• 3 hours 50 minutes
Learning / Teaching / Assessment Tasks / Activities
• Students identify the individuals and / or groups involved in a social issue from a reading text
• They examine a series of issues in terms of the individuals and / or groups involved and the possible perspectives they have
• They role-play the individuals and / or groups in court to present their views towards a controversial case
• They write in an online discussion board to present different views towards a controversial case
Materials Required
• Handouts on ‘Examining an issue from various perspectives’
• Role cards for Learning Activity 3 (page T38)
• Information sheets for Learning Activity 3 (pages T39-T41)
Examining an Issue from Various Perspectives
(*An extra unit for more advanced students)
Teacher’s Notes
Learning Activity 1
20 minutes (individual work)
Teachers can distribute an article about a controversial issue for this learning activity.
Alternatively, they can ask students to collect their own article before the lesson, and ask students to swap their articles for this learning activity. Below are a few articles on some controversial issues:
Smoking Ban Looms Over Protesting Entertainment Sector
http://tobacco.cleartheair.org.hk/2009/06/10/smoking-ban-looms-over-protesting-entertainment-sector/
Keep away, Mui Wo tells drugs school
http://edu.singtao.com/eng-s/digest_details.asp?article_id=268&catid=1 Uproar at Tsang June 4 view
http://edu.singtao.com/eng-s/digest_details.asp?article_id=243&catid=1 Learning Activity 2
80 minutes (group work)
(a) After students finish the matching exercise, they can be encouraged to brainstorm other things the different parties might say and add them to the table.
Excessive use of plastic bags
We can tax the use of plastic bags. On the other hand, we fear that this will increase the cost of businesses and the cost of living for the public.
The government We must do something to reduce the use of plastic bags.
Otherwise, we need to build new landfills soon. The cost will be paid by us eventually.
We need cheap, convenient and durable containers for our purchases.
Consumers You can’t expect us to use a paper bag to carry a fish around.
We distribute plastic bags for free upon purchase. We can charge customers for the plastic bags, but this will reduce our competitiveness.
Retailers
Our biggest concern is taking our customers’ wishes into account.
Plastic bag producers
We produce plastic bags. We can use biodegradable materials, but this will inevitably increase the price per bag.
Paper bags are no alternative to plastic bags. Paper is not durable and water-resistant. Besides, the energy demand in producing and transporting paper bags is much higher.
We are concerned about the impact on the environment.
Environmentalists Plastic bags, which are not biodegradable, not only take up a substantial part of our landfills, but they are also a non-renewable resource.
(b) The purpose of this learning activity is to develop students’ ability to perceive an issue from different perspectives. The discussions should be as open-ended as possible.
Teachers should accept any reasonable answer other than those suggested for reference below:
1. Slimming culture
I tried to lose some weight by taking slimming pills but then I felt dizzy and feverish.
People who use
slimming products I can’t stop taking the pills. I rapidly regained the weight I lost when I tried to!
Slimming products with undeclared drug ingredients have many side effects, including increased blood pressure and heart rate and symptoms of psychosis. They are dangerous to people with heart problems.
Nutritionists
Weight control should be achieved with a good diet and appropriate exercise. People should consult healthcare professionals before taking any medication for weight control.
I need to stay slim in order to keep my job. I can’t afford losing shape.
Fashion models Though some countries have banned ultra-thin models from doing catwalks, people in general still fall for slim fashion models. There’s nothing I can do.
Our products are safe as long as you closely follow the directions on the package.
Producers of
slimming products Why not when we can make women feel happier with their appearances?
Our job is to try our best to promote the slimming products using different lines of appeal. Among them, celebrity appeal is the most common and effective.
Advertisers who advertise slimming
products It is important that we only let our target audience see the benefits of the products.
I myself didn’t receive any sex education and that’s why I don’t know how to discuss sex issues with my students now.
Teachers It’s really hard to manage the class when my students get excited at the topics about sex.
The number of cases we have been receiving these years seems to be increasing. The problem is really worrying.
Social workers Sometimes teenagers simply don’t think before they act. It’s sad to see girls considering abortion the easy way out.
I can’t let my parents know so I’m left with no choice but to abort the baby.
Pregnant girls I really regret being so careless, but I can’t kill the baby now.
It’s a life and I will try my best to bring up the baby no matter what.
We have included moral and civic education in our curriculum and we hope that teachers will help to heighten students’
awareness of ethical issues.
