4REAL SCHOOL CURRICULAR DOCUMENT FOR GRADES 6-12
ENGAGING YOUTH GLOBALLY THROUGH ART, MUSIC, CULTURE AND DIGITAL MEDIA TO CREATE COMMUNITY AND POSITIVE CHANGE
4REAL CITY OF GOD
4REAL Host Sol Guy takes rap star and actor Mos Def to meet Brazilian hip hop artist and activist MV Bill. MV Bill uses his talent and influence to empower the children of Brazil’s favelas (slums). In addition to opening youth centers, he has also dedicated himself to documenting and improving the lives of children caught in Brazil’s brutal drug trafficking.
Issues explored in 4REAL School city of god: Global Power of Hip Hop, Youth and the Drug Trade, Active Witnessing, Children’s Rights and Dreams and Community Leadership.
CONTENTS
Message to the Educator 4 The 4REAL Story 5 Message to the Youth 6 About 4REAL School 7 4REAL Documentaries 8 4REAL School Approach & Goals 9 4REAL School Classroom Support 11 Guide to the 4REAL School Curricular Document 12 4REAL City of God 13 Youth and Violence in the Drug Trade 16 Quick Lesson: 19 4REAL City of God - Connect and Collaborate! Previewing Lesson: 22 Socio-Economic Class Divides Lesson 1: 25 Global Awareness and Hip Hop Lesson 2: 31 Responding Critically to Messages Through Hip Hop Lesson 3: 35 Children’s Wants, Needs and Rights Lesson 4: 39 Speak Out Against Discrimination Lesson 5: 45 Dream a Crazy Dream! Lesson 6: 51 Leadership - Creating Alternatives Glossary 55 References and Recommended Resources 57 Appendices 1-22 63 4REAL School Feedback Forms 103 Credits and Contributions 105
3 MESSAGE TO THE EDUCATOR
Amazing young leaders around the world, through their compassion, determination and optimism, are addressing global issues and creating remarkable opportunities in their communities. Educators worldwide are among the most important figures in the lives of future young leaders. By teaching youth about issues that matter and showing them ways to make our world a better place, educators bring to the lives of their students an awareness of the astounding human capacity to create change. 4REAL School offers activities, curricular documents (in print and electronic format) and 4REAL documentaries to help educators engage young people in global issues and empower them to take action for positive change in their lives and communities.
The content of 4REAL School is designed to accomplish the following: To leverage the “cool” factor of celebrity appeal, music, art and culture to engage students in discussion about global issues. To shed light on issues such as extreme poverty, environmental degradation, human rights, dangers of the drug trade, child soldiers, substance misuse and access to health care and education. To nurture global-mindedness and critical thinking on the interconnectedness of global communities and shared responsibilities of global citizens. To promote leadership through sharing stories of young leaders who are addressing local and global challenges with hope, optimism and tangible solutions. To increase students’ levels of media literacy, including learning to use internet resources and create their own media. To educate holistically and engage youth in safe, creative and powerful learning environments. To inspire students to get involved and take action on issues that they are passionate about. THE 4REAL STORY – Coming full circle
SOL GUY AND JOSH THOME, CO-FOUNDERS AND CO-CREATORS Josh and Sol OF 4REAL circa 1980
In early 2008, after five years of collaboration and more than 25 years of friendship, Sol Guy and Josh Sol quit the mainstream Josh and Sol Thome successfully launched the 4REAL project. The record industry and 4REAL story began in the early 1970s in the Kootenay reconnected with Josh in today Mountains of British Columbia. As youth, Josh and Sol Canada in 2001, and since had learned from their parents, who were close friends then they have worked and were socially aware, a life-long sense of social together to integrate global youth networks with media, responsibility. music and culture. In 2008, Sol and Josh were named National Geographic Emerging Explorers for their work. As young adults, Sol and Josh excelled in their fields: Sol in the music industry and Josh in the environmental movement. As collaborators,
As adults, the trajectories of Josh and Sol’s career Josh and Sol have paths crossed as a result of their shared commitment to social issues and passion to make a difference. The brought together environmental club Josh had started in high school led their career strengths to his involvement in a conference that launched the nationwide Environmental Youth Alliance, with more and commitment to than 60,000 students. He went on to build similar networks around the world through multimedia tours social issues to create and in 1992 presented at a UN event on youth, the environment and education. He was contracted by the 4REAL, a series of short Clinton administration to appropriate grants to youth environmental projects, and for his work he received the documentary-style Sierra Club President’s award. With sponsorship from shows that invite youth the Environmental Defense Fund in New York, Josh then developed the Student Action Network. to connect with young Meanwhile, Sol had pursued a career in the music leaders around the world industry. He created an independent record label and went on to develop and manage the careers of several and to become engaged successful hip hop artists and after moving to New York soon became one of the top young executives in the in important issues in music industry. He has worked with some of the best- known and most successful artists in the industry. In their lives.
2001, Sol was invited to Sierra Leone to be part of a documentary about the nine-year civil war that had just This 4REAL School kit, drawing on the powerful stories ended. As a witness to the effects of the war (waged of young leaders around the world, offers support to primarily over diamond industry control) on the lives of educators in their efforts to inspire and motivate their the people of Sierra Leone, Sol returned to New York, students. shaken, and with a very different perspective on the materialistic hip hop scene in the United States.
5 MESSAGE TO THE YOUTH
You are about to embark on the journey of a lifetime: one that will allow you to see both the strength of the human spirit and the challenges that humanity faces in our ever-changing world. 4REAL School invites you to meet young leaders who are transforming the world because they have fully committed to being their best in pursuit of their passion for peace, justice and the environment. They have a lot to teach us all about overcoming adversity and creating positive change. Take it in and pass it on. Now it’s in your hands. It’s your life. Live the dream.
co-creators of 4real
Sol Guy and Josh Thome went to school together in the Kootenay Mountains of British Columbia. After high school, Josh left for California to follow his passion for environmental advocacy and Sol went to New York to follow his passion for the music scene. Sol soon became one of the top young executives in the music industry, working with artists such as the Rascalz, Usher, Puff Daddy, Outkast, Lauryn Hill, India Arie, The Roots, Dead Prez, B.I.G., and The Wu-Tang Clan. Josh became involved in the nationwide Environmental Youth Alliance, with more than 60,000 students, and he went on to build similar networks around the world through multimedia tours, later winning the Sierra Club President’s award for his work. In his first video, hosted by Michael Stipe of R.E.M., Josh interviewed outstanding young leaders around the world. The video was broadcast globally as MTV’s Earth Day Special.
In 2001, Sol and Josh reunited and talked about ways to integrate global youth networks with media, music and culture. After five years of creative collaboration, they created 4REAL, a series of documentary-style shows about their journeys to meet young leaders who are making a difference in their communities and around the world. As well as creating and producing the documentaries, Sol is the host and Josh operates the camera. In early 2008, the 4REAL documentary series aired on CTV and MTV in Canada, on CW in the United States, and globally on National Geographic Channels International in 166 countries and 34 languages. The 4REAL School activities allow you to join Sol and Josh (and the celebrities they have invited along the way) in places like Kenya, Brazil and Haiti as they tell the stories of the astounding human capacity to create positive change. Welcome to 4REAL School!
Sol Guy, 4REAL Host ABOUT 4REAL SCHOOL
REAL PEOPLE. REAL PLACES. REAL STORIES. REAL CHANGE!
COMPASSION • LEADERSHIP • INSPIRATION • ACTION
4REAL School supports educators in their efforts to Each documentary is accompanied by a curricular engage students in addressing issues such as human document (in print and/or electronic format) that rights, the interdependence of societies, sustainability offers educators ideas for interactive classroom and and the role of youth as global citizens. 4REAL School online activities. The curricular documents promote tells the stories of young leaders and their courage, the principle of peer and experiential education and creativity and dedication to tackling issues such as encourage youth to actively listen to and learn from one poverty, the environment/sustainability, health care, another about global issues that affect us all. It sends human and Indigenous rights, drug/alcohol misuse and youth the message that “It’s cool to care.” violence. These are real heroes of our time. The 4REAL School Kit is designed for integration There are eight 4REAL School Kits. The kits can be across grade 6-12 curricular subject areas such as acquired individually or as a complete set. Social Studies, Language Arts, Geography, Social Justice, Career and Health Education, Media Arts and Each kit includes one 4REAL documentary from the Leadership. series that follows 4REAL host Sol Guy as he takes celebrity guests on adventures around the world to connect with young leaders who, under extreme circumstances, are effecting real change on some of the most pressing issues of our time.
Note: Beyond the exposure that 4REAL provides, the young leaders profiled are partners, with 50 percent of the documentary series’ profits going directly to their initiatives.
7 4REAL documentaries
Documentary Leader Celebrity Issues
1. 4REAL Yawanawa Tashka Yawanawa Joaquin Phoenix Indigenous rights and the Amazon Rainforest
2. 4REAL City of God MV Bill Mos Def Youth, drugs, poverty and violence
3. 4REAL Kenya Salim Mohamed K’NAAN Poverty, community development
4. 4REAL Liberia Kimmie Weeks M.I.A. Child soldiers, education, poverty
5. 4REAL Haiti Camseuze Moise Flea (Red Hot Chili Access to health care and education Peppers)
6. 4REAL Peru Puma Singona Cameron Diaz Indigenous culture, urban migration
7. 4REAL Pawnee Crystal Echo Hawk Casey Affleck Native rights, cultural and youth pride, reservation life
8. 4REAL Vancouver Liz Evans Eva Mendes Substance abuse, affordable housing
Celebrity guests featured in 4REAL (from left): Casey Affleck, Flea, Cameron Diaz, Eva Mendes, Mos Def, M.I.A., K’NAAN, Joaquin Phoenix. THE 4REAL SCHOOL approach AND GOALS
4REAL School supports educators in nurturing global-mindedness through a critical approach to teaching and learning about the complexities and interconnectedness of our global communities and our social responsibility as global citizens. The Head, Heart & Hand concepts (Clipsam, 2005) are a variation on and integration of well-known and commonly used approaches in holistic and global education, striving to involve students on three different levels: intellectually (head), compassionately (heart) and actively (hand).
1. THE HEAD — INTELLECTUAL The “head” involves presenting as many perspectives as possible from a variety of information sources that address global issues and social change. These activities will enable students to better understand the information presented to them, to analyze it and to practice critical thinking.
2. THE HEART — EMPATHIC INVOLVEMENT OF STUDENTS An important component of 4REAL School is empathy training and integrating care and compassion into the classroom through experiential learning activities. The “heart” involves an examination of basic human, ethical and moral attitudes and values within the issues taken up. These activities will help students to compassionately integrate and act upon the knowledge she or he has gained.
3. THE HAND — ACTION PROJECT The “hand” involves searching for and examining possible solutions to different problems and determining ways that we can work individually and collectively toward these solutions. Rather than leaving students with a sense of despair or hopelessness for resolution to injustices they learn about, this approach helps them to develop a sense of empowerment as conscious and ethical consumers and as participants in the quest for social justice, peace and a healthy economy and environment, at school, at home and in the world.
4REAL school goals To increase students’ critical and creative thinking, To demonstrate that media, art, music, culture and problem solving and understanding of the global technology can be powerful ways to promote learning issues confronting youth, such as: poverty, violence, and effect social change. access to education and health care, environment/ sustainability, human rights and substance misuse. To support educators in teaching holistically and incorporating learning from one meaningful and To encourage optimism in students to transform relevant topic to the next and across curricular adversity into an opportunity for positive change. subject areas.
To provide opportunities for students to demonstrate To provide a variety of creative instructional strategies care and compassion for themselves, for others at to effectively engage youth and create powerful home and abroad and for the environment. learning environments.
To encourage students to develop a willingness to To provide inspiring examples of youth leadership learn from other cultures and perspectives. through the stories of young leaders who are addressing global issues and making a difference in their communities and in the world. 9 What students will gain from 4real school
An informed understanding of justice, human rights An understanding of the potential of media, art, and their responsibilities as contributing members of music, culture and technology as ways to create society. positive change.
A respect for and willingness to learn from cultural A positive outlook and determination to make the diversity in the classroom, the school community, the world a more peaceful and just place. local community and the world. Skills to express themselves through media arts and A sense of responsibility toward society, the an interest in connecting with inspired youth through environment and themselves, as well as an interactive, online communities such as 4REAL.com. understanding of their interdependence with other peoples and species in the world.
Ideas for helping students to gain as much as possible from 4REAL School
View the eight 4REAL School documentaries (22 NOTE:
minutes each). The teacher plays an important role in developing and adapting these curricula for each local context Engage students in the activities in the 4REAL School to ensure that activities are respectful of the learner, curricular documents. the group and the school community and that the content and time required is suitable for the target Encourage students to apply the lessons provided age group. in each 4REAL activity inside and outside of the
classroom, actively supporting ongoing individual and
community learning.
Create and encourage a safe, respectful environment for honesty, openness and dialogue.
10 4REAL School Classroom Support
Each 4REAL documentary is intended both as a starting point for classroom discussion and as a reference for the activities. It may be viewed either in sections interspersed with activities, or in one sitting, from start to finish, followed by lesson activities and discussion.
The lessons in the curricular documents are interactive, student-centred and based on the pedagogical principle that youth engage best with curricular material when they can relate to it and when they are encouraged to participate through open and honest dialogue.
In the interest of dialogue, the classroom serves as a safe place for students to take risks and experience a degree of personal and/or collective discomfort when engaging with difficult issues and questions. The 4REAL School package supports educators in actively building and maintaining a safe, trusting and respectful learning environment in which healthy dialogue can occur. Ideas for integrating 4REAL School into the classroom begin with a “debrief” and suggested questions are as follows: the 4REAL school debrief*
Describe: What did you see happen in the documentary?
Relate: How did the documentary make you feel? What did it make you think about or remember? How would it change your actions in the future?
Analyze: How are aspects of the documentary different/similar from your own life experiences?
Expand: Who else is affected by these issues? What other related issues come to mind? How are they similar and different?
Offer Alternatives: What could be different? How can we work to change this situation? What would I do differently in my community?
* Adapted from the Access to Media Education Society’s “Racism 4 REEL: Anti-racism resource package.” www.accesstomedia.org
Note: TECHNIQUES SUGGESTED FOR GENERATING HEALTHY DIALOGUE It may be useful to develop dialogue guidelines collaboratively with the class as a way to encourage trust and respect in the group. The following are some guidelines that students can be encouraged to collectively share: to remain engaged; to listen actively with “head” and “heart”; to respect the importance of diverse perspectives and personal, lived experiences; to accept discomfort; to encourage all members of the class to speak but also to understand that there are other ways of participating and they have the “right to pass” (Gibbs, 2001). “Check in” activities (asking questions like “What colour do you feel like today and why?”) at the beginning of class and Round Robin or Think- Pair-Share activities can also be useful to create an atmosphere of dialogue and to work through the tensions that sometimes arise as part of healthy dialogue. “Check out” activities or some form of closure with the group are also important to prevent ending on a contentious point; however, accepting non-closure (ongoing dialogue, critical thinking and learning around the topics addressed) is encouraged.
11 Guide to the 4REAL School Curricular Document
Each lesson is designed to stand on its own or all of the lessons can be completed as a unit.
To help the teacher/facilitator plan a smooth and enjoyable lesson, the following are suggestions for each activity:
Estimated Time: The total time required to complete MORE SUGGESTIONS: the lesson activities. Notes: Teaching tips suggested throughout the Goals: The learning objectives for each lesson. lesson.
Kick Off: The warm-up for each lesson. Useful Links: Links to contacts, organizations, teaching resources and other websites to support Gear & Prep: The materials and resources required ongoing learning of global education issues. for each lesson.
Game Plan: The procedure and instructions for each lesson. TIME CONSTRAINTS:
Wrap Up: The closure and debrief for each lesson. If due to time constraints you are unable to read through this curricular document thoroughly or you are unable Overtime: The suggested follow-up activities that will to dedicate more than one class period to teaching this encourage students to take action in their community chapter of 4REAL, we recommend the Quick Lesson: and beyond. Connect and Collaborate! (p. 19)
Ratings: The assessment and evaluation suggestions for each lesson.
Appendices: The graphic organizers, visual aids and additional information or articles for each lesson.
Leaders featured in 4REAL (from left): Puma Singona, Camseuze Moise, Salim Mohamed, Kimmie Weeks, Crystal Echo Hawk, MV Bill, Liz Evans, Tashka Yawanawa. 4REAL CITY OF GOD documentary SYNOPSIS Host Sol Guy takes rap star and actor Mos Def to meet Brazilian hip hop artist and activist MV Bill. Born and raised in the infamous City of God, MV Bill uses his talent and influence to empower the children of Brazil’s favelas (slums). He has dedicated himself to documenting the lives of children caught in Brazil’s brutal drug trafficking trade and he helped establish Central Única das Favelas (CUFA), a community organization that focuses on providing alternatives for children living in favelas. The adventure takes Mos Def and Sol to Brazil’s biggest hip hop festival, into the heart of the City of God, and onto the stage where Mos and Bill perform together for thousands of Brazilian hip hop fans.
