Teaching sequence

Work through this resource material in the following sequence:

5 minutes

Introduction

10 minutes

Part A: ‘A New Hero. Sabrina Frederick-Traub’

15 minutes

Part B: What is a stereotype?

20 minutes

Part C: Overcoming stereotypes

10 minutes

Reflection

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

Part A: Women’s AFL - Sabrina Frederick -Traub

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

https://womens.afl/our-stories/sabrina-frederick-traub

Step 2. Invite students to use the mind-map on the Student Worksheet to note down points made by Sabrina in the video that they find interesting, intriguing or worth talking more about.

Step 3. Encourage students to volunteer to share what they noted down with the class. Summarise this part of the lesson by emphasising for students that in the video we saw that Sabrina is doing what she loves – but that there were a number of things she needed to overcome in order to be able to play Australian rules football. Overcoming stereotypes was one of them.

Part B: What is a Stereotype?

Step 1. Ask students to respond individually to the question “What is a Stereotype?” There is space on the Student Worksheet for notes. Once students have considered the question independently, facilitate a class discussion to clarify what a stereotype is.

Summarise the discussion by explaining that 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 older people can’t play sport. Ask volunteers to share their examples of stereotypes.

Step 2. Ask students to create pairs and discuss their responses to the following questions. They can note down their ideas on the space provided on the Student Worksheet:

What kind of stereotypes does Sabrina refer to in the video?
Suggested responses: Boys are good at Australian rules football, girls are not good at Australian rules football, boys are strong, girls are not strong, boys take sport seriously, girls take sport lightly.
Why do we have stereotypes?
Suggested responses: To make girls behave the same way as other girls, to make boys act the same way as other boys, to stop people being different, because people are frightened of difference. ‘I don’t know’ is also an acceptable answer to this question!
What effects do stereotypes have on young people?
Suggested responses: Stops them from achieving their dreams or knowing what to do, keeps everyone like everyone else, lowers self esteem.
What are some words that you would use to describe Sabrina?
Suggested responses: Strong, independent, courageous, happy, funny, sporty.
What does Sabrina do to overcome stereotypes?
Suggested responses: Writing (her book), sharing her story, playing football, challenging people, awareness of her own well-being.

Step 3. Invite two pairs to join together to form a ‘square’ in order to share their responses to each question. Once students have finished, ask some volunteers to share what they discussed in their squares, then conclude the discussion by sharing with the class that stereotypes can be overcome if we know how.

Part C: Overcoming Stereotypes

Step 1. Invite students to continue working in their ‘square’. Give each group one sheet of butcher’s paper and Blu-Tack, one set of sticky-notes and some marker pens.

Step 2. Invite students to write down as many activities that they can think of, each one on a separate sticky-note.

Suggested activities include driving, cooking, flying an aeroplane, playing Australian rules football, playing netball.

Step 3. Invite students to stick their butcher’s paper onto the wall and to draw a Venn diagram using all the space and labelled as per the example below:

Step 4. Invite groups to discuss each activity they have noted on the sticky-notes and decide whether it is stereotypically female, male or something everyone is thought to be able to do.

Ask groups to stick their sticky-notes onto the Venn diagram with activities that everyone is thought to be able to do posted in the middle section.

Step 5. Invite students to take a ‘gallery walk’ - walk around the room looking at each group’s Venn diagram and discussing the similarities and differences they notice in each.

Step 6. Invite students to think silently about this question: “Which stereotypes on the Venn diagrams surprised you or were new for you?”, then share their responses in a class discussion.

Step 7. Write the following statement on the whiteboard:

Gender stereotypes limit us - True or False?

In a class discussion encourage volunteers to answer ‘True’ or ‘False’ and to explain their reasons.

Suggested responses for ‘True’ could include: Gender stereotypes limit us because they stop us from being ourselves, limit our dreams, try to make everyone the same, stop us having a choice, reduce equality.

Suggested responses for ‘False’ could include: Gender stereotypes help us to know how to behave, help us to follow our parents, preserve the roles of women and men.

Hot tip: Be sure to value all students’ contributions equally, and use the line of questioning “what makes you say that?” if further justification is required.

Step 8. Invite students to return to their groups to read through the text accompanying the video watch in Part A of the lesson to identify what Sabrina does in order to overcome the stereotypes about who professional AFLW players can be.

Students can add any new ideas they have to the mind-map they made in Part A of the lesson using a different colour pen.

Reflection

Encourage students to complete one of the reflections below in the space provided on the Student Worksheet:

Invite students to have another look at their Stereotypes Venn diagram and use the “I used to think...now I think….” visible thinking routine to write a reflection on stereotypes. This thinking routine helps students to reflect on their thinking about a topic or issue and explore how and why that thinking has changed.

Explain to students that the purpose of this activity is to help them reflect on their thinking about the topic and to identify how their ideas have changed over time.

OR

Invite students to reflect, in writing, on the question “What does staying true to yourself mean to you?”

Differentiated Learning

Extension: Invite students to create a poster, including a slogan, designed to encourage young people to be true to themselves and stand up to gender stereotypes. They may wish to choose a particular sport or area of life.

Provisions for Learning Support: Take time for speakers of other languages to find the word for ‘stereotype’ and check that the meaning is the same.

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 - Overcoming Stereotypes

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