist attitudes and behaviours can be found in the Teacher Content Information at the beginning of this lesson.

Step 2

Explain to students that they will soon watch a clip from the documentary The Final Quarter, which highlights the commentary in the media following Adam Goodes being booed while playing for the Sydney Swans. Ensure students understand that it was not a one-off event, rather a sustained campaign against him. The commentary from the film focuses on whether the booing of Adam Goodes was racially motivated.

Step 3

Invite students to move to where they can see the screen and show the following clip to the class.

Is this racist? (https://vimeo.com/378672096/84b54537e8)

Step 4

Once students have watched the clip, allow students a few minutes to informally discuss their thoughts and reactions while moving back to their desks.

Note: Allowing time for students to informally discuss the clip with their peers may help them understand and process the issues and information presented in the film.

Step 5

Divide students into groups of two or three to analyse the clip in more detail. Explain to the class that they will re-watch the clip in their groups and identify people and their views presented in their commentary using the first two columns of the table on the Student Worksheet (also below).

Encourage all group members to complete their own table as they work through the clip.

Step 6

Once students have completed the first two columns of the table, invite students to work together to write an evaluative statement about each commentator’s views and attitudes presented. This statement is designed to ‘sum up’ the commentator’s perspective.

A sample evaluative statement for Gillon McLachlan could be:

Gillon McLachlan was unwilling to take a side on whether the booing was racially motivated or not because he didn’t feel he had enough information.

Step 7

Invite students to select three different-coloured pens or symbols to categorise the views of each commentator.

Colour/symbol 1 – the commentator believes the booing to be racially motivated
Colour/symbol 2 – the commentator believes the booing not to be racially motivated
Colour/symbol 3 – the commentator’s views lie somewhere in the middle

Encourage students to use their evaluative statements to guide their categorisation.

Step 8

Invite students to work in their groups to unpack the collected data (on the clip) using these prompts:

What patterns do you notice in the data?
What do you notice about the diversity of representation in the clip, such as gender, cultural background, age or other demographics?
What do you think the impact might be on the audiences who watch these programs? How might the patterns in representation affect how people view issues?
Based on what you have just examined, do you think diversity in mainstream media is important? Why/why not?

Part C: Credibility of views

Step 1

Ask students to consider who they think should be commenting or listened to about whether the booing was racist. Read out the following list and ask students to raise their hands for who they think should be speaking on this topic?

Mainstream sporting commentators
Mainstream social commentators
First Nations social commentators
First Nations sporting commentators
People directly affected by the issue
Other experts

Step 2

Invite students to turn to a partner and discuss the following questions:

How do you determine who has credibility on a topic?
Who should you listen to?
Walk around the room and listen to the conversations. Take note of some of the popular views you are hearing.

Step 3

Explain to students that in the following clip, the panel is discussing the issue of the booing of Adam Goodes. Play the following clip from The Final Quarter:

Marngrook Footy Show (https://vimeo.com/348313270/7fba13556c)

Step 4

Invite students to share what they noticed about the clip and how they felt regarding the opinions shared by the Marngrook Footy Show panel. Ask students if they agree that people who have experienced racism, and particularly Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, are more qualified to talk about racism than people who represent the dominant culture of Australian society (white, non-Indigenous people).

Step 5

Play the following clip from The Final Quarter featuring the voice of Stan Grant (who is a mainstream commentator and Wiradjuri man):

Listen to the Answer (https://vimeo.com/350234994/766b409317)

Step 6

Invite students to unpack what Stan Grant was saying. You might like to use the following questions to structure the discussion:

Why did he mention Andrew Bolt and Alan Jones?
Were you surprised that he said that no one should be silenced from the debate?
Why do you think it’s important for people to listen and who should they be listening to?

Step 7

Ask students if they have any further views on who might be a credible source on the topic of whether the booing of Adam Goodes was racist?

Step 8

Play the following two clips from The Final Quarter of Stan Grant and Waleed Aly, who are both mainstream television presenters, but both from minority backgrounds.

Stan Grant2 (https://vimeo.com/348313849/48df7bed9d)

Waleed Aly (https://vimeo.com/348323166/f0e8b3d755)

Step 9

Invite students to rejoin their groups and complete the following table based on the two clips they just viewed:

Name/program	Info (select)	Views/attitudes presented	Evaluative statement
Marngrook Footy Show presenters	Male/Female Under 35/Over 35 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander/Non-Indigenous
Stan Grant	Male/Female Under 35/Over 35 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander/Non-Indigenous
Waleed Aly	Male/Female Under 35/Over 35 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander/Non-Indigenous

When students have completed the table, ask them to compare this table with the earlier one they completed and consider the following questions:

Have they discovered any new information?
What do they notice about the difference in viewpoints shared?
Are there any patterns?