FAST FACTS:
In 2004, 20,530 youth aged 15-29 died from firearm fatalities in Brazil (Instituto de Estudos da Religião (ISER), 2005). Brazil has the highest rate of The larger metropolitan area of Rio de Janeiro is home to an estimated 11 to 12 million people, one third of whom live in favelas (Perlman, 2005). firearm-related youth fatalities The Rio de Janeiro area has approximately 700 favelas (Huguet, 2007). annually in the The majority of people living in favelas are black or biracial. (MV Bill, personal world (Krug et communications November 23, 2006). al, 2002). The Rio de Janeiro area is considered one of the most dangerous cities in the world. In 2004, 3,514 youth aged 15-29 were killed in Rio by firearms (ISER, 2005).
In 2002, an estimated 5,000 to 6,000 minors were working in the Rio de Janeiro drug trade (Dowdney, 2003).
The average age of children entering the drug trade is 13 years and one month old (Dowdney, 2003).
History of the City of God City of God, the favela, was constructed in the 1960s to house the residents of 23 favelas in Rio de Janeiro’s city centre. Favelas are the “shantytowns” and “slums” of Brazil. Carlos Lacerda, the mayor of Rio from 1960 to 1965, wanted to move the favela dwellers further away from the city. Government officials set fire to many of the favela homes and forced the residents to move to the outskirts of the city. This area in the outskirts soon became known as the Cidade de Deus (City of God).
Today the City of God has a population of more than 120,000 people. Even to this day, this area continues to lack basic services and infrastructure. The company responsible for providing running water and sewage says the system is overloaded. Many residences do not have regular access to water or sewage. There is no strategic community plan for growth. Many of the new huts being built have open-air toilets and cannot receive electricity. The favela also lacks in cultural and social amenities for the youth: there are no movie theatres, communal playgrounds or community centres. The City of God is one of Rio’s poorest and roughest favelas. Residents are plagued by gang violence, drugs and poverty.
13 About MV Bill – “Messenger of Truth”
Alex Pereira Barbosa, aka MV Bill, was born on January 3, 1974, in the City of God, where he still lives today.
Bill is a childhood nickname, a reference to “Rato Bill,” which was the name of a mouse on the stickers inside bubble gum wrappers during the 1982 World Cup. The MV nickname he gained around 1991 when he first listened to Public Enemy, a political rap group from New York. After reading the biographies of Malcolm X and Zumbi dos Palmares, he became active in raising the consciousness of the people in his community, through conversations and his rap music. Some of the elder women in the City of God—seeing how the singer was transmitting the message of the favelas and raising its profile as a critical, social issue—renamed him “Mensageiro da Verdade” or “Messenger of Truth.”
MV Bill’s relation with hip hop began in 1988 when he saw “Colors,” a film about gang violence in Los Angeles. After reading the translations of two songs from the soundtrack of the film, MV Bill started to see hip hop as part of a political movement.
Now, a highly respected member of his community and a media figure, MV Bill is a symbol of political activism. His music is a chronicle of the ongoing war in the Brazilian favelas and a source of momentum for an urgent discussion about violence, prejudice and citizenship. He sings about the reality of living in Brazil, bringing the black culture and social consciousness in from the edges of society.
Together with producer Celso Athayde, MV Bill founded CUFA, Central Única das Favelas, a non-governmental organization that works in various parts of Brazil. CUFA’s main vehicle of communication and form of expression is hip hop music. CUFA’s aim is to create a space in the Brazilian favelas where youth can participate in cultural productions through activities in the fields of education, sports, culture and citizenship.
In April 2005, MV Bill co-authored the book Cabeca de Porco (Pighead). The book, about young people who have chosen a criminal lifestyle, is a compilation of interviews and still photos from documentary film footage on violence and politics. The material for the book was gathered over seven years from favelas throughout nine states of Brazil.
“The biggest discovery we made during this research was that there is more than one Brazil. The book was a way of presenting one Brazil to the other,” MV Bills says. “Although we have suffered, felt, and seen many things, it is possible to put our heads on our pillows and go to sleep with the feeling that we are doing something. We know that we will not be able to change the situation, but knowing that we are doing something to try to change it is what keeps me alive.” ~ MV Bill
MV Bill also compiled footage to produce a documentary called “Falcão – Meninos do Tráfico” (Boys of the Drug Trade). When it aired in 2006 on a popular television channel in Brazil it shocked the nation. By the time “Falcão” aired, 16 out of the 17 youth who had been interviewed for the documentary had been killed. The one remaining survivor was in prison.
During their research for “Falcão – Meninos do Tráfico,” MV Bill and Celso Athayde interviewed many women and had the chance to see that most of them (if not all of them) were somehow strongly linked to drug trafficking because of their children, boyfriends and/or husbands or because they needed to make money themselves. Bill and Celso felt compelled to tell the stories of these women, which resulted in the publication of another book, Falcão - Mulheres e o Tráfico (Falcon – Women Involved in Trafficking) in 2007.
Today, MV Bill, in addition to being a rapper and documentary filmmaker, is one of the most important social activists in Brazil. The Drug Trade in Brazil
To understand the circumstances in which Braziian youth live, it is important to have some knowledge of how Brazil is situated, geographically and otherwise. South America is the world’s primary producer of cocaine. Brazil serves mainly as a transit country for cocaine exports. Rio de Janeiro, located on the eastern coast of Brazil, is a major exit point for the export of cocaine (UNODC, 2005).
The trafficking of drugs in Brazil is operated by drug factions, also known as gangs. These factions are organized, armed gangs who dominate their favela communities. The drug gangs control the favela communities socially, politically and economically. The three main drug factions in Rio are:
1. Commando Vermelho - The Red Guard 2. Amigos dos Amigos - Friends of Friends 3. Terceiro Commando - The Third Command
Territorial disputes between these gangs often lead to use of weapons and violence.
desire to fit in and to be “cared” for. Many of the young Youth and Violence boys (the majority of youth involved are males) look up to the older gang leaders. By joining a gang they receive in the Drug Trade approval from the male adults, which may be missing from their home life. Poverty lies at the heart of the Over the past three decades, youth involvement in crisis. Brazil is not a poor country lacking resources but the drug trade and armed combat has increased the disparity between rich and poor is vast and growing. dramatically. Homicide rates in 2004 indicate that 20,530 youth aged 15-29 were killed by firearms in Most of the nation’s wealth and power belong to a Brazil (ISER, 2005). Much of the violence occurs in small elite group while the majority of Brazilians remain the favelas (the slums or shanty towns of Brazil). In poor. According to data from Worldbank, the richest 20 Rio de Janeiro, for example, there are more than 700 percent of Brazilians received 61 percent of the national favelas (Perlam, 2005) and the city has one of the income, while the poorest 20 percent received only 2.8 highest youth mortality rates in the world. In 2004, percent of the national income (2007). The poorest of 3,514 youth were killed by firearms in Rio alone (ISER, the poor in Rio and other cities are marginalized and live 2005). Most of these deaths were drug trade-related. in the favelas. Traffickers are becoming more heavily armed and are becoming involved at an increasingly younger age. In In addition to classism in Brazil there is also the 2002, an estimated 5,000 to 6,000 minors were working problem of racism. In this context, “classism” refers in Rio’s drug trade, according to Luke Dowdney, British to the systemic oppression of less affluent and poor anthropologist and founder of Luta Pela Paz Foundation people. About one third of Rio’s population live in favelas (Fight for Peace), an urban violence prevention program (Perlman, 2005) and 75 percent of the favela population for youth of Rio (2003). From his in-depth case study are non-white (Community in Action, n.d.). According on youth in the drug trade in Rio, Dowdney found that to MV Bill, in Brazil, “the darker your skin colour, the the average age of children entering the drug trade is 13 more you are discriminated against” (MV Bill, personal years and one month old (2003). communications, November 23, 2006). In the favelas, most youth do not have access to good schools or useful Children of Rio are choosing the drug trade because vocational training. Due to extreme financial strains. they they see it as their best option in a city with limited are often forced to work at a young age to help support opportunities and activities for youth. Young people, their families. Many end up dropping out of school unfortunately, see the drug trade as a way to make to work. Without an education or training it is nearly money. It also gives them a sense of power and impossible for them to find a decent job. confidence in the absence of hope and fulfills an innate 16 For youth in Brazil without education or training, favelas is much higher than those residing outside the unfortunately, drug trafficking presents itself as one of favela areas (2005). the only options. MV Bill claims that drug trafficking is the main economic force supporting the favela, involving The drug traffickers, evidently, are more trusted in the thousands of youth. Although many of the youth do not community than the police or the government (Dowdney, want to be working in the drug trade, they see it as the 2003). As one youth favela resident explained, they turn only way to access money, status and power within the to the traffickers in the drug trade in times of need. favelas. “If you’re at home without food, or something happened to you out there, outside of the favela, if you need money “The people living in and don’t have any, the trafficker will give you money from his own pocket because he knows you’re a good favelas are forgotten by citizen. He’ll say, ‘If you need anything from me, you will not go hungry. Take it. One day, if you can, pay me the government,” back.’ The drug traffickers help. If you need medicine, if ~ MV Bill (personal you need food, they’ll help you.” (Dowdney, 2003). communications, Nov. 23, 2006). The drug trade provides economic sustenance for many people while at the same time causing countless deaths in the community. The reality of the drug trade is ruthless and brutal. MV Bill believes that there For much of the younger generation, the domination of needs to be other options for the youth. Youth need to the drug traffickers in their community is all that they have access to education, training in other areas and have ever known. To many of them, the drug trafficker’s more importantly, they need self-respect, confidence power is greater than that of the government’s. and dignity to follow a positive path in their life. By offering messages of hope through his music, youth The government provides limited if any social programs, presentations and his CUFA centres, MV Bill is showing such as schools, health clinics, community centres and young people that if they are willing and determined, basic infrastructure, including roads, sanitation and there are many other alternatives available to them. housing. To make matters worse, there is no public police force to protect the people of the favelas. Favela residents complain that the only reason police come into the favelas is to raid them. In fact, they say that the last As MV Bill puts it, “The thing they feel around the police is safe. drug that saves many “I wish that the police didn’t exist because they don’t families is the same drug defend anyone. The police are all corrupt and they abuse community residents,” says one favela resident that kills many others.” (Dowdney, 2003). Reports from Amnesty International indicate that Brazilian police use excessive force against favela dwellers and the number of people killed inside CUFA Why Hip Hop? Hip hop has been a part of the cultural expression (Central Única of Brazilian ghettos for the past 20 years. Each day it strengthens and grows. The majority of people living in das Favelas)* the favelas are of African descent. Rap is part of their culture. It speaks to their cause and can be used as a tool of transformation. It gives voice to those who are In 1998, MV Bill met with various youth from the favelas discriminated against and living on the periphery of of Rio de Janeiro. From these meetings it became clear society. that the youth needed a space to gather other than the streets, somewhere they could express themselves, There is an affinity between the hip hop movement talk about their challenges and feel connected. CUFA, and the work of CUFA. Hip hop is a solution created by Central Única das Favelas was born out of these the citizens of the community, one that speaks to the meetings. It is now a national organization with 20 other struggles they are confronting. Likewise, CUFA provides CUFA centres in favelas across Brazil. a platform to participate in a cultural, social and political dialogue. Both grassroots hip hop and CUFA stimulate As one of its goals, CUFA seeks to elevate the self- positive action in the community and are revolutionizing esteem of the underprivileged. At CUFA, youth learn Brazilian society to be more fair and just. that there are other alternatives to the drug trade and violence. CUFA uses the four elements of hip hop to At CUFA, the youth learn to strive for a different reality: connect with youth: graffiti, DJ, breakdancing and rap. a society where discrimination, racism and classism Through these elements, youth gain confidence and do not prevent them from having happy, hopeful and learn how to express themselves in creative ways. CUFA successful lives. also teaches through sports, multimedia and social projects. By promoting activities in these areas, the youth gain tangible skills and inspiration to contribute to * All information taken from www.cufa.com.br. their community in positive ways.
18 QUICK LESSON: 4REAL CITY OF GOD – Connect and Collaborate!
If you have time constraints, we recommend the following lesson, which integrates digital media and culture to engage students. Through working individually and in groups, students have the opportunity to respond critically to the 4REAL City of God documentary. Through knowledge and empathy, students are encouraged to develop a plan of action.
(Estimated time: 60 minutes)
GOALS GEAR & PREP To appreciate, understand and discuss the 4REAL City of God DVD and DVD player 4REAL City of God documentary. Flip chart paper and markers To work cooperatively and to respond critically and compassionately. 4REAL City of God Map Worksheet To develop a sense of responsibility toward self, society and the environment, as well as Appendix 1: Head, Heart & Hand an understanding of interdependence among peoples in the world. Access to internet (optional) To creatively share responses in the classroom and beyond. To become part of a community that is socially aware and to develop an interest in learning more about global issues (through 4REAL.com and other online organizations).
KICK OFF Hand out the City of God Map worksheet. Students can fill in the “I Know” and “I Wonder” columns in pairs and then discuss as a class.
If students have internet access, invite them to visit 4REAL.com to learn more about the 4REAL City of God documentary at www.4REAL.com/tv/season1. Students may: View video clips, photos and other City of God content. Explore The People, The Place and The Story sections of the website. Share three interesting facts from the In Depth section of the website.
GAME PLAN
1. After viewing 4REAL City of God, give students five minutes to work individually to identify three important messages in the documentary.
2. Group the students into pairs and give them five minutes to decide together what they think were the three most important messages in the documentary. 19 3. Group the pairs to form larger groups of four and again give them five minutes to agree upon the three messages they find most important.
4. Ask each group to write their three messages onto chart paper and discuss their significance with the class.
WRAP UP
Complete the “I Learned” column of the City of God Map Worksheet. As a class, discuss how the documentary and activities were provocative or inspiring. Explore how students might apply what they learned to their own lives. Invite students to complete the “Head, Heart & Hand” graphic organizer (Appendix 1).
OVERTIME Students can follow up on what they have learned by visiting 4REAL.com is designed to encourage youth to 4REAL.com. Students 13 years of age or older can join the 4REAL become active citizens in their communities community. As community members, students may comment on and creatively share their stories with the how the various documentaries have effected them. 4REAL online community.
4REAL CITY OF GOD: DEVELOPING COMMUNITY Students can become part of a socially aware community at 4REAL.com where they can develop their online profile. In this social networking environment, students 13 years of age or older can connect with others who are passionate about effecting social change through action, art and culture. By creating a 4REAL profile, students are able to:
Write blog entries, post photos and videos. Share reflections, comments and assignments from 4REAL School activities. Participate in activities and events that focus on global awareness and involvement. Share what is 4REAL in their community. Generate support to further the causes they are passionate about. Connect with like-minded youth locally and globally. Participate in nationwide 4REAL challenges.
Ratings: Some Possible Assessments Assess how cooperatively students worked in groups.
Assess the students’ contributions to the dialogue during the lesson as well as their critical thinking and understanding of the messages presented in the documentary.
Assess the “Head, Heart & Hand” worksheet and how reflective students are of the ideas presented in the documentary and those shared during the dialogue and other activities.
20 CITY OF GOD MAP WORKSHEET
To find out more about 4REAL City of God, visit the following website: www.4real.com/tv/season1.
ELEMENTS OF 4REAL I know… I wonder… I learned... city of god
Where is the City of God located? What is the population?
What do you know about favelas in Brazil?
Describe the living conditions in the City of God.
What are the challenges that youth face living in the City of God?
Why would a hip hop artist from the USA be interested in going to the City of God, Brazil?
21 Previewing Lesson: Socio-Economic Class Divides
This lesson will provide students with an introduction to some of the socio-economic issues addressed in the 4REAL City of God documentary. Students will engage in an experiential learning activity emphasizing the implications and consequences of living in a hierarchical socio-economic system and how these differences become extreme without public, social programs to offer support to individuals and communities. Students will observe and experience the role of privilege in rule-making and decision-making and how their outcomes can affect those without the advantage of socio-economic privilege.
(Estimated time: 90 minutes)
Goals Gear & Prep To encourage students to express their thoughts and Construction paper (five different colours) feelings openly and honestly to others. Scissors To give students a better understanding of the dynamics of decision-making and its effect on Paper bag individuals and communities. Markers To encourage students to analyze their own perspectives on socio-economic privilege and to Appendix 3: Learning log develop respect and understanding for individuals in less advantaged socio-economic situations. Determine a point value for each colour of construction paper (e.g. red=20 points; blue=15 To encourage students to reflect on their positions and points; orange=10; yellow=5 points; green=1 roles in the global socio-economic hierarchy (and/or point). Cut each sheet of construction paper into more localized “class” system) and to advocate for the approximately 30 square cards. Place them in rights of less advantaged individuals in society. the paper bag and mix them together.
