Teaching Sequence

20 minutes	Part A: What is work? Class discussion
30 minutes	Part B: Orange Sky Laundry: Changing Perceptions About Work
10 minutes	Reflection

Work through this resource material in the following sequence:

Part A: Class discussion - What is work?

Step 1.

This activity aims to challenge students’ understanding of what work is, and extend it beyond the traditional conceptualisation of ‘work’. Start by exploring the student’s prior understanding of the concept of “Work”. Invite students to open their devices and use an online image search to find a picture that represents ‘work’ to them. Once students have found the image they are going to use, ask them to either:

Add it to a shared document using a digital collaboration tool such as Padlet/OneNote/Google Slides
Show the picture on a computer/tablet/phone screen
Print the image
Recreate the image in a quick hand drawn illustration

All class members should aim to display their images using the same technology to ensure consistency when they are sharing their reflections with the class.

Step 2.

Invite the class to move their chairs so that they are seated in a circle. If required, explain to students that sitting together in this way encourages good communication, including being able to see the person who is speaking, as well as better engagement in the conversation.

Step 3.

Encourage students to share their understanding of work by asking each class member to describe the image they have chosen and why it represents what they understand ‘work’ to be. If students have not added their images to a shared document or printed them off, you can still create a visual representation of the ideas discussed. Do so by sticking a piece of butcher’s paper to a wall with Blu-Tack and while students are describing what represents work to them, sketch what they are describing and write what it represents (e.g. student may have focused on money, because they understand work as a way to earn money).

You will notice that some themes emerge during the discussion- what work is, why people work, what they get from work. These are all assumptions that are ready to be challenged in a positive way. Thank students for sharing their view and acknowledge and legitimise the individuality of opinions. Give a brief summary of the variety of the images and ideas shared by the class.

If this activity needs to be shortened, encourage students to pair up with each other and explain the image they have chosen, and why it represents work.

Part B: Considering a different understanding of what work is.

Step 1.

Watch the Orange Sky Laundry Video as a class. This will challenge students’ idea of what work is by considering the experiences of two young Australians and their charity: Orange Sky Laundry.

Orange Sky Laundry - World First Free Laundry for the Homeless (https://youtu.be/cb0YYMW6D6g)

Step 2.

Ask students to form groups of 3-4, and arrange the tables so that they are sitting in a small group facing each other. This activity will challenge students’ ideas around work by inviting them to use the Chalk Talk visible thinking routine to create connections between ‘work’ and what they saw in the clip.

The Chalk Talk visible thinking routine allows students to have a ‘written conversation’. In their groups, students all take turns to contribute, in writing, their thoughts, contemplations, questions and responses around a guiding prompt. Students should not talk to each other. By having a written conversation, they spend time contemplating what the other group members have contributed and thus take more time to consider different perspectives, rather than focus on formulating what they are going to say next. Students will be given the opportunity to share their thoughts verbally when the group summarises their key ideas for the rest of the class.

For this session, give each group a set of Chalk-Talk prompts and ask them to leave them upside down in the middle of the table. When ready to proceed, ask students to turn over the first page and spent 2-5 minutes to have a written conversation about their response to the prompt.

Students will be prompted with the following questions:
Thinking about Orange Sky Laundry:

What jobs do people do?
What does Orange Sky Laundry do that is different (to anything done before/being done now)?
What skills could be developed by the people who work with Orange Sky Laundry?

After each prompt (round) ask students to choose 2-3 main points that were raised by the group and ask a spokesperson from each group to share with the rest of the class. Highlight the variety of viewpoints that the groups shared, or the consistent viewpoint of the class. You could also draw student’s attention to the difference in the views being shared now in contrast to the opinions many students held about work in Part A of this lesson.

Reflection

Challenge students to think about how their understanding of what work means has changed. Invite students to illustrate the change in their understanding by repeating the image search they completed at the beginning of the lesson to find a new image that represents their new ideas about the concept of work. Students are prompted on the Student Worksheet with the following:

Find a new image that represents your understanding of what work is. Then, describe how your understanding of work changed (or didn’t change) throughout the lesson. You could include the picture you chose at the start of the lesson and compare it with the picture you chose at the end to help you.

Extension/Homework

Students could create a visual representation of the variety of different types of work that they are aware of in their local community. Students could use an online collage maker like this one to complete the activity.

Provisional Learning Support

Part A: When students are being asked to conceptualise work, ask them to think about the people in their lives and what they do every day. They may not do paid work - however their day-to-day activities may still count as work.

Part B: Ask students to list the different people featured in the clip, what they are doing and why that might be considered as work. Ask students to guess whether each person they identify is being paid for their work - and to think about why people might do something even if they are not being paid.

Assessment

Students will reflect on the skills and knowledge developed throughout this lesson in a Career Portfolio that showcases their learning and skill development. This assessment task can be introduced at either the beginning or during the unit. Alternatively, it could be set as summative assessment at the end of the unit.

Considering Social Action

The Aspire Generation is a community of young people connected by their aspiration to make a difference through community service and leadership. They are the givers, the dreamers, the doers and the leaders who passionately pursue opportunities to address the big issues of their time. They think boldly and act responsibly and strive to leave a lasting impact on the world.

Students currently in Years 9, 10, 11 or 12 and have a passion for giving back, are eligible to be part of the Aspire Generation. Encourage students to give back by working in groups to plan and deliver an action project to make positive change in their community. The Aspire Generation: Work Studies Year 9 & 10 - Social Action lesson facilitates students to drive change through community engagement, volunteerism and leadership opportunities.

Aspire Generation - What is work?

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