Step 10

Distribute the Shannan Dodson Article to each student and read through it as a class.

Draw attention to this quote:

“Ms Dodson said the lack of Indigenous voices to speak out about the jeering of Goodes at the time was a real issue.
‘With any type of conflict, the person that is hurting is the one that needs to be heard,’ she said.
‘I think a lot of Indigenous people felt that there just weren’t those voices to express why it was such a big issue... There was a lot of non-Indigenous commentary about why it wasn’t hurtful when it’s really not up to someone else to decide when they’ve hurt someone.’”

Step 11

Invite students to discuss in groups:

Do you agree that “the person that is hurting is the one that needs to be heard”?
Who do you think might have been hurting because of the booing? Who else?
What voices should have been paid more attention to?

Part D: Optional research task

This task could be completed for homework.

Step 1

Direct students to this list of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander television presenters/personalities who commented on the booing of Adam Goodes (on the Student Worksheet).

Note: Some suggested articles have been included for students who may have difficulty with the next task.

Stan Grant - https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/jul/30/i-can-tell-you-how-adam-goodes-feels-every-indigenous-person-has-felt-it
Charlie King - https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-07-21/adam-goodes-faced-racism-because-he-was-powerful-charlie-king/11328552
Brooke Boney - https://www.huffingtonpost.com.au/brooke-boney/adam-goodes-booed-againb_8127980.html
Gilbert McAdam - https://www.theage.com.au/sport/afl/the-serious-side-of-the-marngrook-footy-shows-gilbert-mcadam-20140904-10cfws.html
Miranda Tapsell - https://www.news.com.au/entertainment/tv/miranda-tapsell-is-a-vision-in-living-colour-and-wants-to-see-more-diversity-on-australian-tv/news-story/9a1e865f80aaf3121789f62d7960d595

Step 2

Explain to students that for this task, they will select one of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander presenters listed and conduct some research about them and their views on the booing of Adam Goodes. Based on their research, they will fill in the Research Table below. Then they are to write three paragraphs or create a short video where they explain the value of being exposed to diverse views in the media. They should make reference to the views of the person they researched.

Research Table

Name and tribe/clan/country (if available)

Info (select)

Information/views presented

Summary of key information

Male/Female

Under 35/Over 35

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander/Non-Indigenous

Step 3

Invite students to find information about their chosen presenter from a range of media sources. Sources could include:

Newspapers
Blogs
Social media
Radio interviews
Podcasts
News reports
TV talk shows

Step 4

Support students to complete their Research Table. Once this is complete, invite them to compare the tables with earlier tables analysing The Final Quarter clips.

Step 5

Allow students some time to write three paragraphs or create a short video where they explain the value of being exposed to diverse views in the media.

Reflection

Invite students to reflect on their understanding from the lesson by thinking about the following question:

How has learning about the media coverage on the booing of Adam Goodes made you think about where and who you are getting information from?

Students should aim for a minimum of three sentences to show different areas of understanding.

Differentiated learning

Extension

In Part A, invite students to research and create a biographical profile on one of the listed presenters, with a focus on how they made their way into the media. They could use this to add to or compare with the task in Part D.

Provisions for Learning Support

Instead of the research task in Part D, students can read the following article and comment on the views of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander presenters.
- Adam Goodes debate: Prominent Aboriginal Australians reveal toll of racism - https://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-07-31/prominent-aboriginal-australians-reveal-toll-of-racism/6664418
In Part D, rather than an independent research task, you could provide students with one of the articles below:
- Stan Grant - https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/jul/30/i-can-tell-you-how-adam-goodes-feels-every-indigenous-person-has-felt-it
- Charlie King - https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-07-21/adam-goodes-faced-racism-because-he-was-powerful-charlie-king/11328552
- Brooke Boney - https://www.huffingtonpost.com.au/brooke-boney/adam-goodes-booed-againb_8127980.html
- Gilbert McAdam - https://www.theage.com.au/sport/afl/the-serious-side-of-the-marngrook-footy-shows-gilbert-mcadam-20140904-10cfws.html
- Miranda Tapsell - https://www.news.com.au/entertainment/tv/miranda-tapsell-is-a-vision-in-living-colour-and-wants-to-see-more-diversity-on-australian-tv/newsstory/9a1e865f80aaf3121789f62d7960d595

Teacher reflection

Take this opportunity to reflect on your own teaching:

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

The Final Quarter - Diversity In The Media

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