To represent the socio-economic hierarchy (or Kick Off “class” system) in the City of God, where a high percentage of the population has little socio- Invite each student to draw five coloured cards from the economic privilege, you may want to place more bag. Tell them what the point value of each colour is and “lower point” coloured cards in the paper bag. have them add up their points. Ask students to identify a topic/theme of interest that they have recently learned about in class to develop a list of 10 general questions for the upcoming bartering game.
Game Plan The object of the game is for students to accumulate as many points (highest coloured cards) as possible by testing other students with their questions. During the first round, students will move around the room to interact with other students, on a one-on-one basis. During the interactions, students will exchange one question from their lists. If a student cannot answer a question, the student must give his/her highest coloured card to the other student. Students should move around the room and meet as many people as possible in the given time.
After approximately 15 minutes, ask students to tally up their points. Based on their total points, divide the class into three groups, with the most privileged (“richest”) having the most points, the least privileged (“poorest”) having the least points and those remaining, of moderate privilege (“middle class”) in a third group. (Again, to represent the population in the City of God, you may have more students in the least privileged group).
22 Tell the students that the group with the most points (the “upper class”) has the privilege of “Experiential education is making up a new rule for the next round of the bartering game. Discuss with them how positions elusive, often paradoxical, of privilege can be used to develop rules that re- inforce the advantage of privileged individuals and a multifaceted jewel with groups and similarly, re-inforce the disadvantage of ethical, aesthetic, spiritual, others. The new rule can be anything from explicit and calculated (those in less privileged groups physical, social and must pay “housing fees” to the property owners in the more privileged groups) or more implicit and psychological dimensions, arbitrary (those in less privileged groups cannot say certain “taboo” words or cannot blink while even cosmic dimensions. answering a question). No such restrictions are placed on the individuals in the most privileged Psychological mountain group. climbing may be the right Begin the second round of the bartering game with phrase for what we mean the new rule added to the initial rules. After 10 minutes, ask the students to go through the same by experiential education.” process again, of tallying their points and forming groups. Some of the players in the “middle class” ~ John C. Huie, educational consultant may have worked themselves into the “upper class” or may have moved to the “lower class.” The process can be repeated two or three more times and the new rules made after round (particularly if A comprehensive study of personal wealth they are not subject to any restrictions) may serve released by the Helsinki-based World Institute to illustrate the dynamics of how the most of the for Development Economics Research of the world’s economic privilege or “wealth” is held by United Nations University found that the such a small percentage of the world population. richest 1% of adults alone owned 40% of global assets in the year 2000, and that the Game variation: When the group splits up the last richest 10% of adults accounted for 85% of or second to last time, empower another group global wealth (Davies et al, 2006). In contrast, to make the new rule: the group with the largest the study also found that the bottom half of number of students, the least privileged group or the world adult population owned barely 1% of the “middle class” group. Or ask individuals to vote global wealth. to decide which group they think most needs or should have the right to make the new rule. This may be used to bring to the forefront a number of issues: of democratic representation, of justice and equity, or others.
Note: This activity may provoke emotional or heated responses from students as they may identify in their own lives with feeling a sense of injustice as a member of a less privileged or oppressed group or conversely, with a sense of “birthright privilege.” In either case, while negotiating dialogue may prove challenging, there is much opportunity for meaningful discussion.
Wrap Up Small group debrief:
How did the students in the most privileged group (the “upper class”) feel and what did they think about their position (as well as their freedom and responsibility)?
23 How did the students in the less privileged groups (“lower” and “middle” classes) feel and what did they think about their position (and did they feel a sense of freedom and responsibility)?
Describe how members of each group treated one another.
Discuss how those with the least privilege might have been able to change their position. Was this possible if those with more privilege were acting oppressively?
How did students attain privilege (or achieve “upper class” status)? How did they feel when they were able to make rules? How did they determine what the rules would be? Who did the rules benefit? Discuss the different views and decisions made by people within the same group. How were these differences addressed?
How did the students feel when they were no longer able to make rules and were instead oppressed by people who had been their friends?
How might the students’ roles affect relationships outside of the simulation?
Overtime 1. Invite students to revisit their learning logs to express their thoughts from the small group debrief. Ask students to write about two of the above debrief questions in more detail by making connections to their own lived experiences.
2. Working in small groups, challenge the students to develop a cooperative game where all students feel safe and valued and the object of the game is to have fun.
Ratings: Some Possible Assessments Assess the students’ learning log reflections. Look for evidence that the students have: Developed an understanding of individuals who are disadvantaged in their position in a socio-economic hierarchy.
Expressed an interest in advocating for the rights of the less advantaged.
Reflected on their roles as decision-makers and the effects their decisions may have on others.
24 LESSON 1
GLOBAL AWARENESS AND HIP HOP Lesson 1: Global Awareness and Hip Hop
This lesson will help students gain an understanding of the history and role of hip hop as a global influence on issues of social change. A study undertaken by the United Nations revealed that hip hop is one of the most widely used tools for creating change worldwide and a potential key to helping achieve the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). 4REAL City of God shines a light on the true roots of hip hop—to promote peace, love, unity and having fun, according to well known hip hop artist and activist, Afrika Bambaataa—and in doing so illustrates how hip hop can be a powerful vehicle to engage youth and raise awareness.
(Estimated time: Four hours)
GOALS GEAR & PREP
To understand the roots of hip hop, analyze 4REAL City of God DVD and DVD player its evolution in North America and how it has Flip chart paper and markers become a global influence. MV Bill’s biography To examine how various cultures integrate aspects of hip hop culture into their own Appendix 2: Brainstorm Web communities. Appendix 3: Learning Log
To understand ways that the United Nations Appendix 4: Timeline of Hip Hop is drawing on hip hop to achieve its 2015 Appendix 5: Article: Hip Hop Worldwide Millennium Development Goals. Appendix 6: Millennium Development Goals To produce a report and/or multimedia (MDGs) presentation on how hip hop is being used as a Appendix 7: Article: UN Habitat and Hip Hop global tool to raise awareness and create change. Appendix 8: Evaluation Rubric
KICK OFF In pairs, invite students to create a brainstorm map More links for the (Appendix 2) of everything they feel represents evolution of hip hop: hip hop culture (elements may include graffiti art, breakdancing, rapping, DJing). Encourage students Independent Lens www.pbs.org/independentlens/hiphop/timeline.htm to explore all aspects such as messages conveyed, values expressed and images portrayed through hip Experience Music Project hop. www.empsfm.org/exhibitions/index.asp?articleID=664
Invite students to read the National Geographic National Geographic Hip Hop Timeline (Appendix 4) and the Hip ngm.nationalgeographic.com/ngm/0704/ Hop Worldwide article (Appendix 5), answer feature4/index.html comprehension questions and include new ideas in The Nation their brainstorm map. www.thenation.com/doc/20030113/chang
Engage students in a general discussion about the evolution of hip hop. Possible questions include (adapted from Just Think, Flipping the Script lesson plans): 1. What do you know about the history of hip hop?
2. What are the significant historical markers for hip hop and how has it changed over the past four decades?
26 3. How does the music industry influence hip hop culture? “When I realized I could
4. What characterizes present day hip hop? save lives with small Tell students they will be watching a documentary gestures I began to love about rap star and actor Mos Def who meets Brazilian hip hop artist and activist MV Bill, born helping others. I wanted and raised in the City of God, Brazil. They will be exploring how hip hop can be used to create positive my voice to be the voice of change. the people.” ~ MV Bill
Game Plan PART I – Reflection and Placemat Activity Reflection While viewing 4REAL City of God ask students to do the following: List the challenges youth face living in favelas in Brazil. 4REAL City of God Think critically about how MV Bill uses hip hop and record their thoughts. (For more information about MV Bill read his biography.) What traces of hip hop culture they see in Brazil.
Placemat Activity After viewing 4REAL City of God have students complete a placemat activity (Bennet, 2001) in groups of four or five to answer the following four questions in each section of the placemat.
1. Describe the challenges youth face living in favelas in Brazil.
2. Describe how MV Bill uses hip hop to make a difference in his community.
3. Describe how hip hop is being used in the CUFA centre (e.g. to teach youth that there is an alternative to drug trafficking, to build their self-confidence, to have fun, to create a sense of belonging).
4. Describe how the hip hop culture in your community is similar to or different from that viewed in the 4REAL City of God documentary.
Invite students to do a gallery walk to view other group’s responses. Facilitate a class discussion about how MV Bill is using hip hop to make a difference in his community.
PART II – Student Involvement in the United Nations Millennium Development Goals Introduce the Millennium Development Goals to the class (either as an individual handout or transparency for the class (see Appendix 6).
Share the following statement with the class: “Hip hop is an effective way of helping the UN achieve the Millennium Development Goals by the year 2015.”
27 Next, create an imaginary line in the classroom. At one end is “strongly agree” and at the other is “strongly disagree.” Invite students to take a position on the continuum of the line according to their response to the above statement. Encourage students to discuss with each other why they have chosen their position.
Ask students to return to their desks and invite them to individually read the article on UN-HABITAT (the United Nations Human Settlements Programme) and hip hop by Nicholas You (Appendix 7) and answer the following questions:
1. What did the study by UN-HABITAT reveal?
2. What did UN-HABITAT decide to do as a result of their findings?
3. Explain how you think the hip hop artists listed in the article are raising awareness about the Millennium Development Goals.
4. How has your thinking changed about the UN, hip hop and the MDGs since reading the article?
After these activities, ask the class if and how their thinking has changed regarding the initial statement: “Hip hop is an effective way for helping the UN achieve the Millennium Development Goals by the year 2015.” Invite students to re-position themselves on the agree/disagree line. Facilitate a discussion regarding the reasons some students moved and others did not.
PART III – Written Report and/or Multimedia Presentation Ask students to write a written report and/or prepare a multimedia presentation on a musical artist of her or his choice (hip hop or other).
The final project should include the following (adapted from Just Think, Flipping the Script lesson plans): 1. A history of the artist’s country. 2. A description of the artist’s genre of music in that country. 3. An analysis of one of the artist’s songs: a. What are the messages in the lyrics? b. Is the artist making social/political statements? c. Is the artist contributing to raising social awareness (whether about MDGs or other)? d. Does the artist support or lead projects that are contributing to her or his community?
Option 1 Option 2 Students may choose to complete their project on one Students may choose a music genre and artist other of the hip hop artists invited to the UN Global Hip Hop than hip hop (punk, rock, folk, jazz, pop, etc.) as the Summit or an artist of their choice. Some suggestions subject of their project. include:
MV Bill, Brazil K’NAAN, Somalia/Canada Godessa, South Africa Don Popo, Colombia X-Plastaz, Tanzania Tumi and the Volume, South Africa Nneka, Nigeria/Germany MC Kah, Kenya Toki Wright, USA/Uganda Common, USA Michael Franti, USA Jill Scott, USA 28 Wrap up Have students complete an entry in their learning log to summarize what they have learned about the evolution of hip hop and its importance as a global influence.
Facilitate a class discussion using the following guiding questions:
1. Did watching the 4REAL City of God documentary and learning about the global influence of hip hop change your perception about hip hop? If so, how?
2. While 4REAL City of God highlights the positive aspect of hip hop’s global influence, are there also ways that hip hop may negatively influence other cultures? For example, youth may not be interested in learning their own traditional songs or language, they may emulate negative aspects of contemporary hip hop culture (such as misogyny, gang culture, materialism, machismo, aggressiveness, etc.).
3. What aspects of hip hop would you like to learn more about?
4. How can you apply what you’ve learned to your life?
Ratings: Some Possible Assessments Assess student participation in group work and contributions to the placemat activity. Look for evidence that students demonstrate an understanding of how MV Bill is using hip hop for transformation and awareness about social issues.
Assess student responses to questions about the connection between the UN, MDGs and hip hop. Look for evidence that students demonstrate an understanding of how hip hop is being used to create change.
Develop a rubric with students to assess criteria for the report. Sample guidelines are found in (Appendix 8).
29
LESSON 2
RESPONDING CRITICALLY TO MESSAGES THROUGH HIP HOP! Lesson 2: Responding Critically to Messages Through Hip Hop!
Through this lesson students will be encouraged to listen to or read hip hop lyrics Note: and critically analyze the messages found in them. After comparing various hip Some students in the class hop artists’ messages, students will generate a hypothesis about the various lyrics may not be interested in and the potential effects of the lyrics on the listeners. Students will also be invited hip hop and may choose to to share their own powerful message through music. analyze lyrics from a genre of music of their choice. (Estimated time: Three hours)
GOALS Gear & Prep
To critically analyze the various messages conveyed in 4REAL City of God DVD and DVD player hip hop music. Ten hip hop songs with printed lyrics – To understand the potential negative or positive selected from students’ suggestions (provide influences that hip hop may have on listeners. a suggestion box)
To share their own powerful message through music. Flip chart and paper, felts and pens
Appendix 9: Hip Hop Artists with a Message KICK OFF Appendix 10: Critical Listening Chart Select one of the songs from the suggestion box and listen to it as a class. Students may write down words Appendix 17: “Plus-Wish-Interesting” (PWI) or draw images and symbols while listening. Then invite Assessment students to stand in a circle and to take a step in if they answer yes to any of the following sentences:
1. I listen to music mainly to hear the beats and rhythms. 2. I listen to music mainly to hear the lyrics. 3. When I listen to the lyrics I pay attention to how they affect me. 4. I believe that lyrics can positively or negatively influence listeners. 5. I think that music can be used to raise awareness about an issue or contribute to making a difference.
Tell students they will be watching a documentary about rap star and actor Mos Def who meets Brazilian hip hop artist and activist MV Bill, born and raised in the City of God, Brazil. They will be exploring how hip hop can be used to create positive change.
GAME PLAN While viewing 4REAL City of God encourage students to note the purpose of MV Bill’s music (e.g. to raise awareness about issues including poverty, violence, the drug trade, racism, discrimination, or to raise money to fund the CUFA centres, to teach youth there is an alternative to drug trafficking, to have fun and to create a sense of belonging).
After viewing the documentary, share the following background about MV Bill with students: MV Bill’s relation with hip hop began in 1988 when he saw the film Colors, which is about gang violence in Los Angeles. After reading the translations of two songs from the soundtrack of the film, MV Bill started to see hip hop as part of a political movement.
32 Now, a highly respected member of his community and a media figure, MV Bill is the symbol of political activism. His music is a chronicle of the ongoing war in the Brazilian favelas and a source of momentum for an urgent discussion about violence, prejudice and citizenship. He sings about the reality of living in Brazil, bringing the black culture and consciousness in from the edges of society.
Tell students that they will further explore hip hop messages and invite students to listen critically to the hip hop music (10 songs) selected by the class. Ensure a variety in this selection: from top of the charts mainstream hip hop to “Hip Hop Artists with a Message” (for suggestions see Appendix 9). At the end of the lesson students will be organizing and presenting their ideas through a concept map (Bennet, 2001).
Play the selection of songs and using the critical listening chart (Appendix Note: 10), ask students to write down what they think are the key words and main messages in the lyrics. Positive themes in hip hop may include: peace, love, unity, having In groups, have students cut out the key words and messages and group fun, social movements and raising them together according to similarities in theme or message. To create awareness. Negative themes in the concept map, glue them onto a large, poster-sized paper. Label each hip hop may include: misogyny, grouping of words with an overarching theme or concept. As a class, gang culture, materialism, hyper- develop a hypothesis on how the key words and messages in each concept masculinity, aggressiveness and could effect listeners. consumerism.
Ask the group to choose one member and to review the other groups’ concept maps and to report back to them on his or her findings. How were they similar or different? What was interesting or informative? Groups then present their concept map to the class.
Challenge students to choose one of the choruses from a song that has a “negative message” and to transform it into a positive and meaningful message (so that MV Bill would give them props if he heard it!). For example, how can they change the song so that it could be used to raise awareness about an issue, to suggest a solution to a problem, to advocate justice for marginalized groups or to promote sustainability.
Wrap up Facilitate a class discussion on the following excerpt from the 4REAL City of God documentary:
When MV Bill is asked about how he feels about present day, mainstream, American hip hop music, he reflects, “I don’t know English so I listen to the beats and rhythms. But when given access to the lyrics, I give thanks to God I don’t speak English.”
Overtime 1. Students may perform for the class the new version of the song they chose to transform.
2. Students 13 years of age and older may create their own song with a meaningful message and post them on their 4REAL profile to share with the online 4REAL community.
33 Ratings: Some Possible Assessments
Assess students’ participation in group work and their contributions to the concept map. Look for evidence that students demonstrate critical thinking about lyrics in hip hop and develop concepts based on the messages heard.