Government We will continue to produce TV programmes and other promotional materials to help teenagers to understand the consequence of casual sex.
Catering for Learner Diversity
For less advanced students:
You can ask students to do some research on the two topics before class and answer the guiding questions below as homework before they return to class to complete the tables with their classmates.
1. Slimming culture
(i) Why do people wish to lose weight?
(ii) How is the nutrition affected by reducing the calories by a large extent?
(iii) What impact does the slimming culture have on fashion models?
(iv) Are all slimming products safe?
(v) How are thin women presented in advertisements of slimming products? Are they presented to be confident and beautiful or unhealthy and unattractive? What is the impact of such advertisements?
2. Teenage pregnancy
(i) Who do you think are the closest to a pregnant teenage girl and the most worried about her future? Parents? Boyfriend? School friends? Teachers? How do they feel?
(ii) Who can educate the teenagers? Is their education usually effective?
(iii) Is there any particular group against abortion? Why are they against it? What do they think pregnant teenage girls should do?
(iv) Why is there a continuous increase in the number of teenage pregnancies?
People in which profession have closer contact with teenagers and may have better knowledge about what teenagers think?
(v) Are the media responsible for spreading a casual attitude towards sex? How?
Learning Activity 3 130 minutes (group work)
(a) Teachers can introduce the topic of euthanasia by showing students some related news clippings or even a short clip from a relevant documentary. Short clips related to euthanasia can easily be found on the Internet. The following is an example of a clip which includes different views on euthanasia:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O6EAMD6NS9U&feature=related
Teachers then distribute the situation sheet on page T37 to students. Students should be encouraged to ask for clarification if there is anything they are not certain about. Use of dictionaries should also be allowed.
Then teachers should tell the students that the case has gone to court and the judge has decided that Doctor Kind is NOT guilty.
Teachers distribute the role cards to students. Students playing the same role should form a group and discuss the given questions and their views to the court’s decision.
(b) Students in the same group should then post their views to a discussion board on the Internet, at home or in the Multimedia Learning Centre. Most schools today provide teachers and students with Internet services, often including discussion boards. Just in case teachers need free discussion space, there are many sites that offer it. The following are a few of them:
http://www.quicktopic.com/about.html http://www.boards2go.com/index.html
Catering for Learner Diversity
For less advanced students:
Instead of looking at the court case which may involve challenging vocabulary and procedures, students can be assigned different roles according to the role cards on page T38 and asked to simply express their views on euthanasia in a group. In other words, do not give out the information sheets. They should not see each other’s role cards so that they need to speak in order to express their views. Before the real discussion which will take place in (b), students of the same roles can first sit in groups to prepare how they can elaborate and give examples to support their ideas, as well as what possible arguments may be raised by the other roles and how they can defend their own.
the same time, students can ‘hear’ the opinions of different parties and interact freely with each other.
However, if teachers prefer getting students to write with pen and paper, students can be asked to swap their writing after they finish and respond to another student whose views are different from their own.
(c) The class polls with their feet in this learning activity, which acts as a follow-up speaking learning activity for the euthanasia writing activity in (b). In Learning Activity (c), students no longer play the given role, but they express their own views towards legalising euthanasia in Hong Kong.
First, teachers write ‘Euthanasia SHOULD be legalised’ on one side of the board and
‘Euthanasia SHOULD NOT be legalised’ on the other side. Teachers then ask students to walk to the sign that represents their own opinion. Students sharing the same view should be given some time to explain to each other why they hold that view.
Next, all the students should get back to the middle. Students are now given some time to find someone from the other side of the room in order to convince them.
Catering for Learner Diversity
For less advanced students:
Instead of posting their views to a discussion board on the Internet, students form new groups with students playing other roles and discuss what they think about euthanasia.
They should try to express their opinion as well as respond to others’ views.
For more advanced students:
You can turn this online writing activity into an in-class spoken activity that replicates a court trial to encourage spontaneous responses to each other’s arguments. The court setting is chosen to add a dramatic element to the discussion and encourage students to justify their views in a convincing manner. The information sheets on the following pages should be distributed to students instead of the role cards. Time should be given to students to do research and form arguments in groups before the mock trial.
Catering for Learner Diversity
For less advanced students:
Instead of doing a class poll, students can be asked to write a few lines about how they personally think about euthanasia and be invited to share them with the class.