Teaching sequence

Work through this resource material in the following sequence:

10 minutes

Part A: Player Wellbeing Committee

20 minutes

Part B: What is workplace Health and Safety?

20 minutes

Part C: The Responsibility of the AFL

10 minutes

Reflection

Learning intentions and success criteria

Students will...

understand the impact of policy on everyday lives (in the context of health and safety)
understand the importance of fostering both equality and equity in the development and implementation of policies
understand the importance of responsibility through social, emotional and legal lenses.

Students can...

explain what a policy is and how policies support individuals and the community
read and remember key aspects of the AFLs mental health and anti-racism policies
link the application and outcomes of these policies to equality and equity in terms of racism
access and evaluate health and safety policies, as well as specific anti-racism policies
reflect on the application and intended outcomes of these policies.

Introduction

Hand out the Student Worksheets and invite students to complete the ‘Hear, See, Think’ activity while watching this music video:

‘IHHP Coober Pedy - DreamBIG’ (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w-5Q-yvWarY&list=RD4lW-OAV-UFs&index=25)

Invite students to explain what message the young people in the music video were trying to get across (Hear).

Possible answers: role models are important, we are responsible for creating a bright future, we have a strong community, we’re proud of who we are and where we’re from.

Invite the class to consider that these beliefs contribute to a sense of wellbeing.

Ask students if they noticed the Coober Pedy opal mines. Invite students to discuss what helps the workers stay safe when they work in underground mines.

Explain to students that workplace health and safety is very important for worker wellbeing in all jobs. Inform them that in this lesson, they will be investigating health and safety in the AFL.

Part A: Player wellbeing committee

Step 1

Inform students that they will be participating in a role-play.

Ask for volunteers to play the following roles on a Committee whose role will be centred around player wellbeing:

a chairperson - to make sure the Committee runs smoothly
a minute taker - to write down important points and decisions
a doctor - to advise on physical health and wellbeing
a psychologist - to advise on mental health and wellbeing
an umpire - to advise on the rules of the game
three player representatives - to give the players’ point of view
a media analyst - to advise on how the media might respond to AFL decisions.

Students not playing these roles will be ordinary committee members with an interest in and commitment to AFL.

Step 2

If students have not watched The Final Quarter in full, explain to them that it is about Adam Goodes, an Aboriginal AFL player, who was the target of some hurtful racist comments.

View these clips from The Final Quarter:

Adam's Knee Injury After 'King Kong' Comment (https://vimeo.com/348317682/858470cc9d)

Booing at The 2014 Grand Final and Rob Bonnet Interview (https://vimeo.com/348311955/d28794a65e)

Stan Grant (https://vimeo.com/348313899/f8794360b9)

Step 3

After the Committee views the film excerpts, hand out the following articles to the relevant committee members and allow them a few minutes to read and make notes on these:

Chairperson
- 11 Ways to Facilitate Great Conversations
Minute taker
- What Are Meeting Minutes and Who Records Them at a Meeting?
Doctor
- AFL Factsheet
- 3 Types of psychological stress affecting athletes in-season
Psychologist
- Bullying in Sport
- 3 Types of psychological stress affecting athletes in-season
Umpire (explain to the umpire that this article will be provided to the class for discussion)
- FIFA’s new rules say referees can end a game if the crowds can’t stop being racist
Player representatives
- 2020 AFL Players Multicultural Map
- Supporting Indigenous Footballers Through Their Journey
Media Analyst (explain to the media analyst that these articles will be provided to the class for discussion)
- Anthony Sharwood, Whether it’s racist or not its time to stop booing Adam Goodes
- Miranda Devine, Only Adam Goodes can stop the booing
- www.news.com.au, The AFL has issued an unreserved apology to Adam Goodes over their inaction
General Committee Member
- Booing Adam Goodes – racism is in the stitching of the AFL

Explain to the students that they should use these articles to inform their role in the discussion.

Invite the committee members to fill in the following table from the perspective of their role (on the Student Worksheet):

Example
ROLE	Ordinary Committee Member
POINT OF VIEW	My interest is the fairness of AFL and the health and safety of players. From this point of view booing is OK in AFL, but not if the booing is directed towards a particular player.
QUESTION	Why was Adam Goodes being booed?

Once students have finished completing their table, invite all Committee members to share their points of view and their questions with the whole Committee.

Step 4

Invite the whole Committee to discuss the question:

“Was the booing of Adam Goodes by spectators appropriate? Why or why not?”