Assess students’ transformation of song. Look for evidence that the new version promotes a positive message for change.
Students may do a PWI peer assessment (Appendix 17) for the transformation of the chorus of the song. LESSON 3
CHILDREN’S WANTS, NEEDS AND RIGHTS Lesson 3: Children’s Wants, Needs and Rights*
This lesson is designed to help students differentiate between their wants and their needs. Students will be introduced to the concept that their basic needs are considered “rights” according to the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. Through watching 4REAL City of God and reading case studies about the youth involved in the drug trade, they will learn how the rights of children living in favelas in Brazil are being severely violated.
(Estimated time: Two and a half hours)
GOALS GEAR & PREP To establish distinctions between wants and needs. 4REAL City of God DVD and DVD Player
To encourage students to understand and describe Pencils and paper their rights as they relate to the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. Appendix 11: A set of 20 “Wants” and “Needs” cards for each pair of students To invite students to share incidents of when they have felt their own rights have not been respected. Appendix 12: UN Convention on the Rights Of the Child To demonstrate an understanding and awareness of how discrimination, poverty, violence and gang Appendix 13: Case Studies – Youth involved in the culture violate children’s rights in Brazil. drug trade
KICK OFF Invite students to discuss with a partner the things they consider necessities in their lives. Ask students to choose the top three and to present them to another pair of students. Have the students form small groups to discuss the following suggested questions: Would you be able to survive without these necessities?
Are the necessities that you identified similar to or different from what children in other parts of the world might identify? game plan PART I – Wants, Needs and Surviving 1. Have students form pairs and distribute a set of “Wants” and “Needs” cards to each pair (Appendix 11).
2. Explain to the class that they have been selected to live on a new planet and have the fortunate opportunity to set up a new society. Space Control has developed a list of 16 suggested items for the students to take with them in order to live and grow. Explain to the students that they are allowed to bring four more items of their choice. Have
36 them write and/or draw these four items onto the four blank “Wants” and “Needs” cards.
3. Announce to the group that space is limited on the spaceship and they may only take 14 items from their lists, instead of all 20.They must work as a team (in pairs and/or in small groups) to come to a consensus on which six items to eliminate. Once they have determined what to leave behind, they must return these cards to the teacher.
4. Inform the students that Space Control has found that there is less available space than anticipated and that they will now only be able to take eight items with them, instead of 14. Have the students eliminate six more items, leaving only the eight that they consider most essential for survival.
5. Invite students to discuss the following questions in small groups and to be prepared to report their findings to the class:
Which items were most commonly eliminated in the first round? Explain.
Which round of eliminations was most difficult? Explain.
How did your group members determine the process of elimination? What were the responses to this process?
What is the difference between wants and needs? Label the items on your list as wants (W) and needs (N).
What are some of the things you want in real life? What are some of the things you need?
How might your wants and needs differ from others in the class? Explain.
Do all people in your country have everything they need? Do people in other countries have everything they need? Explain.
In keeping with UNICEF’s distinction between needs and rights discuss the following:
That people’s most basic needs to survive, to develop, to be safe, and to participate in their communities are often referred to as “rights.” Rights can be thought of as things that are fair and just for all people to have or to be able to do. Rights can be seen as the necessities of life that all people should have access to or be able to participate in.
PART II – UN Convention on the Rights of the Child 1. Have students divide into small groups (four to five students per group) and review the “Convention on the Rights of the Child” (Appendix 12).
2. In pairs, invite students to close their eyes and to visualize a time when they have felt their rights were not respected. What did it: Look like? Feel like? Sound like? Ask one student in the pair to describe the incidents while his or her partner listens actively, contributing only encouraging words or prompting if necessary and after five minutes, thanking and acknowledging his or her partner by sharing an appreciation statement. Then the partners switch roles.
37 3. When the student pairs have completed the previous task, ask the students as a group to brainstorm about the emotions they felt when treated unjustly. Record the words on the chart paper.
4. Watch 4REAL City of God and while viewing ask students to consider which rights of the children are being violated. After viewing, ask students to read the article, “Youth and Violence in the Drug Trade” (pp. 14-15) to learn more about why youth join the drug trade in Brazil.
5. Invite students to read their case study card (Appendix 13) and as a group to identify on a scrap of paper which rights of youth living in favelas in Brazil have been violated.
6. Use jigsaw groupings or another small group sharing methods and ask students to share their case studies and the rights they have identified as being violated.
Wrap Up Discuss the following questions as a group:
1. How are the rights of the children living in favelas being violated?
2. Why do such rights violations continue?
3. Describe the role MV Bill is playing to help bring awareness to these violations.
4. How could your country play a role in cooperating with Brazil to correct the existing problems (and prevent similar ones) in the future?
Ratings: Some Possible Assessments Assess students’ participation in class discussion about wants and needs. Look for evidence that students have established distinctions between wants and needs.
Assess students’ understanding of the Convention on the Rights of the Child and how children’s rights in Brazil are being violated.
*This lesson was adapted by permission from UNICEF Canada: Helping to make your classroom a global schoolhouse! (2007). Previously adapted from “Children’s Rights and Global Citizenship” from the UCCB Children’s Rights Centre, University College of Cape Breton (2003) and “Education for Development: A Teacher’s Resource Guide for Global Learning” by Susan Fountain (1995). LESSON 4
BE AN ACTIVE WITNESS: SPEAK OUT AGAINST DISCRIMINATION Lesson 4: Be an Active Witness: Speak Out Against Discrimination
This lesson emphasizes the importance of speaking out as an “Active Witness” against discrimination and injustices. Students will learn about the manifestations of discrimination and will have opportunities to share their own personal experiences and respond empathetically to others’ experiences in a safe and respectful environment. Through watching 4REAL City of God, students will learn about the unjust treatment experienced by the youth living in favelas in Brazil and the role MV Bill has played in addressing these injustices. Students will be encouraged to connect their own experiences of injustice to the youth in the City of God and will learn that the power of “Active Witnessing” can help stop racism and discrimination in their lives and in society.
(Estimated time: Three hours)
GOALS GEAR & PREP To provide students with a better understanding of the manifestations and harmful effects of prejudice, 4REAL City of God DVD and DVD player discrimination and racism. Flip Chart paper and markers To provide students with an opportunity to learn about Appendix 3: Learning Logs and respond empathetically to the injustices experienced Appendix 14: Manifestations of by their peers as well as the youth living in poverty in Discrimination & Definitions Brazil. Appendix 15: Traffic Accident Role Play To empower and provide opportunities for students Appendix 16: Witnessing Triangle & The to practice a wide range of verbal and behavioural Four Levels of Witnessing responses to various forms of discrimination through an “Active Witnessing” perspective. Appendix 17: Discrimination Scenarios Appendix 17a: Role-Play Rating Scale KICK OFF Appendix 18: Speaking Out Against Discrimination Part 1—Reflecting on lived experiences Invite students to engage in a quiet, self-reflection on the following question: “Think of a time when you, a friend or a family member were involved in a racist or discriminatory incident. What did it feel like, look like and sound like?” Give students a few minutes to record their reflections in their Student Learning Logs. The intent of this activity is to tap students’ prior knowledge, experience and understanding of racism and discrimination.
Part 2—Vocabulary and Definitions Distribute chart paper and felt pens to each group and invite students to draw a web or a chart and brainstorm the definitions of the following terms: stereotype discrimination prejudice racism bias Designate cooperative group roles to encourage students to stay on task during the activity (e.g. Speaker, Recorder, Encourager and Timekeeper). Encourage students to write words or draw symbols that represent the terms listed above or to provide examples from their individual reflections that may relate to these terms. To ensure students’ sense of safety and to acknowledge the sensitivity of their experiences, inform them that the sharing of their personal experiences with others is optional.
Debrief the activity by inviting the “Speakers” from each group to share the symbols, words or examples from their brainstorming activity.
Summarize the activity by reviewing the Manifestations of Discrimination and Definitions Appendix( 14). Explain that adults, peers, personality traits and the media are the major influences in the development of our prejudiced feelings and attitudes, which are not based on actual experiences. If these feelings and attitudes are left unaddressed or unquestioned and we have experiences that reinforce them, they will lead to biases. Once these feelings and attitudes are internalized, they may lead to “discrimination,” unequal or unfair treatment to others. Emphasize the importance of being aware of our prejudiced attitudes and feelings and the need to prevent these attitudes from leading to negative actions.
GAME PLAN Part 1—Experiences of Brazilian youth in the City of God While watching 4REAL City of God, encourage the students to take notes on the youth featured in MV Bill’s documentary “Falcão – Meninos do Tráfico” (Falcon - Boys Involved in the Drug Trade). Ask students to read the article, “Youth and Violence in the Drug Trade” (pp. 15-16) to learn more about why youth join the drug trade in Brazil. In small groups, provide time for students to discuss their reactions to the article, the documentary and the injustices experienced by the youth.
Suggested discussion questions are: 1. Describe the youth featured in the documentary (e.g. their race/ethnicity, age, class, gender, etc.).
2. What opportunities, if any, did these youth have in their lives (e.g. education and or trades training)?
3. What activities were the youth involved in (e.g. drug trafficking) and why?
4. Describe the injustices experienced and described by the youth who were interviewed.
5. How are the youth responding to these injustices? How are the youth who witness these injustices responding (e.g. speaking out, staying silent, not responding due to fear, etc.)?
Note: Students may feel that the injustices they shared in the Kick Off activity are insignificant or less severe compared to what youth in Brazil experience. It is worthwhile to have a dialogue to acknowledge that although they may live more privileged lives, it should not discount their feelings of injustice. What is important in this lesson is how the injustices and discrimination are dealt with and how to find solutions to prevent this negative treatment.
Part 2—Understanding the People Involved in Discrimination Engage students in the “Traffic Accident” role play inAppendix 15 to explore the various roles of people involved in a discriminatory incident, the roles and responsibilities of the witnesses during an incident and the dynamics involved in “Dis-witnessing” and “Passive witnessing.”
41 After the role play, review the Witnessing Triangle & Four Levels of Witnessing (Appendix 16) and engage students in the following debrief questions: Reflect on the personal incident you recorded in your Learning Logs Appendix( 3) during the Kick Off. Who were the Offender(s), Receiver(s), Witness(es) and External/Outsiders in the incident? What level(s) of response were the witness(es) demonstrating? What factors were involved if there were “Dis-witnesses” or “Passive Witnesses”?
Reflect on the experiences of the Brazilian youth in the City of God. Who were the Offender(s), Receiver(s), Witness(es) and External/Outsiders in the incidents? What level(s) of response were the witness(es) demonstrating? What factors were involved if there were “Dis-witnesses” or “Passive Witnesses”?
Explain to students that taking an active role by responding appropriately during a discriminatory incident, rather than remaining silent, is called “Active Witnessing.” Remind students that although there are many factors that make it challenging to take action during these incidents, it is important to learn to be an “Active Witnesses” in order to break the code of silence and to stop injustice and discrimination in our lives and in society.
Part 3—Learning to be an Active Witness Note: Reflecting on the documentary, 4REAL City of God, invite students to Recall that MV Bill is playing an discuss how MV Bill is playing an important role as an “Active Witness” who important role in speaking out about is speaking out against the injustices and discrimination experienced by the injustice and discrimination against youth living in the favelas and how his actions can help change the future poor, black youth marginalized in of Brazil. slums. When his documentary, “Falcão,” aired in Brazil, the country In small groups, ask students to discuss the times when they have been was shocked to learn about the a witness to an unjust or discriminatory incident at school or in their reality of Brazilian youth and to see community. Encourage students to share how they responded as witnesses the underbelly of Brazil exposed. to the incidents. When the President of Brazil, Lula Da Silva, saw the documentary, he Randomly distribute a few of the scenarios from the Discrimination arranged to meet with MV Bill to Scenarios (Appendix 17) to each group. Ask students to determine discuss how to find solutions for who will play the roles of the various parties involved in a discriminatory youth involved in the drug trade. incident: Offender; Receiver; Witness/Co-witness; and External/Outsider. Ask students to take turns practicing “Active Witnessing” by role playing the discrimination scenarios and incorporating the sample responses from the 11 Response Categories found in Appendix 18: Speaking Out Against Discrimination. wrap up Invite students to write responses to the following suggested questions in their Learning Logs:
Describe how you felt when you used the “Active Witnessing” responses.
Why is it important to speak out about discrimination and injustice? How can you apply what you have learned from this lesson to your life?
What are helpful strategies to use in order to speak out as a witness against discrimination?
What are some challenges that you might face in using these “Active Witnessing” responses?
Complete the 4REAL Learning Log to share what you have learned from this lesson.
42 OVERTIME Students may role-play the scenarios of injustice and discrimination that they have experienced or have written on their own, incorporating the responses from Appendix 18. One option is to use form theatre as a variation of the role play. “Freeze” the role play periodically and ask students from the audience to take the place of various characters to provide alternative responses.
RATINGS: Some Possible Assessments Assess students’ participation in sharing their experiences of injustice. Look for evidence of active listening and their willingness to give appreciation statements.
Assess students’ participation in discussing the injustices experienced by youth living in Brazil. Look for evidence that students have learned why youth are involved in the drug trade (socio-economic factors include: race/ ethnicity, class, gender, level of education).
Assess how cooperatively students are working together during the activities, discussions and role plays.
Assess students’ role-plays. Look for evidence that they use appropriate and effective responses and demonstrate ways to speak out against discrimination. (See Appendix 17a for role play assessment.)
LESSON 5
DREAM A CRAZY DREAM! Lesson 5: Dream a Crazy Dream!
This lesson is designed to help empower students to realize and achieve their dreams. Students will compile various images, symbols, words and phrases that represent their ideal futures. By visualizing, goal setting and placing these compilations on their “envision boards,” students will focus on attracting these positive visions and hopes into their lives.
(Estimated time: 90 minutes) goals Gear and Prep To develop in students an understanding of their Stack of magazines (Provide magazines ability to shape their futures create their own realities. that are culturally, socially, politically and environmentally relevant.) To encourage students to envision and express their Poster board dreams creatively. Markers To develop in students a positive outlook and Paints (optional) determination to make the world a more just, peaceful and sustainable place. Scissors Glue Kick Off In pairs, invite students to share their strategies for making their dreams come true. Pairs can then join “We do not need magic another pair to continue sharing. to change the world, we Tell students that they will be watching a documentary carry all the power we about a Brazilian hip hop artist, MV Bill, who dedicates much of his time and resources to helping youth realize need inside ourselves their dreams while they are faced with the harsh reality of living in poverty and threatened by gangs and violence. already: we have the power to imagine better.” Game Plan ~ J.K. Rowling, author While viewing 4REAL City of God, invite students to take notes on how MV Bill is helping youth realize their dreams.
The following excerpts are some possible areas of focus for discussion in the documentary:
“This is where dreams can be realized and reduce the sadness within the community,” states MV Bill before entering his CUFA Centre.
While in CUFA, Mos Def muses, “It’s good to see, young kids…having something to do with their imaginations and their minds.”
During the theatre performance, youth in CUFA share important messages: “What do we need? LOVE! What do we need? PEACE! What do we need? HEALTH!” 46 “If we invest in proper projects, I can see a hopeful future. If Note: this does not happen and society ignores it, it’s an ugly future. The dreams are simple…dreaming of a bicycle, a family The issues explored in 4REAL City of God are dinner, a nice house, things I consider simple and basic,” intense and complex and may require debriefing states MV Bill while reflecting on how to make the future more before moving on to the envision board activity. hopeful for Brazilian youth. The guided questions found on page 8, followed by the 4REAL learner log (Appendix 3), are Ask students to discuss how MV Bill and Mos Def both support intended to encourage individual responses from the importance of setting goals and intentions and how they students. have taken the courage to follow their own dreams. Invite them to read the following response from Mos Def when he was asked, “How do you get kids to dream?”
Mos Def: Everything that you see was somebody’s dream. Everything that we use or encounter in our life was somebody’s dream. And in a lot of instances it was somebody’s outrageous dream. The telephone, the camera, the light bulb, the safety pin, Coca Cola, the airplane, shoes, the wheel—somebody’s ridiculous dream. You’re living it now. Las Vegas; Venice, Italy; the slave trade—was somebody’s ridiculous dream. You’re living the reality of that dream.
So if everybody else could dream, why not you? Why are other people more qualified to dream than you? Your dream is yours. So just dream about your dream. Muhammad Ali said, “Whatever you’re thinking about, you’re becoming.” Fix your mind on your dream and then work toward it and just don’t stop. That’s all you have to do.
You have to believe in yourself. And people think it’s just a slogan but it’s so real ‘cause if you don’t see it for yourself it’ll never happen. Dream somethin’ crazy and then just fix your mind on that. And everything that takes you away from that, remove it.
