Teaching Sequence

Work through this resource material in the following sequence:

15 minutes

Tune In: Values in public acts of charity

25 minutes

Find Out: Is Compassionate giving always positive?

15 minutes

Take Action: How to engage in more respectful, compassionate giving

5 minutes

Reflection

Tune In: Values in public acts of charity

Step 1

Watch the following video (6:13 mins) with your students, which shows MrBeast, a popular YouTuber, helping 1000 people hear again by giving state-of-the-art hearing technology to them. Only watch as many examples from the video as your students need to understand the message.

1,000 Deaf People Hear For The First Time - MrBeast (www.youtube.com/watch?v=WTOm65IZneg)

Step 2

Reflect on the video with your students by using the Values, Identities, Actions Visible Thinking Routine. Invite students to use their personal devices to explore the video’s YouTube page, as well as the video description. You could divide students into groups and encourage them to discuss using the prompts in the table or invite them to write their answers independently into the Student Worksheet. Encourage your students to think deeply about what they are seeing, and pick out the possible positive and negative aspects of this type of giving.

Values

What values does this video make you think about?
Dig deeper. Are they your values or others' values?
What positive values did you see?
What negative values might there be?

Identities

Who is this video representing?
Who is this video aimed at?
Dig deeper. Is anyone left out of the story that should be in it?
How do you fit into this story?

Actions

What actions might this video encourage?
Dig deeper. What actions does it encourage on the surface?
Explore the video’s YouTube page. What actions does it encourage overall?

Find Out: Is compassionate giving always positive?

Step 1

In the previous lesson in this unit, Enhancing Wellbeing Through Altruistic Behaviour, students looked into the concept of altruism and its effects on wellbeing. If you haven’t completed this lesson, you may like to share the definition of altruism with your students

Altruism refers to behaviours that benefit another person or alleviate their distress without any foreseeable benefit—and often a cost—to the actor and without an expectation of anything in return (Source: Batson & Powell (2003); de Waal (2008)). An example of altruistic behaviour might be someone giving money to someone in need, where they willingly give up their own resources without standing to gain anything material for themselves. Another example might be someone who volunteers 3 hours a week managing the social media pages for a local animal shelter.

Considering this concept and the information your students found out from watching the video, ask your students to answer the following question: Does this video show true altruistic behaviour?

Suggested response: While this video can be seen as an act of generosity and kindness, the question of whether it represents true altruistic behaviour is complex. Altruism, by definition, involves selfless actions without the expectation of personal gain. There are elements that suggest both altruistic intent and aspects related to publicity and content creation. There are positive outcomes for the recipients, and MrBeast highlights the impact of his gifts on individuals and communities, so this aligns with the idea of altruism benefiting others without expecting anything in return. However, the videos are part of MrBeast's content strategy, and they contribute to his online presence and popularity. The public nature of the gifts and the associated publicity raise questions about whether there is an element of personal gain, such as increased viewership, subscribers, positive public image, and monetary gain. It's essential to consider the multiple dimensions and motivations behind such acts.

Step 2

Show this video to your students, which shows a TikToker’s random act of kindness, and discuss whether it truly is a kind and altruistic act.

Australian TikToker Creates Media Storm Over Video Of 'Kind Act' For Woman - The Project (www.youtube.com/watch?v=aVX88ORJmyQ)

Step 3

Watch the beginning of the video again until 0:50 minutes and discuss with your students why the woman might not have wanted the flowers.

What is it that this woman objects to other than being filmed without her permission?
Do you think this woman is being respected?
What do we, the viewers, see when he hands her the flowers? How might we judge this situation?
Is it fair to make this judgement?
What are the benefits of what this TikToker is doing?
Does it seem most people appreciate the gifts?

Step 4

Discuss with your students a list of different perspectives in this video. Who are the people involved in this scenario?

the ‘giver’
the ‘receiver’
the TikToker’s followers
the broader audience once it went viral

Use the Circle of Viewpoints Visible Thinking routine to draw out your class thinking of this issue. Assign each of your students a different perspective (your class may have suggested more than are listed above) and invite them to independently brainstorm guided by the questions below (and on their Student Worksheet).

I am thinking of this issue from the viewpoint of _______________________________________
I think _________________________________ (Describe the issue from your viewpoint)
A question I have from this viewpoint is _______________________________________

Step 5

Once students have finished their responses, invite them to share their thinking in pairs before coming together as a class to discuss the different viewpoints on this issue.

Step 6

Display or write the following statement on the board, then ask the class for 3 reasons why we could agree and 3 reasons why we could disagree. You might like to note these responses on the board.

“By filming acts of charitable giving, we inspire and encourage others to also give.”

Take Action: How to engage in more respectful, compassionate giving

Preparation

This lesson and the other lessons in this unit use The Life You Can Save book and organisation to inspire students to develop their ethical thinking capabilities and think critically about what it means to be considerate and giving. To give some context around this lesson and the resources students will use in the following steps, you might like to explain to your students that The Life You Can Save works to eliminate poverty. They look into different non-profits that are running highly impactful programs to help reduce poverty. They figure out which programs work well to solve problems stemming from poverty and then try to tell more people about them to gain support. They also help connect people who want to donate money with these non-profits, so their donations can make a big impact. They aim to create a world where everyone has an opportunity to build a great life and where there’s no suffering or death due to extreme poverty.

Step 1

Explain to students that the concept of upholding the dignity of beneficiaries (people who are receiving the giving) is extremely important in the context of compassionate giving. Dignity is the right of a person to be valued, respected and treated ethically.

Watch the following video with your students, which provides examples of what dignity means to people living in Guyana.

What is Dignity? - Global Dignity (www.youtube.com/watch?v=vhr2_id2hpU)

Considering the definition of dignity above, prompt your students with the following:

The people in the video mention the “self” as often as they mention others. How do students think “dignity” is related to the self?

Ask your students if the woman in the original TikTok video was respected and treated ethically. Did she feel valued? Respected? Explain your answer.

This concept is not just restricted to people being filmed for the purpose of social media videos. Upholding the dignity of all people receiving any type of compassionate giving is essential.

Step 2

Ask your students to choose a famous YouTuber or TikTok star known for their ‘acts of kindness’ content. If students don’t know of any off the top of their heads, you could encourage them to focus on the example of the TikToker used in the Find Out Section.

Students should read the factsheet Advancing Dignity in Global Development, which details information adapted from a blog post by The Life You Can Save on why the dignity of people receiving aid is important to be acknowledged, and ways this can be taken into account to achieve better outcomes.

After reading through the factsheet, students should write a piece of communication to the content creator to either acknowledge the way that they are respecting the dignity of the people they are featuring in their content, or make suggestions about how they could better safeguard the dignity of these people. Students should try to include as much evidence and as many facts as possible, considering the issue from multiple perspectives in order to create a holistic response.

Encourage students to focus on just 1 video from the creator to make the task a little more manageable.

Students requiring extension could conduct further research to support their arguments, perhaps including evidence around the impact of anonymous vs. named gifts.

Students requiring additional support could make a list of pros and cons around the creator's content.

Step 3

You might like students to share their letters with a partner or the class to broaden their thinking on how everyone can be respected and treated equally and with dignity.

Reflection

Invite your students to reflect on the lesson using the I Used to Think, Now I Think Visible Thinking Routine to consider how their thinking about the compassionate giving they have seen on social media has changed over the course of the lesson.

I used to think:

Now I think:

The Hidden Impact of Acts of Kindness on Social Media

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Summary

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