Part B: What is workplace Health and Safety?

Step 1

Invite students to write their definitions of the following terms on the Footy Field Worksheet: physical health, mental health, cultural safety.

Step 2

Invite the Committee to read and discuss the following definitions:

"In a person who experiences physical health, bodily functions are working at peak performance, due not only to a lack of disease, but also to regular exercise, balanced nutrition, and adequate rest." - Bridgewater Community Healthcare

“Mental health is a state of well-being in which every individual realises his or her own potential, can cope with the normal stresses of life, can work productively and fruitfully, and is able to make a contribution to her or his community.” - World Health Organisation

“Cultural safety involves actions that recognise, respect and nurture the unique cultural identity of a person and safely meet their needs, expectations, and rights. It means working from the cultural perspective of the other person, not from your own perspective.” - NSW Government

Note: It may be difficult for students to understand the term cultural safety if they have not heard of it before. You might find it useful to give them examples, such as being allowed to learn and speak your own language, being invited to contribute to and make decisions on subjects that affect your own community, and having health providers who come from your own cultural community.

Step 3

Invite the Committee to discuss these questions:

Do football players need strong mental health? Why/why not?
Do football players need cultural safety? Why/why not?

Step 4

Display the AFL Mental Health Framework on the board. Explain that this document is a policy, which is an agreed set of rules that an organisation decides it will abide by. Invite the Committee to give examples of any policies that they know about or have heard of.

Step 5

Lead the Committee in a discussion around the question “Is sport a job?”

Point out that the Sydney Swans is the employer of Adam Goodes and that both The Swans and the AFL have an obligation to provide a safe workplace for him and the other players. Invite questions from the committee about this obligation.

Step 6

Invite the Committee to discuss how their school provides a safe environment and to give examples.

Examples might include playground safety rules, sun safety rules, or an anti-bullying policy.

Step 7

Distribute the AFL Policy Factsheet to the Committee and invite them to review the information provided on AFL’s mental health and anti-vilification policies. Pose the following question: “Does the AFL have a responsibility for the mental health of its players? Why/why not?”

Part C: The responsibility of the AFL

Step 1

Ask the ‘media analyst’ representative to share the following articles showing the media controversy about the booing:

Have the media analyst present the articles to the Committee. Ensure that they emphasise that it took four years before the AFL, and its 18 clubs, unreservedly apologised to Adam Goodes, and that they did finally admit that they did not meet their responsibility to support and protect him amidst the controversy.

You could consider setting up the media analyst at the beginning of the lesson to prepare a proper presentation. This could be a terrific extension task for the right student.

Step 2

Invite the Committee to discuss the following questions:

What would happen if spectators/parents consistently booed one player in a school football match? Why?
What would happen if spectators/parents consistently booed one player in a school football match because of his or her race specifically? Why?
What is the responsibility of the umpires and referees? Ask the umpire representative to share the FIFA factsheet article.

Step 3

Divide the Committee into sub-committees of 3 to 5 members.

Step 4

Invite each sub-committee to create a short AFL policy statement about booing at AFL matches.

You might like each group to focus their policy on a different audience, or an alternative topic relevant to vilification (such as: rude language, name-calling/bullying or slogans/images on clothing).

Step 5

Invite groups to share their policy statements with the class.

Reflection

Invite students to complete the Circle Reflection activity on the Student Worksheet.

Inside the circle, ask students to write about what they learned that they found interesting and relevant and that they want to file away for later.
Outside the circle, ask students to write the things they learned that they felt weren’t particularly relevant to them, but that they can see how other people might find important.

(As an extension, students could write down the people for whom this information is more relevant.)

Differentiated Learning

Extension - Write a response to this question, using examples from the lesson today to support your arguments:

Do you think it would be valuable for sports organisations to have a 'Player Wellbeing Committee'? Why?

Provisions for Learning Support

Instead of completing the reflection activity, students could answer the following questions:
- If you were to write a headline right now about racist booing in sport that captured the most important aspect that should be remembered, what would that headline be?
- How has your headline changed based on today's discussion? How does it differ from what you would have said yesterday?

Students may be unfamiliar with words pertaining to racism. You might like to share this Racism Vocabulary factsheet with them.
This lesson requires teacher sensitivity to students' feelings and experiences in relation to racial discrimination, bullying and harassment. Teachers are encouraged to create an environment where students feel supported in their emotional response throughout the lesson and after the lesson.

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 - Racism And Workplace Responsibility

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Summary

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