Encourage the students to take this opportunity to “dream something crazy” and fix their minds on it! As global citizens, encourage them to reflect on how much more powerful their dreams may be when they consider the effects of their choices and the well-being of other people and the planet.
47 Note to students: The envision board allows you to focus on things from your external, larger world that you want to become a reality in your life and world. Below are some examples of successful celebrities envisioning their future (written by author Jack Canfield in The Success Principles): Jim Carrey’s Cheque Bruce Lee’s Letter As a struggling young comedian trying The late martial arts legend and my own to make it in the make or break city of personal role-model, Bruce Lee, understood Hollywood, Jim Carrey was just about ready to the power of the law of attraction. As a give up his dream of becoming a professional struggling entrepreneur and actor, Bruce sat actor and comedian. He had just performed at down one day and wrote the following letter an open mic session at one of the nightclubs to himself: “By 1980, I will be the best known in Los Angeles and had been booed off the oriental movie star in the United States and stage by his audience. He sat by himself at will have secured $10 million dollars… And the top of Mulholland Drive and looked out in return, I will give the very best acting I at the city below him—the city that held his could possibly give every single time I am in future success or failure. He then pulled out front of the camera and I will live in peace his cheque book and wrote himself a cheque and harmony.” In 1973, months after Bruce’s for $10 million dollars and made a note on untimely death, the blockbuster movie Enter it: “for acting services rendered.” He then the Dragon was released in both the United carried that cheque with him in his wallet States and China, elevating Bruce to the level everywhere he went from that day forward. of an international star. By 1995, after the success of his blockbuster movies: Ace Ventura: Pet Detective, Dumb and Dumber, and The Mask, his contract price had risen to the price of $20 million dollars. Steps to Creating the Envision Board: 1. Sit quietly, with kindness and openness and ask yourself what you want. Images or words may come to mind. Allow them to sit with you.
2. Look through the magazines and cut or tear images that may represent your hopes and dreams. Let yourself have fun with choosing images and words that make you happy, inspired and passionate. Make a big pile of images phrases and words.
a. Where would you work, live, travel? c. Who would live in your community? Who would you help? b. What things would you own and wear? What vehicle would you drive? d. What would the environment around you be like? How would you contribute to it?
3. Go through the images and lay your favourite ones on the board. Allow yourself to be creative and let your intuition and imagination guide you on how you would like to organize the board.
4. Glue everything on the poster board, then add writing, phrases and words. Leave a space in the centre for a picture of yourself looking healthy and happy.
5. Place your envision board somewhere you will see it regularly and think positively about it.
Useful Links www.christinekane.com/blog/how-to-make-a-vision-board www.selfgrowth.com/articles/How_to_Use_a_Vision_Board_to_Activate_the_Law_of_Attraction.html
48 Wrap Up Note: Invite students to share their envision boards with a partner. Remind them to be It is very important that active listeners and to acknowledge and appreciate their partner for sharing. students do not criticize each other’s envision boards Invite students to work in small groups to brainstorm about what the envision because negativity diminishes boards of the youth living in favelas would look like and to discuss how they may the purpose and positive be similar to or different from their own. effect of creating the board. If students are fearful that Invite students to reflect on ways they envision themselves as global citizens. How someone may criticize their may they see themselves contributing to the well-being of other people and the boards, they should put them planet? How may they see themselves as leaders in the community? How may in a place where only they can they see themselves playing a role in helping to end oppression? Ask students to see it (Kane, 2007). discuss the following quote: “We have to get free. The oppression is not an acceptable system of living on planet Earth, and we have it in our power to end it. We have to end it.” ~ Mos Def
Overtime A powerful exercise is to ask students to revisit their envision boards later in life (e.g. five years later, after graduation, etc., as they would with a time capsule project) to see how much of their hopes and visions were attained and/or how their hopes and dreams changed.
Ratings: Some Possible Assessments Students may complete a self-assessment about their envision board. By using a 3-2-1 strategy, students can describe three things they enjoyed about doing the envision board, two interesting things they learned and one way that they will apply what they have learned to their life.
LESSON 6
LEADERSHIP – CREATING ALTERNATIVES Lesson 5: Leadership – Creating Alternatives
This lesson is designed for students to learn about the qualities of leadership and the positive changes that can result from taking action. Through watching 4REAL City of God and identifying MV Bill’s leadership skills, students will be encouraged to explore ways to strengthen their own leadership skills and to demonstrate how their own actions may have a potential effects in their community.
(Estimated time: One hour) goals Gear and Prep To demonstrate to students the importance of positive 4REAL City of God DVD and DVD player leadership in addressing global issues and to identify attributes associated with active citizenship. Paper and pens
To provide students with an opportunity to describe ways Appendix 2: Brainstorm Web in which personal attitudes and actions can affect the state of the planet. Appendix 20: Fishbone
To work with students to develop a plan of action to Appendix 21: Character Web respond to an issue of importance to them.
Kick Off “With realization of In small groups, ask students to brainstorm about the attributes of a good leader (e.g. good listener, responsible, motivated, one’s own potential optimistic, etc.). Using a mind map or the Brainstorm Web (Appendix 2), place leadership in the centre and radiating and self-confidence in outwards include the following: admired leaders (in the local, national or international community), leadership qualities (what one’s ability, one can makes someone a good leader?) and leadership actions (what build a better world.” kinds of actions do leaders take?). ~ Dalai Lama
Game Plan While viewing 4REAL City of God ask students to individually take notes on MV Bill’s leadership qualities and on the ways he is helping his community.
You may want to direct student’s attention to the following excerpts from the documentary: “When I realized I could save lives with small gestures I began to love helping others. I wanted my voice to be the voice of the people.” ~ MV Bill “You’d be hard-pressed to find anyone as dedicated as MV Bill. Beyond rocking the mic, he tours the 52 country speaking to youth, has opened community centres, co-produced a documentary, and authored two books.” ~ Sol Guy
“This is where dreams can be realized and reduce the sadness within the community. Born from hip hop culture, CUFA spreads knowledge and love in the favela by offering classes in b-boying, also provides access to the internet, and offers classes in video production, basketball, graffiti art, and theatre.” ~ MV Bill
After viewing the 4REAL City of God documentary, ask students to work in pairs to complete the Character Web (Appendix 21) for MV Bill. Fill the top half of the web with MV Bill’s leadership qualities. Fill the bottom half of the web with ways MV Bill is taking action to make a difference in his community.
Invite the students to share with the class some of the qualities and actions that were most inspiring to them.
Wrap Up Facilitate a class discussion using the following statement from MV Bill from 4REAL City of God: “If we invest in proper projects, I can see a hopeful future. If this does not happen and society ignores it, it’s an ugly future. The dreams are simple. Dreaming of a bicycle, a family dinner…a nice house, things I consider simple and basic. But to help these kids realize these dreams is a challenge. All of Brazil needs to help me realize this. Alone I can’t.”
Discuss ways that students can be active in their own community. Ask students to create a character web of themselves, identifying their current leadership qualities, those they are developing and the actions they can take in their school or community. 53 Using the Fishbone (Bennet, 2001) in Appendix 25 to help Fishbone graphic organizer organize their thoughts, invite students to choose one action they would like to take. Ask students to write their goal at the head Support Promotion of the Fishbone and what they think is required to achieve their teacher word of mouth club announcements goal on the “fins” of the Fishbone, for example, Leadership, friends posters Resources, Support, and Promotion. Under these main family flyers stickers categories, students may include more specific categories in the Fundraiser for “ribs” of the Fishbone. Homeless
meeting room computer positive role modelling Overtime video camera being organized poster materials listening to ideas 1. Ask students the question, “Who are the heroes of your time?” Encourage them to do research on heroes (leaders) in their Resources Leadership own communities. Remind students to identify their leadership qualities and the actions they have taken to make positive change.
2. Ask students to imagine themselves in a leadership role in their community. Ask them to identify issues facing the community (such as poverty, homelessness, environmental degradation, etc.) and to develop a plan of action to address these issues.
Ratings: Some Possible Assessments Assess the content of the graphic organizers. Look for evidence that students are able to recognize positive leadership skills in addressing global issues and that they are able to identify attributes associated with active citizenship.
Assess the student contribution to group discussion. Look for their understanding of how their personal attitudes and actions may have a potential effect on the state of the planet. Glossary
ADVERSITY: An unfavourable experience, event or circumstance that causes hardship and suffering.
ACTIVE CITIZENSHIP: Being a member of a community with duties and responsibilities, which involve working towards the betterment of one’s community through public service, volunteer work, and other such efforts to improve life for all citizens.
ACTIVE WITNESSING: Taking an active role by responding appropriately during a discriminatory incident, rather than remaining silent and passive.
BLING BLING: Flashy jewelry worn especially as an indication of wealth; expensive and showy possessions.
DISCRIMINATION: Unequal or unfair treatment of an individual or group based on age, class, race, ethnicity, language, religion, gender, sexual orientation, physical or mental ability, etc.
GANG: An organized group whose identity usually includes involvement in illegal activity. Typically they claim territory, are self-supporting, have their own language and signs, and establish their own rules and codes of conduct.
ETHNIC BACKGROUND: A common ancestry shared with a group of human beings that may share similar cultural, linguistic, behavioural, biological or religious traits.
FAVELA: Slum or shanty town in Brazil.
GLOBALIZATION: The process by which things such as businesses, companies, social institutions, organizations, communication, transportation, trends and fashion grow to operate on a global or worldwide scale.
GLOBAL CITIZENSHIP: Being a member of the global community with duties and responsibilities that involve alleviating local and global inequality, while at the same time avoiding action that hinders the well-being of individuals or damages the planet.
GLOBAL ISSUES: Social, environmental and economic challenges or problems that are global in scale and have an impact on the entire planet.
HYPER- MASCULINITY: Exaggerating the qualities that are conventionally supposed to be manly, such as physical strength, courage and aggression.
INJUSTICE: Unfair or unjust treatment.
55 LAWS OF ATTRACTION: Based on the principal “Like Attracts Like,” this concept is described as a how a person’s thoughts, emotions and beliefs can cause a change in the physical world by attracting positive or negative experiences that correspond to the aforementioned thoughts. In other words, “you draw toward you what you think about.”
MARGINALIZE: To move somebody or confine to a lower or outer limit of social standing.
MISOGYNY: The hatred toward, mistreatment or objectification of women.
RACISM: Prejudice or feeling of hostility and resentment against people who belong to another race; the belief that some races are inherently superior or inferior to others.
SOCIAL CHANGE: Change that is beneficial towards creating a just, equitable and sustainable society.
SOCIALLY CONSCIOUS: To be empathetic towards others and aware of the problems, difficulties and hardships that different societies and communities face on a day-to- day basis; to be aware of your own actions and how your actions affect others.
SLUM: A heavily populated urban area characterized by poverty, below standard housing conditions and squalor.
56 References
Bennet, B. & Rolheiser, C. (2001). Beyond Monet: The artful science of instructional integration. Toronto: Bookation, Inc.
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Ferguson, S. & Tcheng, J. (2002). Racism 4 REEL: Anti-racism resource package. Access to Media Education Society.
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Ishiyama, F.I. (2002). The anti-racism response training program: An active witnessing training method for prejudice reduction, human resource enhancement, and organizational and community development. Canadian Association for Prevention of Discrimination and Harassment in Higher Education Newsletter, 22-24. Adapted by A. Brown (2007).
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Institutos de Estudos da Religião (ISER). (2005). Homicide rates obtained from the 2005 release of the Mortality Information System (Sistema de Informação sobre Mortalidade, or SIM).
57 Perlman, J. (2005). The myth of marginality revisited: The case of favelas in Rio de Janeiro, 1969-2003. Retrieved July 23, 2008 from www.worldbank.org/urban/symposium2005/papers/perlman.pdf.
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Recommended Resources for Hip Hop Cirelli, M. & Sitomer, M.A., (2004). Hip-Hop poetry and the classics for the classroom. Beverly Hills, California: Milk Mug Publishing. A curriculum book that contrasts themes and literary styles of both classic and contemporary poets.
Shabazz, J. (2001). Back in the days. New York: powerHouse Books. A photographic journey back to the late 1970s and early 1980s to look at the beginnings of Hip-Hop fashion.
Shomari, H. (1995). From the underground: Hip-Hop culture as an agent of social change. Fanwood, NJ: X-Factor Publications. A short study of the political possibilities and shortcomings of the current Hip-Hop culture.
Rose, T. (1994). Black noise: Rap music and black culture in contemporary America. Hanover, N.H.: University Press of New England. An ethnographic exploration of rap within its social, cultural, and artistic contexts.
Websites Just Think www.Justthink.org Just Think teaches young people media literacy skills for the 21st century. “They have been successfully creating and delivering in-school, after school and online media arts and technology education locally, nationally and internationally for thirteen years.”
Hip Hop Association www.hiphopassociation.org The Hip Hop Association aims “to facilitate critical thinking, foster constructive social change and unity to instill tolerance, civic participation, social reform, and economic sustainability, while advancing Hip-Hop’s culture through innovative programming.”
58 Hip Hop Network www.hiphop-network.com The Hip Hop Network represents the four main elements of hip-hop and everyday life in the hip-hop community: MCs (rappers), b-boys (break dancers), DJs and graffiti art.
Hip Hop Directory www.hiphop-directory.com A directory for hip hop culture worldwide.
David D’s Hip Hop Corner www.daveyd.com A compilation of hip hop history, politics, culture and more.
Breakin it Down www.breakinitdown.org This website encourages and facilitates critical thinking about music videos.
More Recommended Teaching Resources
Bigelow, B. & Peterson, B., (Eds.). (1998) Rethinking Columbus: The next 500 years. Milwaukee: Rethinking Schools, Ltd.
Bigelow, B. & Peterson, B., (Eds.). (2002). Rethinking globalization: Teaching for justice in an unjust world. Milwaukee: Rethinking Schools, Ltd.
Case, R. (1999). Global education: It’s largely a matter of perspective. In Case, R. & Clark, P. (Eds.), The Canadian anthology of social studies: Issues and strategies for teachers (75-83). Vancouver: Pacific Education Press.
CIDA, (various). Global citizenship in action. Ottawa: Minister of Public Works and Government Services.
Classroom Connection. Cultivating peace: Taking action. Ready-to-use student activities. Toronto: Soka Gakkai International Association of Canada.
Danesh, H.B. & Clarke-Habibi, S. (2007). Education for peace curriculum manual: A conceptual and practical guide. Vancouver: International Education for Peace Institute.
Evans, M. & Reynolds, C. (Eds.). (2003). Educating for global citizenship; A teachers’ resource handbook. Toronto, CIDEC (OISE/UT).
Ferguson, S. & Tcheng, J. (2002). Racism 4 REEL: Anti-racism resource package. Salt Spring Island: Access to Media Education Society (A.M.E.S.).
Goldstein, T. & Selby, D. (Eds.). (2000). Weaving connections: Educating for peace, social and environmental justice. Toronto: Sumach Press.
Hart, Roger. (1992). Children’s participation: From tokenism to citizenship. Florence: International Child Development Centre, UNICEF.
Hicks, D. (1981). Bafa Bafa in minorities. London: Heinemann Educational.
59 Hicks, D. (2003). Thirty years of global education: A reminder of key principles and precedents. Educational Review, 55 (3): 265–275.
Kielburger, M. & Kielburger, C. (2002). Take action! A guide to active citizenship. Toronto: Gage Learning.
Merryfield, M., Jarchow, E. and Pickert, S. (Eds.). (1997). Preparing teachers to teach global perspectives. Thousand Oaks: Corwin Press.
Oakes, J. & Lipton, M. (2002). Teaching to change the world (2nd Ed.). New York: McGraw-Hill.
Peel District School Board. Connecting global education to the curriculum: A guide for grade 7 and 8 teachers. Ontario: Student Leadership for Global Development (CIDA & Canadian Heritage).
Pike, G. & Selby, D. (1988). Global teacher, global learner. London: Hodder & Stoughton.
Pike, G. & Selby, D. (1999). In the global classroom: Book 1. Toronto: Pippin.
Pike, G. & Selby, D. (2000). In the global classroom: Book 2. Toronto: Pippin.
Selby, D. (1995). Earthkind: A teachers’ handbook on humane education. London, Trentham Books Limited.
Selby, D., Gray-Donald, J., Holland, D. & Kagawa, F. (2002). Cultivating peace in the 21st century. Toronto: Classroom Connections.
Thiagarajan, S. (2006). Barnga: A simulation game on cultural clashes. Boston: Intercultural Press.
PUBLICATIONS New Internationalist www.newint.org The New Internationalist is a monthly, theme-based magazine accessible to high school students. “The New Internationalist workers’ co-operative (NI) reports on issues of world poverty and inequality; to focus attention on the unjust power relationships worldwide; to debate and campaign for the radical changes necessary to meet the basic needs of all; and to bring to life the people, the ideas and the action in the fight for global justice.” Their site includes information and help on teaching global issues.
