Teaching Sequence

Work through this resource material in the following sequence:

Optional Preparation – Ground Rules For Classroom Discussion
25 minutes – Part A: The Impact of Life After The Oasis
25 minutes – Part B: How To Compel Action?
60+ minutes – Part C: Calling On Others To Take Action
10 minutes – Reflection

Part A: The Impact of Life After The Oasis

Step 1.

Begin the lesson by reminding students about the key themes of Life After The Oasis by screening the documentary trailer. Before you begin watching, remind students that the clip they are about to see features real people courageously sharing their stories.

Life After The Oasis (https://vimeo.com/347231056/5d854a4aba)

You may choose to organise a class screening of the full length documentary so that students can make stronger connections with character stories and the message of the film.

Step 2.

Facilitate a quick class discussion using the question below as a prompt:

"What is Life After The Oasis trying to inspire people to do?"

Suggested response include:

Help them to empathise the people who have experienced (or are experiencing) homelessness.
Be aware of the complexity of the issue of homelessness in Australia.
Understand that homelessness can be very different from the stereotype.
Hear the message that more must be done in order to address the issue of homelessness in Australia.

Step 3.

Deepen students’ understanding of the challenges faced by young people experiencing homelessness by distributing a copy of Homelessness Australia’s Homelessness And Young People Factsheet to each class member. Ask the class to read through the factsheet and highlight key points, as well as information that surprised them. Students will use this factsheet again later in the lesson, so ensure that they keep it in a safe place.

Step 4.

Ask students to complete a Think-Pair-Share visible thinking routine on the Student Worksheet to respond to the question:

"After watching Life After The Oasis, has your understanding of homelessness changed? If so, how ... if not, why not?"

Think Pair Share
Think pair share is a collaborative learning strategy in which students work together to solve a problem or answer a question.
Think - students independently think about an issue or question and record their thoughts.
Pair - students work in pairs to discuss their ideas and record new thoughts.
Share - students share their thoughts with the whole group or with other pairs to reach consensus.

Encourage students to tune in to each other’s responses during the ‘share’ section of this routine so that they can gain insights into how the documentary has changed people’s minds about the issue of homelessness.

Step 5.

Summarise this part of the lesson by explaining to students that they have the opportunity to have an impact on others by inspiring or compelling them to watch Life After The Oasis and learn more about the realities of homelessness. They will do so using their creativity and language skills.

Part B: How To Compel Action?

Step 1.

In this part of the lesson, students will build an understanding of how to use language to create a message that will inspire or compel people to take action. Invite students to arrange themselves so that they can see the screen, and play the short clip below (watch til 3:15). It features Simon Sinek explaining his theory about how great leaders inspire action by communicating to people WHY they should do something.

"Simon Sinek - Start With Why - TED Talk" (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IPYeCltXpxw)

Optional extension: While it’s easy enough to ask students to come up with a great ‘why’, they may need a little more information about how exactly to do that. If this is the case, screen the “How can you change someone’s mind” TEDed video by Hugo Mercer. The video details some excellent approaches in the formation of an effective and influential message.

TED talk: "How can you change someone’s mind?" (https://youtu.be/58jHhNzUHm4)

Step 2.

Facilitate a brief class discussion to highlight the value of placing ‘Why’ at the beginning of communications to invoke or compel others to make behavioural changes. Use the following prompts to help guide the discussion.

What is the golden circle?
How does this model work?
Why is it important to start with the ‘Why?’
Which organisations want to create change? Why do they do what they do? What is their purpose?

Part C: Calling On Others To Take Action

Step 1.

Now that students have an understanding of how to use the ‘Why?’ to inspire or compel behaviour change, they will create a call to action that inspires or compels others to view the documentary film Life After The Oasis and learn more about the complex issue of people experiencing homelessness.

Step 2.

To support students in planning their call to action, take some time to read through the guiding questions below as a class (also on the Student Worksheet). These questions will help students decide the audience, the medium and the message for their action.

When planning your action, you will need to make choices about the audience, the medium and the message.

The Audience – Who are you communicating with?
Your ‘why’ will need to be created with your audience in mind. Use the following prompts to get you thinking about your audience.

Will you encourage other students to watch the film with a group of friends?
OR try to convince teachers to show the film to their class?
OR as a whole year level or school?
OR will you ask your peers to watch the film with their families at home?
What other audiences are available to you?

The Medium – How you will communicate your message?
Think about the medium that you will use to communicate your call to action. Some suggestions include:

Clever ‘guerilla’ marketing style communication. Some great examples of ‘guerilla marketing’ can be found here: https://www.wordstream.com/blog/ws/2014/09/22/guerrilla-marketing-examples.
A short video to be posted online or shown on school TV screens*
Face-to-face announcement in classrooms/assemblies*
Online newsletter*
School social media page*
Flyer in teachers' pigeon-holes (you will need permission from the school)

The Message – What do you want people to do?
Your message or ‘call to action’ is to get more people watching the film, and learn more about the complex issue of people experiencing homelessness. Use the ‘Golden Circle' to help you decide on a great ‘why’, so that your audience will feel compelled to act.

WHY – You decide on this. How will you compel others to take action? Remember to keep it brief!
HOW – Access and watch Life After The Oasis documentary.
WHAT – Learn more about the complex issue of homelessness in Australia.

You could refer to the Homelessness Australia’s Homelessness And Young People Factsheet for information to include in your ‘why’.

Step 3.

Once students have planned their message and decided on a communication medium, invite students to use the planning table on the Student Worksheet to detail tasks, assign responsibilities and set due dates.

Step 4.

Allow students time to carry out their actions. The role of the teacher during this stage of the project is varied and can be some or all of the roles below:

Student Engagement: “Have I engaged the students, by helping them find personal meaning, connecting them to the purpose and outcome of the education session, supported them by giving them the choice and challenge?” (Good questioning, discussions, idea generation, experiential learning activities and debriefs)

Project Management: “What stages of the action process are students up to, what needs to be done, how can I support the students to make connections to past and future tasks, what is the milestone for the students (output), how much time can I give for completion?” (Planning and organising, clear set-ups, time management, defining roles). Ensure that the students know when tasks are to be completed.

Skills Training: “What skills will the students be using today? How can I teach the skill in a practical way with students seeing the relevance?” (Practical activities, communication, listening, group work, reflection)

Check-In: “What agreements need to made in groups to support how they operate together? Are students succeeding in their action, do we need to change the agreements? Support groups to stop/re-focus: Looks like we are off track – what is happening? How can we fix this?” (Making agreements, scanning the room for engagement, participation, listening, asking for solutions from groups)

General: Celebrate success, acknowledge effort, normalise times of uncertainty, promote open-mindedness and appreciation of diversity amongst the groups; highlight our ability to learn from each other.

Reflection

Invite students to reflect on their action by responding independently to the prompt on the Student Worksheet:

"We communicate for many different reasons. In your view, to what extent is it important that we communicate to make positive change in the world?"

Differentiated Learning

Extension – Challenge students to take their message into the wider community, rather than remaining within the confines of the school or their own friends and family.

Provisions for Learning Support –The tasks in this lesson are quite open-ended and depend on students to come up with creative solutions. Provide firm guidance and scaffolding for students who require it. This may involve conferencing with students to decide on their message, the medium and their plan for action. It could also involve checking in with students regularly to ensure they are successful when carrying out their actions.

Teacher Reflection

Take this opportunity to reflect on your own teaching:

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

Life After The Oasis - Communicating to Inspire Action

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