Teaching Sequence

Work through this resource material in the following sequence:

10 minutes – Part A: Know Your Why
20 minutes – Part B: Start With You
25 minutes – Part C: Take The Next Best Step
5 minutes – Reflection

Part A: Know Your Why

Step 1.

Explain to students that they are going to be learning the skills for making real change. At the end of the lesson, they’ll have the opportunity to take action on an issue that is important to them.

Step 2.

Invite students to spend some time talking in small groups about issues they find interesting and important to them. Distribute the Student Worksheet and have them write down their top three issues. Some examples might be:

Racism
Offshore detention
Forced marriage
Climate change
Waste
World hunger
Domestic violence

Step 3.

Play this video (stop 2:19):

How To Change The World (a work in progress) | Kid President (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4z7gDsSKUmU)

Invite students to write a paragraph explaining what this phrase means to them:

“Little people living out big love.” ~ Kid President

Step 4.

Invite students to reflect back on the three issues they listed in Step 2 and answer these questions on the Student Worksheet:

Why do you care about these issues?
Are you already taking action on any of these issues? If so what?

Part B: Start With You

Step 1.

Remind students of how in the video Kid President talked about one person being filled with love and doing something awesome and then it was passed on to many people. You might like to play the video again from 1:18 to 1:39.

Lead a discussion with students about whether there is any truth to this claim. Can change occur by one person doing something awesome and inspiring someone else?

Encourage students to think of examples.

Step 2.

Play this video from IMAGI-NATION{TV}:

AIME Global's Launch Film: 'Cogs' (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sGt3figvnfU)

Invite students to discuss these questions with a partner:

How did the lead character demonstrate ‘living out big love’?
What changes occurred as a result of his individual action?
How did these changes make the world fairer?

Step 3.

Display the Circles of Influence and Control Slides, starting with Slide 1:

Explain to students that this series of circles helps us to understand how we can create a change wave.

By starting at the centre with things we can control, we can start to have and grow influence.

The mistake people make when they think about changing the world is that they start in the outer circle first - the problem - and then they get overwhelmed. They turn to people who have influence over the issue and either rely on them to make the changes or try to reach them somehow.

By starting in the centre (with ourselves or things we can control), we can build our knowledge and reputation and inspire others to follow our example.

Step 4.

Take students through the activities on the Circles of Influence and Control Slides.

At the end, remind students that we don’t want to start from the outside and work inwards. That will overwhelm us and not achieve results. We need to start from the inside and create the change wave that flows outwards. Have students look at the three circles and consider where connections could be made between their own actions and the concern or issue they have in mind. Ensure they understand that they may not necessarily see the wave move in the direction they expected it to.

Note: Provide enough time for students to fill in each of the circles thoughtfully.

Step 5 (optional).

Play this video as an example of someone who started with her own action and created a huge change wave:

The rise of Greta Thunberg explained (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=itAu7Uw0sn8)

Invite students to reflect on whether Greta’s approach uses ‘big love’ as its driving force and what impact her approach has on those in government.

Step 6 (optional).

Share this graph of AIME's growth over time as an example of how a small action by one individual (Jack Manning Bancroft deciding to team up with some university mates to mentor a few Indigenous kids) can turn into a movement:

Part C: Take The Next Best Step

Step 1.

Explain to students that they are going to spend some time thinking about the centre circle more deeply since this is where real change occurs.

Keeping in line with the concept of ‘living out big love’, invite students to think of specific actions they could take in their own lives and write them down.

They should do this individually.

Possible responses:

Writing a letter, poem or song
Making a video explaining the issue
Sponsoring a billboard image to invite others to engage with the issue
Fundraising to help people affected by the issue
Doing something kind for someone affected by the issue.

Step 2.

Students should gather in groups of three to four students and share their lists, explaining how their actions apply the concept of ‘living out big love’ and how they could inspire others to take action on the issue of their concern.

Students should critically examine one another’s suggestions, providing supportive feedback on which actions they think would most inspire them to follow in their footsteps.

Step 3.

Individually, students should select one action from their list that they are going to live out. Give students a timeframe in which they should complete their action and then report back to the class. Allow enough time for students to be able to monitor the reach of their change wave.

Step 4.

Play the following video:

Pay It Forward 2000 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FHjE246iJ_0)

Step 5.

Like in the video, students should prepare a presentation on what action they took (or plan to take) and any outcomes it led to (or is likely to lead to).

Optional: Students might like to share their experiences with IMAGI-NATION{TV} (general@imagi-nation.tv).

Reflection

Invite students to reflect on the following individually:

Do you believe you can make a difference in the world by setting an example and taking action?
Have you ever been inspired by anyone else to make change?
Before this lesson, I thought changing the world was…
Now I think changing the world is…

Differentiated Learning

Extension -

This lesson uses two theories that use the visual elements of concentric circles (see teacher content information). Invite students to create their own theory using concentric circles as a basis.
In the Kid President video, he says: “It doesn’t have to be the way it is.” Invite students to reflect on this statement, considering the way they would like the world to be instead. Invite them to include this vision in their presentation; or they could write a letter to someone who will be their current age ten years in the future.

Provisions for Learning Support -

Some students may find it better to work with others on the action project. Ensure all students in the pair or group are contributing and comfortable working together on the same topic. Alternatively, you could provide students with an ‘accountability partner’ in the class. They will work on individual projects, but coach and support one another through the task.
In some cases, students might struggle to come up with an idea for action. You could create a class, small group or individual action for students based on your school’s calendar and students could work on the planning - such as resources needed, researching about the action and writing or presenting a report on how the action went and what they learned about the process of taking action (or starting a change wave).

Teacher Reflection

Take this opportunity to reflect on your own teaching:

What did you learn about your teaching practice today?
What worked well?
What didn't work so well?
What would you share?
Where to next?
How are you going to get there?

IMAGI-NATION{TV} - Starting the Change Wave

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Summary

Learning intentions:

Students understand...

Success criteria:

Students can...

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