Ode www.odemagazine.com Ode is a print and online publication that promotes optimism and “positive news, about the people and ideas that are changing our world for the better.” Ode’s aim is to bring a new reality into view, to explore opportunities for positive social, environmental and economic change.
WEBSITES 4REAL www.4REAL.com 4REAL.com is a social networking and educational site for a community of individuals from around the world who are passionate about creating social change through music, art, culture and action.
American Forum for Global Education www.globaled.org This private, non-for-profit organization, founded in 1970, provides leadership to strengthen the education of youth by fostering their ability to think creatively, analytically and systematically about issues in a global context. (More than 170 teaching resources are available through the website). 60 Access to Media Education Society (AMES) www.accesstomedia.org AMES is a registered non-profit organization dedicated to helping people cultivate individual, group and mass communication skills. More than 400 “multi-barriered” youth have created a total of 150 short films, videos, public service announcements (PSAs). A comprehensive series of youth-created educational resources is available.
British Columbia Teachers’ Federation Social Justice www.bctf.ca/SocialJustice.aspx The website is a vehicle for the sharing of information, ideas and activities on social justice issues. The scope is broad and includes women’s issues, racism, poverty, homophobia, violence, the social effects of globalization, especially the aspects of these issues which affect children, schools and teachers.” The resource web pages cover child labour, global education, globalization, trade agreements and education, homophobia and heterosexism, poverty, women’s issues, social justice resources, and teaching to diversity.
CIDA Teacher Zone www.acdi-cida.gc.ca/teacherzone Canadian International Development Agency’s Teacher Zone is a Canadian government site for teachers interested in Canada’s role in development issues. It is “a single portal for high-quality, curriculum-based educational resources and for new ideas to help bring international development to the classroom and motivate students to become active global citizens.” Their curriculum support includes a fully searchable (by grade level, topic and jurisdiction) database of resource annotations from across Canada.
Globalization101.org www.globalization101.org This is “an internet resource dedicated to providing students with information and learning opportunities on globalization. The site, managed by the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), hopes to serve as an informative and engaging space for those interested in learning more about changes in the international economy.”
Media Awareness Network www.mediaawareness.ca This site is dedicated to promoting critical thinking in young people about the media. It provides media education and information literacy resources for teachers, parents and young people. “MNet focuses its efforts on equipping adults with information and tools to help young people to understand how the media work, how the media may affect their lifestyle choices and the extent to which they, as consumers and citizens, are being well informed.”
People & Planet www.planetfriendly.net People & Planet is a unique gateway to environment, peace and sustainable living, in Canada and beyond. They are probably best known for their listings of jobs, contracts and internships, volunteer opportunities and events.
Rethinking Schools Online www.rethinkingschools.org This online companion to the US-based magazine addresses current issues in education. “Rethinking Schools began as a local effort to address problems such as basal readers, standardized testing, and textbook-dominated curriculum.” It emphasizes problems facing urban schools, particularly issues of race. It offers more than 20 publications including ones that address globalization, teaching about ‘terrorism’ and teaching mathematics from a social justice perspective.
61 Teaching Tolerance www.tolerance.org This is a “principal online destination for people interested in dismantling bigotry and creating, in hate’s stead, communities that value diversity.” Tolerance.org provides daily news about groups and individuals working for tolerance and fighting hate; guidebooks for adult and youth activists; practical resources for parents and teachers; and entertaining and educational games for young children.
The Children’s Rights Centre at Cape Breton University discovery.uccb.ns.ca/children The CBU Children’s Rights Center develops education curricula related to children’s rights and the impact of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. They also provide training workshops on children’s rights for teachers and professionals working with children.
The United Nations Cyberschoolbus cyberschoolbus.un.org Cyberschoolbus is the “online education component of the Global Teaching and Learning Project, whose mission is to promote education about international issues and the United Nations by producing high quality teaching materials and activities designed for educational use and for training teachers. Within the Cyberschoolbus site there are a number of activities and projects that teach students about global issues in an interactive, engaging and fun way.”
UNICEF Teaching Resources www.unicef.ca/portal/SmartDefault.aspx?at=1451 UNICEF provides lesson plans and curriculum resources related to the UNICEF State of the World’s Children Report that are aimed at achieving the Millennium Development Goals and addressing children’s rights around the world. UNICEF aims to enhance “young Canadians’ understanding of the world they live in, and empowers them to effect global change through fundraising, awareness and advocacy.”
War Child Canada www.getloud.ca This site “celebrates the contributions of Canadian musicians and youth activists who are building a better future, and aims to inform and inspire Canadians about global humanitarian issues.” War Child Canada shares the belief that knowledge can serve to empower and bring about change. They “are committed to providing educators with access to information and resources that support their efforts to foster global citizenship in their classrooms and beyond.”
62 APPENDICES 1-21
63 APPENDIX 1 Head, Heart & Hand
Head: What facts did you learn from the 4REAL documentary or activity?
Heart: Describe a scene or event that had an effect on you. How did it make you feel?
Hand: In what ways can you apply what you have learned? How can you take action?
64 APPENDIX 2 BRAINSTORM WEB
65 APPENDIX 3 Learning Log
4 Things you learned from the documentary and/or activities
Reflect & Connect (Share something in the documentary and/or activity that connected to your life)
Explain it (Choose one thing you learned and explain it to a friend)
AHA moments (What surprised you in the documentary and/or activities?)
Learn more about (What do you want to learn more about?)
Specific Questions for further exploration:
66 APPENDIX 3a Sample Criteria for Learning logs
Powerful: Responses are complete, personal and thoughtful. The student combines previous experience and learning with frequent references to classroom activities. The thinking goes beyond the surface level and indicates a deeper understanding of learning
Competent: Responses are complete, consistent and logical. The students shows some ability to combine previous learning and experience and makes some reference to classroom activities. The thinking focuses on one aspect of the lesson or deals with ideas on a surface level.
Developing: Some responses are incomplete or inconsistent and the student shows little integration of previous learning and experiences. There is an incomplete understanding of the lessons.
Beginning: Responses are incomplete, inconsistent and illogical. The student does not provide examples of the connections to previous learning or experiences. There appears to be little or no understanding of the lessons.
67 APPENDIX 4 History of Hip Hop
68 and has gravitated towards negative behavior such as Appendix 5 sexism, violence and self-indulgence. Wealth for the sake of wealth is what mainstream hip hop is often Hip Hop Worldwide selling, mostly due to the culture of consumerism and capitalism that tries to take art and make it into a (Written by Sol Guy) commodity. However, things often come full circle.
The global nature of hip hop culture can be traced It was the summer of 1983 when hip hop found me. back to its African roots and the tradition of the griot (a I was a wide-eyed child from a small town in central storyteller in western Africa who passes down stories British Columbia, Canada. My stepfather heard about a and history of a village or family). The original griots subculture that was growing out of the ghettoes of New used their voices and a drum to tell current and relevant York City: it was called hip hop. I was instantly attracted stories. As indicated earlier, the roots of mainstream hip to it because it was a mirror I could see myself in. It hop are very similar. However, it is within the world hip helped me develop my identity as a teenager. Since that hop movement that the founding principles are currently moment, I have devoted my life to hip hop culture. In most evident. turn it has given me more than I could have possibly imagined. I have traveled the world, built a career in Many people in recovering nations use hip hop as a way business, made music and films, and met thousands of to express their concerns about the social problems that amazing people who share similar thoughts, goals and plague their communities. In my travels I have found ideas. that the people who honour the founding principles of hip hop for the most part are those who do not have Almost 30 years after the birth of hip hop culture, there material wealth or conventional power. Therefore, they is barely a country on the planet that has not been bitten value their voices and hip hop as a way to express their by the hip hop bug. It is the dominant global youth concerns to their respective governments, communities culture in the world. Be it in Japan, Germany, South and people of the world. Africa or Canada, young people are moving to the beat of hip hop. Hip hop has been adopted and localized by communities around the world and now those For those people who are new to hip hop, it is important communities are connecting through their common link to understand the history of the culture, which is about of hip hop culture. The versatility of hip hop has allowed much more than flashy cars, gangsters, half-naked it to grow and be adopted worldwide. The fact that hip women, money and diamond rings. Hip hop is a culture hop can be performed in any language has allowed it that goes beyond music and image. It is a way of life to cross cultural and physical borders and to grow at an for millions of young people. It informs their language, unprecedented rate. empowers their sprit, lifts them up, picks out their clothes, their way of speaking and even shapes how they A large number of people believe that the “world hip see the world and what they want their world to look like! hop” movement (as opposed to current mainstream hip hop) with its social commentary and inspiring ideas will Hip hop was founded in New York City in a borough be the wave of the future. If “world hip hop” becomes a called The (South) Bronx. Based on the principles of more dominant force, it could cause the American hip peace, love, unity, dignity, justice (and having fun), hop community members to take a look at what they are the culture was also born out of a desire by young saying and doing and the effect they are having on the black people to find a way to express and empower world. themselves and put an end to the overwhelming gang violence that was plaguing their communities. Four Regardless, hip hop will continue to grow and effect elements made up the culture: MCs (rappers), b-boys youth around the world. The beauty is that whoever gets (break dancers), DJs and graffiti art. From humble involved in hip hop is allowed to create and participate beginnings, hip hop’s lifestyle and music have risen to in whatever way she or he wants. For that simple reason, achieve commercial success. hip hop will remain alive for a very long time, ever evolving (for better or for worse). Fast-forward to 2008 and mainstream American hip hop has strayed far from its roots. Like many artistic endeavors that achieve success and become viable in pop culture, hip hop has become commercialized 69 Comprehension Questions
1. List and describe the principles on which hip hop culture was founded.
2. What was a “griot” and what did she or he do?
3. What is hip hop culture according to Sol’s article?
4. Why does Sol call hip hop a “global culture?”
5. Does this article see hip hop as a positive or a negative culture?
6. Compare and contrast “mainstream American hip hop” to “world hip hop.”
70 APPENDIX 6 Millennium Development Goals *
* The following text is taken from the United Nations website: http://www.un.org/millenniumgoals/MDGs- FACTSHEET1.pdf and images are taken from “Water rights and wrongs: A young peoples study of the United Nations Human Development Report”: http://hdr.undp.org/en/media/water_rights_and_wrongs_english.pdf.
In September 2000, at the United Nations Millennium Summit, world leaders agreed to a set of time-bound and measurable goals and targets to combat poverty, hunger, disease, illiteracy, environmental degradation and discrimination against women. Placed at the heart of the global agenda and set for 2015, they are now called the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).
The MDGs provide a framework for the entire UN system to work coherently together towards a common end. The UN Development Group (UNDG) will help ensure that the MDGs remain at the centre of those efforts. On the ground in virtually every developing country, the UN is uniquely positioned to advocate for change, connect countries to knowledge and resources, and help coordinate broader efforts at the country level.
The world is making progress toward the MDGs—but it is uneven and too slow. A large majority of nations will reach the MDGs only if they get substantial support—advocacy, expertise and resources—from outside. The challenges for the global community, in both the developed and developing world, are to mobilize financial support and political will, re-engage governments, re-orient development priorities and policies, build capacity and reach out to partners in civil society and the private sector.
MILLENIUM DEVELOPMENT GOALS (to be achieved by 2015)
Goal 1: Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger Reduce by half the proportion of people living on less than a dollar a day. Reduce by half the proportion of people who suffer from hunger.
Goal 2: Achieve universal primary education Ensure that all boys and girls complete a full course of primary education.
Goal 3: Promote gender equality and empower women Eliminate gender disparity in primary and secondary education, preferably by 2005, and at all levels by 2015.
Goal 4: Reduce child mortality Reduce by two-thirds the mortality rate among children under five.
71 Goal 5: Improve maternal health Reduce by three-quarters the maternal mortality ratio.
Goal 6: Combat HIV/AIDS, Malaria and other diseases Halt and begin to reverse the spread of HIV/AIDS. Halt and begin to reverse the incidence of malaria and other major diseases.
Goal 7: Ensure environmental sustainability Integrate the principles of sustainable development into country policies and programmes; reverse the loss of environmental resources. Reduce by half the proportion of people without sustainable access to safe drinking water. Achieve significant improvement in the lives of at least 100 million slum dwellers by 2020.
Goal 8: Develop a global partnership for development Develop further an open trading and financial system that is rule based, predictable and non-discriminatory, and includes a commitment to good governance, development and poverty reduction – nationally and internationally.
Address the least developed countries’ special needs. This includes tariffs and quota-free access for their exports, enhanced debt relief for heavily indebted poor countries, cancellation of official bilateral debt, and more generous official development assistance for countries committed to poverty reduction.
Address the special needs of landlocked and small island developing states.
Deal comprehensively with developing countries’ debt problems through national and international measures to make debt sustainable in the long term.
In cooperation with the developing countries, develop decent and productive work for youth.
In cooperation with pharmaceutical companies, provide access to affordable essential drugs in developing countries.
In cooperation with the private sector, make available the benefits of new technologies – especially information and communications technologies.
72 APPENDIX 7 UN-HABITAT and hip hop join forces to empower urban youth
Written by Nicholas You
Among those least-empowered to face the challenges of the Millennium Development Goals are urban youth. Of the estimated one billion “slum” dwellers worldwide, more than 50 percent are under the age of 25. Without access to adequate education or training, they have no prospects for meaningful employment. They have no say in policies and decisions that affect their livelihoods. They are victims of a vicious cycle of poverty and social exclusion and are particularly vulnerable to crime, drug abuse, prostitution and HIV/AIDS.
In recent years, disenfranchised urban youth have, however, given birth to a powerful voice. This voice is hip hop. Originating from the inner cities of North America, hip hop is becoming the most popular form of expression of urban youth worldwide. A recent study undertaken by UN-HABITAT reveals that hip hop is more than a genre of music or dance. It is a social movement. It is both a product of and a reaction to globalization. It represents a strong political statement. The most popular artists and groups are often those who rap about critical social, economic and environmental issues and who play an active role in their respective communities.
Based on these findings, UN-HABITAT decided to take advantage of the first Universal Forum on Cultures (held in Barcelona in 2004) to organise a Global Hip Hop Summit and Concert. Events such as these events are designed to bring socially committed hip hop artists from Africa, Latin America, Europe and the Americas to raise awareness of the Millennium Development Goals.
A special event was held on Tuesday, September 14, 2004 at the World Urban Forum and twelve hip hop artists/ groups participated. Carlinhos Brown from Brazil, Bebo Valdes from Cuba and F. Trueba, the Spanish film director, were appointed UN-Habitat Messengers of Truth by Anna Tibaijuka, the Executive Director of the United Nations Programme for Human Settlements. Each of these artists and the film director agreed to help the United Nations to raise awareness of the MDGs and to devote their time, their art and their energy in support of youth development initiatives in slums and inner cities.
Those appointed as Messengers of Truth include La Haza and Geronación (Spain), Gidi Gidi Maji Maji (Kenya), Godessa (South Africa), Nukke Posse (Greenland), MV Bill of the “City of God” (Brazil), La Etnnia (Colombia), K’NAAN (Somalia/Canada), Equicez and MADCON (Norway), and Kelly Love Jones (USA). They were selected because of their contribution to raising awareness of the Millennium Development Goals of reducing abject poverty and HIV/AIDS, promoting education, health care, gender equality, social inclusion, good governance and improving living conditions in slums and inner cities.
On Thursday, September 16, 2004, UN-HABITAT, a coalition of leading hip hop artists and recording industry executives made a commitment to combat poverty, social exclusion and injustice at the first Global Hip-Hop Summit. This summit took place within the World Urban Forum and produced a “Declaration of Principles and Call for Action” to empower youth living slums and inner cities worldwide and calls upon the international community to support their initiatives.
Nicholas You is Chief of UN-HABITAT’s Best Practices and Local Leadership Programme
Source: http://ww2.unhabitat.org/cdrom/wuf/documents/Special%20events/Messengers%20of%20Truth/ background/Hip-Hop.pdf
73 COMPREHENSION QUESTIONS
1. What did the study by UN-HABITAT reveal?
2. What did the UN-HABITAT decide to do as a result of their findings?
3. Explain how you think the hip hop artists listed in the article are contributing to raising awareness about the MDGs.
4. How has your thinking changed about the UN, hip hop and the MDGs since reading the article?
74 APPENDIX 8 Evaluation Rubric: Global Awareness and Hip Hop
Criteria Beginning Developing Competent Powerful
Knowledge/ Understanding Understanding of the Demonstrates Demonstrates Demonstrates Demonstrates history of hip hop, a limited a moderate a considerable a thorough hip hop culture and understanding of the understanding of the understanding of the understanding of the relation to MDGs basic ideas and/or basic ideas and/or basic ideas and/or basic ideas and/or concepts concepts concepts concepts Thinking / Inquiry Use of a variety of Uses critical and Uses critical and Uses critical Uses critical and critical and creative creative thinking creative thinking and creative creative thinking thinking skills. skills with limited skills with moderate thinking skills skills with a effectiveness effectiveness with considerable high degree of effectiveness effectiveness Communication Communication Communicates ideas Communicates ideas Communicates ideas Communicates ideas of ideas through with limited clarity with moderate clarity with considerable with a high degree of appropriate level of clarity clarity detail, organization of information, proper use of language conventions, presentation of formats Application Makes connections Makes no Makes some Makes considerable Makes high degree between artist’s connections between connections between connections between of connections actions and how she/ artist’s actions artist’s actions artist’s actions between artist’s he is contributing to and how she/he is and how she/he is and how she/he is actions and how she/ making change or contributing. contributing. contributing. he is contributing. not.
