Teaching sequence

Work through this resource material in the following sequence:

5 minutes

Part A: Understanding Identity

10 minutes

Part B: Exploring Stereotypes

30 minutes

Part C: Understanding Gender Stereotypes

10 minutes

Part D: Strategies to Overcome Stereotypes

5 minutes

Reflection

Part A: Understanding Identity

Step 1. Begin this lesson by asking students complete a ‘Think-Pair-Share’ visible thinking routine to explore their understanding about the influences on identity.

They are prompted to consider these two prompts:

Identity is…
Identity is influenced by...

Invite students to note their thoughts in the space provided on the Student Worksheet.

During the ‘Share’ stage of the routine, invite students to volunteer to share their thoughts with the rest of the class. Some suggested responses for the things that influence identity could include culture, gender, religion, family, community and personality.

Note: Before moving on to the next step, familiarise students who don’t know about Australian rules football by asking the class “What do we know about AFL?” Invite other students to share what they know about AFL and AFLW. If required, view this one minute introduction to AFLW.

Step 2: As a class, view 'A New Hero. Sabrina Frederick-Traub' Episode 1: ‘A Strong Foundation’ (4:45 minutes)

https://womens.afl/discover/player-stories/sabrina-frederick-traub

Note: You will need to scroll down the webpage to find Episode 1: ‘A Strong Foundation’ and associated text.

Step 3. Invite students form pairs and discuss the following questions, noting the key points of discussion on the Student Worksheet:

What are some things that you noticed about Sabrina’s identity?
What did you see in the clip that could have shaped her identity?

Invite pairs to share what they discussed in a quick class discussion.

Step 4. Inform students that throughout the rest of the lesson, they will explore how identity can be shaped (or not) by stereotypes.

Part B: Exploring Stereotypes

Step 1. Invite students to form groups of 3-4 people and arrange the furniture so that they’re sitting around a table in a small circle.

Step 2. This activity will encourage students to develop and share their ideas around stereotypes in the ‘Chalk-Talk’ visible thinking routine. They will also create connections between stereotypes and Sabrina’s experiences.

The ‘Chalk-Talk’ visible thinking routine allows students to have a ‘written conversation’. In their groups, students all take turns to contribute their thoughts, contemplations, questions and responses around a guiding prompt in writing. Students should not talk to each other during this time. 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.

Step 3. 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 having a written conversation about their response to the prompt.

Students will be prompted to consider the questions in this order:

What is a stereotype?
What are the advantages and disadvantages of stereotypes?
What are some examples of stereotypes?
What stereotypes does Sabrina face?

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.

Some points to help guide the discussion after each prompt include:

A stereotype is a fixed idea that people have about what someone or something is like.
Stereotype also means a type of mould for creating a relief sculpture which is like a painting but with a raised surface – so we can think of stereotypes as a way of perceiving people within a particular mould or frame.
An example of a stereotype is the idea that all men are good at fixing cars. Another would be that girls aren’t good at playing sport.

Part C: Understanding Gender Stereotypes

Step 1. Ask students to clear the furniture to the sides of the classroom, and attach the ‘Strongly agree’ and ‘Strongly disagree’ signs to the wall on opposite sides of the classroom. Invite students to imagine a line between each sign. That line is a continuum, with extremes at each end.

Inform students that you will make a statement, and they should stand in a position between the two signs that indicates their viewpoint.

Step 2. Read out each of the following statements, allowing students time to consider them and move to the position that indicates their view. Once students have chosen their position, invite them to turn to a person close to them, and share their view. Invite some volunteers to share their view with the class.

Boys should be allowed to play netball.
A woman can be a lead guitarist in a rock group.
A coach of a men’s soccer team must be a man.
A woman can be a champion weightlifter.
A man can design wedding dresses.
A woman can design a Formula One racing car.

Step 3. Summarise the activity by explaining that each of the statements made was an example of a gender stereotype. Ask students:

What other aspects of a person do stereotypes exist around?

Students may suggest: race, culture, religion, sexual orientation, age or socio-economic background.

Step 4. Ask students to return to their groups and sit in a small circle. Link the activity back to the theme of identity and stereotypes by inviting each group to discuss their response to these questions (write the questions on the whiteboard):

What impact can stereotypes have on people’s identity?
How might Sabrina have been affected if she had allowed these stereotypes to determine her choices?

Step 5. Invite groups to share what they have discussed with the class, and record students’ thoughts on the whiteboard.

Part D: Strategies to Overcome Stereotypes

Step 1. While students are still in their groups, distribute a mind-map to each. Invite students to brainstorm the attributes they noticed in ‘A Strong Foundation’ that enable Sabrina to overcome stereotypes about women in sport.

Hot tip: You could re-watch the clip to refresh students’ memories https://womens.afl/our-stories/sabrina-frederick-traub.

Sabrina’s attributes could include confidence, humour, passion, trust, teamwork, leadership and courage. Students may also list the physical attributes that help her to be the Australian rules footballer she is, including strength, flexibility, power, speed and dexterity.

Encourage students to think of at least six different attributes that enable Sabrina to overcome stereotypes. They should write each one along a line on the mind-map, then write a short explanation of how Sabrina uses this skill.

Step 2. Encourage students to join with another group and share their mind-maps, discussing any examples they don’t understand or disagree with.

Reflection

Encourage students to complete the following reflection on the Student Worksheet:

A stereotype that could influence my own identity is...

I could begin to change this by…

Differentiated Learning

Extension: Encourage students to do one thing to overcome a stereotype they believe they are affected by. They could share their experience in the next lesson.

Provisions for Learning Support: Ensure that groups are made up of students with diverse abilities.

Take it Further

Sabrina Frederick-Traub’s experience shows that with hard work and the support of others, barriers to success can be overcome. Encourage students to identify a barrier that students in their school face, whether it be stereotypical thinking, inequality or a reluctance to accept diversity.

Once students have done so, they can work to create an awareness campaign in their school community about the benefits of equality, equal opportunity and the value of diversity.

Teacher Reflection

AFLW - Investigating Identity

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Summary

Learning intentions:

Students will...

Success criteria:

Students can...

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