Checklist – Project includes the following:
1) ______The history of hip hop in the artist’s country. 2) ______A description of the hip hop culture from that country. 3) ______An analysis of the artist’s song. 4) ______Description of the style of hip hop is discussed. 5) ______Explanation of the messages in the lyrics. 6) ______Discussion of if/how the artist is contributing to raising awareness about MDGs? 7) ______Discussion of if/how the artist is making political or social statements. 8) ______Discussion of if/how the artist supports projects that are contributing to his or her community? 75 APPENDIX 9 Hip Hop Artists with a Message
The following table provides some excerpts from lyrics of various rappers and hip hop artists. Please note that some lyrics may contain expletives. Suggested here are some interpretations of the lyrics, however, students are of course encouraged to bring their own interpretations and meanings to these and other lyrics.
Artist song keywords* interpreted message Mos Def Children’s Story And people was behavin’ like hip Acknowledges the negative shift in hop was good hip hop culture. Mos Def Black on Both Sides Said it ain’t where ya from, it’s Look at the present and move where ya at toward the future rather than be bound by the past. Talib Kweli The Nature We ain’t different than the youth When it all comes down to it, we are in Asia, Africa, Europe / It’s a all human. small world Talib Kweli The Nature We gotta get back to what really We have to shift our mentality to matters / We gotta search our focus on what’s really important. soul to find out what we after The Roots Peace Seek peace of mind, through Pursue peace as a state of mind mental peacefulness and way of life. Common I Got a Dream I got a dream / We gonna work it Everyone has to work together to out make this a better place. Common I Got a Dream In the ghetto let love prevail Let love give you strength in times of bleakness. Common The People The day has come / Now we are The importance of unity among one people. Common The People Nobody believe, until I believe me Believe in yourself first and others will also. Common The People I’m keeping my eyes on the See people (each other) as most people / That’s the prize important. Nas Hip Hop is Dead Everybody sound the same, Recognizes the changing face of commercialize the game hip hop (in a negative sense, toward commercialization). Nas Hip Hop is Dead From “Beat Street” to Criticizes the commercialization of commercials on Mickey D’s hip hop. K’NAAN What’s Hardcore? Really, are you hardcore? Questioning “gangsta” rappers. K’NAAN What’s Hardcore? It’s hard, harder than Harlem and There are places even worse than Compton intertwined the worst places in the US (making people think outside their world). K’NAAN In the Beginning Put up your fist if all you want is Freedom as something important freedom! to fight for (rather than street cred, revenge, etc.). M.I.A. 20 Dollar 20 dollars ain’t *?@! to you - But A reference to the price of guns that’s how much they are in Africa – reminds you to think of the rest of the world relative to your experience.
76 M.I.A. 20 Dollar I put people on the map that Brings attention to those usually never seen a map marginalized by the media. Black Eyed Peas Where is the Love? If you have love for your own race A call for open minds and hearts to / Then you only leave space to end discrimination. discriminate Black Eyed Peas Where is the Love? Let your soul gravitate to the love The importance of being open to y’all love. Black Eyed Peas Where is the Love? If you never know the truth / The need for love as a way to truth. Then you never know the love The Roots Rising Down Got mother nature doin’ back Raises environmental concerns. flips, the natural disasters Lupe Fiasco American Terrorist The ink of a scholar is worth a Supports education rather than thousand times more than the religious (or other) fundamentalism blood of a martyr and murder. Lupe Fiasco American Terrorist Turn their whole culture to a Criticizes global capitalism. mockery / Give em’ coca-cola for their property
77 APPENDIX 10 Critical Listening Chart
ARTIST SONG KEYWORDS INTERPRETED MESSAGE
78 Appendix 11 Rights, Wants and Needs Cards*
Each of the 20 cards can be classified into one of two categories:
NEEDS (Protected as RIGHTS in the Convention on the Rights of the Child, indicated by the corresponding article in the chart below.)
WANTS (Not protected as rights since they generally are not necessary for a child’s basic survival, growth and development.)
NEEDS/RIGHTS WANTS
Decent shelter (Article 27) Your own bedroom Nutritious food (Article 24) Junk food Protection from violence and work that harms you (Article 19) Allowance for helping at home Education (Articles 28 and 29) Personal computer and video games Health care (Article 24) Fashionable clothes Fair treatment and non-discrimination (Article 2) Popularity at school Playgrounds and recreation (Article 30) Clean water and air (Article 24) Opportunities to practice your own culture, language and religion (Article 31) Live with a family that cares for you (Article 9)
*This activity was adapted by permission from UNICEF Canada from UNICEF Canada: Helping to make your classroom a global schoolhouse! (2007). Previously adapted from Children’s Rights and Global Citizenship from the UCCB Children’s Rights Centre, University College of Cape Breton, (2003) and Education for Development: A Teacher’s Resource Guide for Global Learning, by Susan Fountain (1995).
79 playgrounds and recreation
80 CLEAN WATER AND AIR
junk food
81 Fair treatment and non-discrimination
personal computer FASHIONABLE and video games CLOTHES
82 83 APPENDIX 12 CASE STUDIES*
*The following case studies are true stories of children, youth and women involved in or affected by the drug trade in various favelas across Brazil, as summarized translations from Cabeça de Porco (Pighead) and Falcão - Mulheres e o Tráfico (Women and the Drug Trade).
Note: Please be aware that these accounts contain details about life in Brazil that are disturbing and as such, not all case studies may be suitable for younger students. Also note (and explain to students) that the choice of words of the people telling these stories is not only culturally specific (and therefore different from what may be “acceptable” elsewhere), but also that what follows here is a translation (and remind students that something is always lost in translation).
CASE 1 I began working in the drug trade as a Falcon*, the guy who stays on guard with a lighter and sets off firecrackers to warn the others of police coming. I’d work 24 hours a day and only take breaks when someone came to relieve me to eat, go to the bathroom and visit my family. I started using drugs when the others convinced me to try it. I didn’t have my own opinion; I thought, “Well if they’re doing it, I’ll do it too.” I didn’t realize what I was doing.
I then moved up to being a Vapor, the one who sells drugs. I didn’t keep track of the money I was making but it was around R$150 [$82 CDN] per transaction and I completed around 12 transactions per week. So I made about R$1,800 per week. I’d work but always worry about getting killed. Guys get involved with crime, not because it’s their vision, but to support themselves, to buy clothes, to buy a car. It’s a way of survival for them and their family.
CASE 2 My son is 12 years old and has dropped out of school. He doesn’t want to go to school, he just wants to hang out on the streets with the other boys the same age as him. Many of them are out all night and sleep on the streets. I don’t know what to do, I’ve tried looking for many solutions. I went to talk to the Child Protection Service to ask them to find me a psychologist for my rebellious son. I have already lost a son so I am desperate for a solution. I think he behaves in this way because just like his peers, he sees his brother and other family members get involved with drugs.
This [favela] is not a good place to raise a son. Kids are always trying to sell guns, drugs, things that are no good. All of this is not good for a child, but I don’t have the resources to live in any other place. I have a daughter who is five years old and scared to death all the time living here. If someone knocks on the door she asks me not to open it, she’s scared it may be the police or gang members. She’s scared of everything.
I think it would help if children had a place to play, something to occupy themselves with rather than using drugs and getting involved with the drug trade. They should be playing with soccer balls, not with guns.
CASE 3 My friend Nellie owed a drug dealer $R 2 [$1.10 CDN] but refused to pay him. The next day around noon we were eating and the drug dealer approached us with two other guys. He got close to Nellie and put his arm around him. While he was hugging him he pulled out a gun and shot Nellie four times. Nellie bled to death. I just can’t stop thinking about it, my friend in agonizing pain just because of $R 2.
84 CASE 4 I was 10 years old when I entered the drug trade. I’ve been in the life of crime for six years. My father was a drug dealer but he was forced out of here by the other gang. My mom then died and I went to live with my grandmother at the age of two. My grandmother just died two months ago. When I first started there weren’t many children involved in crime but now it’s full of children. I don’t think it’s right. If it were my younger brother – I wouldn’t let him get involved. I wouldn’t let anyone at 10 years old enter the world of trafficking because they aren’t ready.
If the police catch us (the little Falcons*), they look us in the eye and tell us our worth by giving a value of our “freedom.” For example, they say “your value is worth R$3.000.” My gang either thinks it’s too much or does not have the money to pay for my “freedom” so the police arrest me. Little Falcons are not all that valuable because they are easy to find and hard to keep locked up. I’ve been arrested eight times and each time I have escaped the following week.
The advantage of being in the drug trade is that you have money in your pocket. The disadvantage is that you can easily get killed. We have our own laws here in the favela. When you do something bad, you’ll get killed. All gang members need to be “pure” because if they mess up, they will get shot.
I don’t think the drug trade will end any time soon, because if it did, the police wouldn’t make much money. If it weren’t for us, they would just be making their regular salary. They make extra from demanding payments from us so I don’t see it ending any time soon.
* Falcons stay on guard to warn the others of danger or if the police are coming.
85 case 5 I have nine children; two of my sons are starting to get involved with drug trafficking. Myself, I have a long history that I’ll have to tell you from the beginning. My childhood was disturbing. When I was seven, my father left my mother for another younger women. My mother was left alone with six children. I didn’t want to believe it but then one day while I was walking home I saw my father kissing this other women who was about 18 years old. It was horrible and I was so mad at men. My father used to pay for most of the household things since he was a mechanic. My mother was a domestic servant and didn’t make enough money for us to live. After a few months we were homeless. We lived on the streets for two months. I’ll tell you something from the heart – to live on the street is very humiliating, for any human being, especially a child. I was seven and my other brothers and sisters were 5, 6, 10, 11, 13, and 14. We had no more dreams.
We lived underneath a viaduct. We spent out entire days on the streets, begging for food in front of restaurant doors, begging for money on the streets. People looked at us like we were monsters. We were just kids.
My mom became a prostitute to help support us. She worked in the mornings as a domestic servant and at night on the streets. After two months my mom was able to gather enough money for us to live in a shack in a favela. And I started to work as a domestic servant to help my mom. I never had a childhood. I never had many opportunities in life. I was always working.
When I was 17, I had my third child and my second husband was killed. I was working as a domestic servant and unable to support my three children. My desperation was growing so I started to get involved with selling drugs. It gave me enough to by rice and beans for my children. Eventually I got busted by an undercover police. My life ended there and I spent four years in prison. My sister who lived in a neighboring favela took care of my children. I am very thankful to her.
Brazil is a country that is in first place for injustice in the world. Look at the amount of favelas that exist, the number of blacks who are the majority in this country, who don’t have a good life, the number of prisoners in jail, the boys and girls involved in crime. Is anyone doing anything? This is a country of soccer, carnival and criminal activity. For me Brazil is a very unjust country.
86 APPENDIX 13 UN CONVENTION ON THE RIGHTS OF THE CHILD*
* The following information is taken from Helping to make your classroom a global schoolhouse! (UNICEF Canada, 2007).
The Convention on the Rights of the Child is an international treaty that recognizes the human rights of children, defined as persons up to the age of 18 years. UN Convention on the Rights of the Child was adopted by the UN General Assembly in 1989, thirty years after the 1959 Declaration of the Rights of the Child. On 2 September 1990 it entered into force as international law.
In 41 articles, it establishes in international law that States Parties must ensure that all children – without discrimination in any form – benefit from special protection measures and assistance; have access to services such as education and health care; can develop their personalities, abilities and talents to the fullest potential; grow up in an environment of happiness, love and understanding; and are informed about and participate in, achieving their rights in an accessible and active manner.
Article 1 Everyone under 18 has these rights.
Article 2 All children have these rights, no matter who they are, where they live, what their parents do, what language they speak, what their religion is, whether they are a boy or girl, what their culture is, whether they have a disability, whether they are rich or poor. No child should be treated unfairly on any basis.
Article 3 All adults should do what is best for you. When adults make decisions, they should think about how their decisions will affect children.
Article 4 The government has a responsibility to make sure your rights are protected. They must help your family to protect your rights and create an environment where you can grow and reach your potential.
Article 5 Your family has the responsibility to help you learn to exercise your rights, and to ensure that your rights are protected.
Article 6 You have the right to be alive.
Article 7 You have the right to a name, and this should be officially recognized by the government. You have the right to a nationality (to belong to a country).
Article 8 You have the right to an identity - an official record of who you are. No one should take this away from you.
Article 9 You have the right to live with your parent(s), unless it is bad for you. You have the right to live with a family who cares for you.
Article 10 If you live in a different country than your parents do, you have the right to be together in the same place.
Article 11 You have the right to be protected from kidnapping.
Article 12 You have the right to give your opinion, and for adults to listen and take it seriously.
Article 13 You have the right to find out things and share what you think with others, by talking, drawing, writing or in any other way unless it harms or offends other people. 87 Article 14 You have the right to choose your own religion and beliefs. Your parents should help you decide what is right and wrong, and what is best for you.
Article 15 You have the right to choose your own friends and join or set up groups, as long as it isn’t harmful to others.
Article 16 You have the right to privacy.
Article 17 You have the right to get information that is important to your well- being, from radio, newspaper, books, computers and other sources. Adults should make sure that the information you are getting is not harmful, and help you find and understand the information you need.
Article 18 You have the right to be raised by your parent(s) if possible.
Article 19 You have the right to be protected from being hurt and mistreated, in body or mind.
Article 20 You have the right to special care and help if you cannot live with your parents.
Article 21 You have the right to care and protection if you are adopted or in foster care.
Article 22 You have the right to special protection and help if you are a refugee (if you have been forced to leave your home and live in another country), as well as all the rights in this Convention.
Article 23 You have the right to special education and care if you have a disability, as well as all the rights in this Convention, so that you can live a full life.
Article 24 You have the right to the best health care possible, safe water to drink, nutritious food, a clean and safe environment, and information to help you stay well.
Article 25 If you live in care or in other situations away from home, you have the right to have these living arrangements looked at regularly to see if they are the most appropriate.
Article 26 You have the right to help from the government if you are poor or in need.
Article 27 You have the right to food, clothing, a safe place to live and to have your basic needs met. You should not be disadvantaged so that you can’t do many of the things other kids can do.
Article 28 You have the right to a good quality education. You should be encouraged to go to school to the highest level you can.
Article 29 Your education should help you use and develop your talents and abilities. It should also help you learn to live peacefully, protect the environment and respect other people.
Article 30 You have the right to practice your own culture, language and religion - or any you choose. Minority and indigenous groups need special protection of this right.
Article 31 You have the right to play and rest.
Article 32 You have the right to protection from work that harms you, and is bad for your health and education. If you work, you have the right to be safe and paid fairly.
Article 33 You have the right to protection from harmful drugs and from the drug trade.
Article 34 You have the right to be free from sexual abuse. 88 Article 35 No one is allowed to kidnap or sell you.
Article 36 You have the right to protection from any kind of exploitation (being taken advantage of).
Article 37 No one is allowed to punish you in a cruel or harmful way.
Article 38 You have the right to protection and freedom from war. Children under 15 cannot be forced to go into the army or take part in war.
Article 39 You have the right to help if you’ve been hurt, neglected or badly treated.
Article 40 You have the right to legal help and fair treatment in the justice system that respects your rights.
Article 41 If the laws of your country provide better protection of your rights than the articles in this Convention, those laws should apply.
Article 42 You have the right to know your rights! Adults should know about these rights and help you learn about them, too.
Article 43 These articles explain how governments and international organizations will work to ensure children are protected with their rights.
89 APPENDIX 14 Manifestations of Discrimination and Definitions*
PREJUDICE Prejudice is a “pre-judged” feeling or attitude towards a person, group or thing, not based on actual personal experience
BIAS When prejudiced feelings or attitudes are accepted based on personal experience, they lead to BIAS, a tendency to favour or influence a person unfairly
DISCRIMINATION When prejudice and bias move from a state of mind to behaviours and actions, the result is DISCRIMINATION. Discrimination is unequal or unfair treatment of an individual or group based on age, class, race, ethnicity, language, religion, gender, sexual orientation, physical or mental ability, etc.
DEFINITIONS
RACISM Beliefs, attitudes and practices that judge people based on their race or ethnicity (e.g.: skin colour; hair type; shape of eyes/nose, religious beliefs; language, etc.).
Forms of Racism: Individual Racism Attitudes, behaviours and individual acts of racism that maintain the power of some cultural groups (e.g. using racial slurs, reinforcing stereotypes, physical violence).
Cultural Racism Beliefs and cultural rules of behaviour that teach that one cultural group is dominant over another (e.g. the cultural standard for what a beautiful, trustworthy, competent person looks like).
Institutional Racism Rules, behaviours and structures that are built into various systems and services in society (e.g. school system’s hidden curricula; corporations’ hiring practices).
STEREOTYPE A false or general belief of a group of people that ignores the individual, unique differences within the group.
*Reprinted from the 2006 “Manifestations of Discrimination” and “Definitions.” Adapted by A. Brown, Consultant, Anti-racism & Diversity, Vancouver School Board, from: BC Human Rights Coalition (February 2003). Responding to incidents of racism and hate: A handbook for service providers
90 Appendix 15 Traffic Accident Role Play* Anti-discrimination Response Training Program (A.R.T.)
ACTIVITY OBJECTIVES: Explore the role and responsibilities of witnesses and the dynamics involved in “Dis-witnessing” Explore the various reasons and rationalizations for witnesses not to get involved Recognize how the “receiver” could be neglected or abandoned by the witness due to prejudice of the receiver’s backgrounds or attributes (e.g. age, class, race, physical appearance, etc.) Appreciate that fear of involvement and lack of helping skills can contribute to the witness’ avoidance of active involvement Emphasize how clear understanding of the witnessing responses and experience in skills training could help the witness step forward and engage in helping
ROLE PLAY: Choose five student volunteers to act in the role play: a driver (“offender”); a passenger (“witness”); a pedestrian (“receiver”); a witness (“co-witness”) and a traffic light. The narrator (teacher/facilitator/student) will set up the scene by describing the interesting details: choose local streets names and store names; describe the make of the driver’s car and the destination of the driver and passenger; encourage students to be animated and to improvise; use humour. The role play premise: While driving to their destination, the driver and passenger become distracted by their conversation and accidentally run an amber light and hit a pedestrian. The pedestrian will fall to the ground and become unconscious. The narrator yells, “FREEZE” and begins the “Debrief Questions” below.
Note: You may do variations of the role play (e.g. Form theatre: “Freeze” the scenario and invite students to take the place of particular characters to emphasize different ways of responding to the incident).
DEBRIEF QUESTIONS: Ask the Driver, Passenger nand Witness how they might respond to the situation. Ask how their responses would change if the various characters were different (e.g. if the “receiver” were a friend). Ask the students in the audience who the “Offender,” “Receiver,” “Witness/Co-witness” and “External/Outsider” are in the role play. Ask what roles the passenger and the witness play. How are their roles similar and how are they different? (They are both witnesses but the passenger is a friend of the “offender.” How might this affect how the passenger responds?) Ask what might happen if nobody chooses to be an “Active Witness” (to take action).
Ask about the factors that might cause someone to be a “Dis-witness:” • I don’t see anything wrong. • Is anyone hurt? Not really, so I won’t help. • The “receiver” deserves it. • The “receiver” should take care of her/himself. • I don’t want to be noticed; I want to remain anonymous. • I know the offender and I have to support him/her. • It’s none of my business.
91 Ask about the factors that might cause someone to be a “Passive Witness:” • I want to help but lack the skills, confidence and experience. • I hope someone else will deal with it. • The receiver’s “own people” should come and help. • I’m afraid of getting involved. • I’m afraid of doing the wrong thing. • I’m not sure if what I say will be useful. • I’m so upset, I can’t think straight. • I’m confused. • I’m afraid I’ll be punished for helping.
Ask about other factors that might cause someone to hesitate to help someone in need (e.g. age, class, race/ ethnicity, physical appearance, etc.) Explain that a receiver might be neglected or abandoned by a witness due to such prejudices.
“BYSTANDER” VERSUS “WITNESS” A BYSTANDER tends to be someone who “stands by” a situation in physical proximity but does not become psychologically engaged.
A WITNESS is understood as a form of psychological, physical and compassionate attending to a situation (“withness”); Active Witnessing empowers the Witness.
Clarify the role, ethical responsibility and significance of being a Witness.
*Reprinted from the 2006 Anti-Discrimination Response Training, Youth-Friendly Version. Adapted by A. Brown, Consultant, Anti-racism & Diversity, Vancouver School Board, from Ishiyama, F. I. (2002, 2004rev). The 2004 Trainers’ Manual (v. 3) for Anti-discrimination Response Training (A.R.T.) Program: An active witnessing approach to prejudice reduction and community development. (Unpublished manual) UBC, Vancouver, BC.
92 APPENDIX 16 Witnessing Triangle & The Four Levels Of Witnessing*
Witness & Co-witness(es)
Externals/Outsiders Externals/Outsiders
offender(s) receiver(s)
The five main parties involved in a discriminatory incident are:
1. Self as a WITNESS: You as an observer to an incident who might respond appropriately with action. 2. The CO-WITNESS(es): An observer(s) to an incident who might respond appropriately with action. 3. The OFFENDER: The person(s) who makes an offensive remark or acts offensively towards another in an incident. 4. The RECEIVER: The person(s) who receives the offensive remark or treatment in an incident. 5. The EXTERNALS/OUTSIDERS: Those who are not present at the time of an incident but may be asked to assist.
THE FOUR LEVELS OF WITNESSING 1. Dis-witnessing: joining the offender; blocking awareness; denying or avoiding the situation; “Not hearing, Not seeing, Not feeling, Not doing.”
2. Passive Witnessing: keeping silent; thinking about responding; feeling confused; “Hearing, Seeing, Feeling but Not Doing.”
3. Active Witnessing: responding with actions; response may be immediate or delayed; “Hearing, Seeing, Feeling and Doing.”
4. Ethical Witnessing with Social Action: recognizing unfair treatment; having a desire to change behaviours; and teaching and encouraging others to make change in your school or community; “Moving Beyond Hearing, Seeing, Feeling and Doing.”
*Reprinted from the 2006 Anti-Discrimination Response Training, Youth-Friendly Version. Adapted by A. Brown, Consultant, Anti-racism & Diversity, Vancouver School Board, from: Ishiyama, F. I. (2002, 2004rev). The 2004 Trainers’ Manual (v. 3) for Anti-discrimination Response Training (A.R.T.) Program: An active witnessing approach to prejudice reduction and community development. (Unpublished manual) UBC, Vancouver, BC.
93 APPENDIX 17 Discrimination Scenarios*
RACE/ETHNICITY Your class is watching a movie during History class and one part of the movie shows a group of students of African descent sitting on a street corner. There is one student of African descent in the class. Some of your classmates begin to laugh and one shouts: “I wonder what gang they belong to!”
A student was assigned to do a project on a randomly selected quote from a novel in English class. The quote was from the Bible and the student was a Christian. The student brought the Bible to school for the project and another student saw it and said: “Bibles shouldn’t be allowed in public schools and neither should Christians!”
SEXUAL ORIENTATION You are sitting in class with your peers when your teacher tells everyone to open their Shakespeare books. One of your peers shouts: “Oh man, Shakespeare again? That’s so gay!”
You and your friend are in the boys’ locker room getting ready for gym class, along with other students from your class. One student comes in a bit late. As he enters the locker room, some of the other students say loudly and sarcastically: “Hey! Looks like the pansy is late again, must’ve been with his boyfriend!”
ABILITY There is a student in your class who has a learning disability and she works with an assistant teacher during most of the day. During a group discussion, a student says to you: “That’s not fair, we don’t get extra help!”
A student in your school has a limp when she walks. One day, while she is walking down the hallway, one of your friends shouts: “Hey gimp, can you walk any faster?”
GENDER During English class, your group is assigned to create a poster. When your group finishes, two boys in the group get up and leave a large mess of construction papers behind them. A girl in the group tells the boys to come back and help clean the mess. One of the boys responds: “Trust me; you girls are better at cleaning than we are!”
Your friend has been practicing for the 100-metre race for the past month in preparation for the championship track meet. When your friend runs by you during practice, another boy says to you: “Man, he runs like a girl!”
AGE You and a group of friends are walking home from school and you see an older woman walking towards the group. All of a sudden she turns around and walks the other way. Someone yells: “What’s wrong with you, old bag?”
You school has a very competitive basketball team. On your senior team there are two junior students. They are both good players but whenever they miss a shot, one of your team members says: “See, this is why we shouldn’t have babies on our team, they choke under pressure!”
94 CLASS Your coach has been preparing your volleyball team for the City Championship title all year. While warming up for your first game, you notice that the other team players are wearing flashy new uniforms, matching socks and knee pads and expensive, name-brand runners. Some players from the other team walk by and one girl says: “Look at their ‘ghetto’ uniforms! They could have had better ones ‘donated’!”
While driving you to school, your father sees a person in an oversized jacket on the street, pushing a shopping cart filled with bottles and containers. He says:“ Look at that hobo! He’s ruining our city’s image!”
SIZE/PHYSICAL APPEARANCE You and your gym class are warming up to play volleyball one day. During the warm up, a student jumps up to make a volley but misses the ball. Another student yells to him: “Maybe you should go back to your woodworking class and make yourself some stilts—Shorty!”
One day your teacher asks you to show a new student around the school during lunch hour. You feel a little uncomfortable because the new boy has an unusual birthmark on his face and neck. During lunch hour, a student in the hall yells: “That’s freaky! Is that a tattoo or were you born like that?”
* Reprinted from the 2006 Anti-Discrimination Response Training, Youth-Friendly Version. Adapted by A. Brown, Consultant, Anti-racism & Diversity, Vancouver School Board, from: Ishiyama, F. I. (2002, 2004rev). The 2004 Trainers’ Manual (v. 3) for Anti-discrimination Response Training (A.R.T.) Program: An active witnessing approach to prejudice reduction and community development. (Unpublished manual) UBC, Vancouver, BC.
95 APPENDIX 17a Role-play Rating Scale
Powerful: A definite strength of the student
Competent: A competent attempt
Developing: Serious attempt to address task but needs more experience and practice
Beginning: Minimal effort or inappropriate behaviour
Features of performance to consider for evaluation:
1. Confident and poised
2. Voice is clear and audible
3. Innovative and risk-taking
4. Responds to partner’s or group members’ cues or questions
5. Stays on task
6. Demonstrates awareness of audience
7. Purpose of the activity is accomplished
96 APPENDIX 18 Speaking out against discrimination*
What can YOU say when you witness discrimination?
1. Interrupt (Assertive interjections) • Stop it. • Could we stop for a second and think about what you just said? • Wait a moment. • How can you say/do this to your friend?
2. Express upset feelings (Expressing personalized emotional reactions) • I don’t feel comfortable with what you have just said. • I’m surprised that you think it’s a funny joke. • I’m confused. You’ve always been a caring friend. What you’re saying just doesn’t fit. • If I were you, I’d be really embarrassed to have said that.
3. Call it “discrimination” (Naming racism or discrimination when witness to it) • That’s discrimination. • That sounds like a stereotype. • People might think that you are prejudiced against these people. You should take it back. • Who are we to judge?
4. Disagree (Disagreement) • I don’t think what you’re saying is true. • We agree on a lot of things, but on this topic, I think differently. • Don’t include me in this. Count me out. • I wouldn’t have said it like that.
5. Question validity (Questioning the validity of a statement or an over-generalization) • What proof do you have to back up what you’re saying? • Have you ever met anyone who doesn’t fit that stereotype? • I think you’re over-generalizing. • Has your experience always been this negative?
6. Point out how it offends and hurts people (Pointing out hurtful and offensive remarks) • It’s a hurtful comment. • How did you learn to be so mean? • If you said that to me, I would be really angry. • Ouch! That hurts.
7. Put the offender on the spot (Causing the offender to reconsider) • What? Excuse me? • It’s not too late to take that back. • Could you repeat what you have just said? • Could you write that down, sign it and date it? 97 8. Help the offender to self-reflect (Empathic confrontation) • You sound really annoyed. • I’m a bit worried about you. It’s not like you to say these things. • I hear a lot of anger in your voice. • I’m a bit confused. Do you really mean it? • Why are you so angry?
9. Support the receiver (Approaching and supporting the receiver) • You are not alone. I’m with you. • How are you doing? If I were you, I would be really sad/mad. • I can’t believe he/she said that. You don’t deserve this. • This is terrible. I’ll come with you, let’s get help.
10. Ask others for involvement and help (Approaching externals: teachers; administrators; parents; other third party members) • You are one of the teachers I can trust. Can I talk to you about something serious? • There is something I need to tell you about my friend. • We need your help/advice. • I need to talk to you about what happened today.
11. Approach other witnesses at the scene (Approaching co-witnesses) • Did you hear what I have just heard? • I’m scared to say something but I don’t want to ignore this or walk away from it. • Can we let it go on like this? • We can’t just stand here, let’s do something about this.
*Reprinted from the 2006 Anti-Discrimination Response Training Program, Youth-Friendly Version. Adapted by A. Brown, consultant, Anti-Racism & Diversity, Vancouver School Board, from: ishiyama, f. I. (2002, 2004Rev). The 2004 Trainers’ Manual (v. 3) For anti-discrimination response training (a.R.T.) Program: An Active Witnessing Approach to Prejudice Reduction and Community Development. (Unpublished manual) UBC, Vancouver, BC.
98 APPENDIX 19 PWI Assessment
Plus = something that I Wish = something I wish Interesting = something I like... was included or done found interesting... differently
Plus = something that I Wish = something I wish Interesting = something I like... was included or done found... differently
99 APPENDIX 20 fishbone
Source: Bennet, B. & Rolheiser, C. (2001). Beyond Monet: The artful science of Instructional Integration. Toronto: Bookation, Inc.
100 APPENDIX 21 Character Web
101 APPENDIX 22 K-W-L Chart
I KNOW... I WONDER... I learned...
102 4REAL School FACILITATOR Views and Feedback Form
What did you like most about the 4REAL documentary and/or activities? What would you change?
How did students respond to the 4REAL documentary and/or activities? (Were they engaged? Did they relate?)
Which lesson activities were the most/least effective with your students? Please explain.
Did the lesson activities meet the stated goals? Were they easy to follow?
Have your students demonstrated an increased awareness in global education? If so, how? How might they take action for social change?
What would you and your students like to learn more about?
How can we make this curricular document more effective for educators and students?
Any other comments?
Thank you for your time!
Please mail to: Or email: 4REAL School [email protected] 207 West Hastings St., Suite 810 Vancouver, B.C., V6B 1H7 Or complete online: Canada www.4REAL.com/school/feedback
103 4REAL School Student VIEWS AND Feedback FORM
What did you like best about the 4REAL documentaries and/or activities overall?
Comment on the specific activities or scenes that made a strong impression on you. Please explain why.
What was the most important thing you learned from the 4REAL documentaries and/or activities?
What was the least useful thing you learned from the 4REAL documentaries and/or activities?
How might you apply what you learned from the 4REAL documentaries and/or activities to your life?
What do you still want to learn more about that the documentaries and/or activities did not address?
Any other comments?
Thank you for your time!
Please mail to: Or email: 4REAL School [email protected] 207 West Hastings St., Suite 810 Vancouver, B.C., V6B 1H7 Or complete online: Canada www.4REAL.com/school/feedback
104 credits and contributions
Written and developed by: Melahnie Moodie, M.Ed. Candidate, Curriculum Studies, The University of British Columbia.
Consultant, contributing writer and editor: Angela Brown, M.Ed., Anti-Racism and Diversity Consultant, Vancouver School Board.
Contributing writers: Sharline Chiang, M.S. Journalism, Columbia University. Sol Guy
Substantive and stylistic editor: Johanne Provençal, Ph.D. Candidate, Curriculum Theory and Implementation program, Faculty of Education, Simon Fraser University.
Adjunct editor: Sharline Chiang, M.S. Journalism, Columbia University.
Graphic design and layout: Hightop Studios
Additional graphics: Amir Aziz
Photo credits: Melahnie Moodie Youth from CUFA
Review team: Paul Orlowski, Ph.D., Department Head, Teacher Education Program, University College of the Fraser Valley. Peter Gouzouasis, Ph.D., Department of Curriculum Studies, The University of British Columbia. Penelope Kalopisi-Kennedy, M.Ed., Teacher, Howe Sound Secondary School. Mike Lafleur, M.Ed., Brock University, Education Program Developer. Anna Singer, B.Ed., The University of British Columbia, Teacher, Graham Bruce Elementary School. Catherine Eagles, Global Stewardship Student, Capilano College.
Special thanks to:
Erin Chen-ying Offer Paul Demers Brodie Louie
105
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