Teaching Sequence

30 minutes	Part A: Reflective Voices
30 minutes	Part B: Reflective Language and Structures
45 minutes	Part C: Reflection and the Passage of Time: Tan Le
15 minutes	Reflection

Work through this resource material in the following sequence:

Part A: Reflective Voices

Step 1.

Explain to the class that this lesson will focus on the way personal reflection, reflective voices, and sharing of experiences can impact audiences in meaningful ways, especially when language structures and choices are considered in the context of the experiences of people seeking asylum. Explain to students that in this context, personal testimony is essential: it is a recount of an individual's experiences. This lesson will explore reflective language, language choices and the way these influence the message. Inform students that when people reflect on their experiences and share these with others, they can deliberately or unknowingly appeal to their audience to empathise with them and therefore position them to understand the experience they are describing in specific ways.

To orientate students to think about how reflection and reflective language communicates meaning, watch the following clips from Chasing Asylum as a class. Ask students to focus on the following aspects of language:

Subject Matter
Tone of language
Tense
Word choices
Patterns in language (such as description, followed by personal response, followed by outcome etc.)

Students can document their responses in the table on the Student Worksheet.

Chasing Asylum Clip 08 (https://vimeo.com/183257815)

Chasing Asylum Clip 16A (https://vimeo.com/184264449).

Please note that this excerpt contains footage from riots at the Nauru and Manus Island Detention Centres and descriptions of the violence that occurred. Please use this at your discretion based your students’ individual or collective needs.

Chasing Asylum Clip 10 (https://vimeo.com/183258009)

Step 2.

Give students some time after the excerpts to synthesise their notes before asking volunteers to share what they identified in a brief class discussion. Students might refer to the description of the detention centre by Martin Appleby and how he linked that to his previous experience, along with some emotive language in his reflection on engagement with people seeking asylum (detainees). In the second clip, students might refer to the recount of events in the past tense coupled with specific details of the event. They might also refer to Aref’s reflection on the impact of what he saw and broader comments. In the final clip, students might refer to the tone of language and voice of Reza Barati’s mother and father or the language choices of his mother.

Part B: Reflective Language and Structures

Step 1.

Explain to students that the nature of reflection is quite broad and that individuals reflect in both small and significant ways about a wide variety of things. Point out to students that when we look closely at the world around us, we see reflection happening: blogs, Facebook posts, music, films, news stories, speeches and so on can all incorporate reflection.

Write ‘REFLECTION’ on the board and facilitate a brief class brainstorm. This will activate prior knowledge and provide an idea about what students already know and think. Prompt students with the following questions:

What is reflection?
How and where do we see/read/hear reflection?
Why do people reflect?
What do people reflect on?
What type of language do people use when reflecting?

Following this brainstorm/discussion, give students a few minutes to write their own understanding or definition of reflection. Students can use the Student Worksheet to record their ideas. Encourage a few volunteers to share their responses with the class.

Step 2.

Invite students to open the Reflective Texts Factsheet. Read through the introductory material and draw students’ attention to the list of language and structural elements referred to on the factsheet. Reiterate to students that it is the combination of these within a specific context that makes reflection most meaningful when developing empathy and positioning audiences.

Give students a chance to revise or add to the definition they wrote and encourage them to reflect on any changes.

Step 3.

Watch the following excerpts from Chasing Asylum with the class and ask students to pay extra close attention to the interview subjects in terms of language and structural elements or reflective texts. Ask students to think about any documentary elements/footage that enhances the reflection. Ask students to also think about any sense of sympathy or empathy that they, or other audiences, might feel while watching the clips.

Chasing Asylum Clip 03 (https://vimeo.com/183257809)

Chasing Asylum Clip 13 (https://vimeo.com/184264445)

Invite students to note their observations about the reflective elements that feature in each clip in the table on the Student Worksheet. Discuss student responses as a class. Reference might be made to the chronological recount of events by the participants, or the short anecdotes by Mark Isaacs and Nicole Judge. Students might also refer to the emotion that is present in Tahira’s recount and the language she uses to express her thoughts and feelings.

Extension opportunity: Reporter’s Notebook Activity (Visible Thinking Routine)

(adapted from Harvard Project Zero's "Visible Thinking". Click here for more information)

Purpose: What kind of thinking does this routine encourage?

This routine is about distinguishing facts from thoughts and judgments. It helps organise ideas and feelings in order to consider a situation where fairness may be at stake. It promotes the fine discernment of information and perspective taking in order to clarify and make a tentative judgment.

Steps

Identify a situation, a story or dilemma raised in the clips from Chasing Asylum that can be the focus of discussion.
Ask students to identify the facts and events of the situation identified in the clips. As students name them, ask if these are facts, or if they need more information.
Ask students to then name the thoughts & feelings of the characters/participants involved in the story. As students name them, ask if these are clear facts, or if they need more information to better understand the situation.
After a discussion, ask students to make their best judgment of the situation, based on the information at hand and what they discovered as part of any investigation.

Part C: Reflection and the Passage of Time: Tan Le

Step 1.

Explain to students that personal stories are one of the most powerful forms of reflection and that in any reflective speech or script, a number of reflective elements are used. Point out that while audiences will always be positioned by the things they see and hear, reflective texts don’t always have the same overt purpose or intent as other genres, such as persuasion, in terms of audience positioning. While engagement with reflective texts might lead to the audience thinking/feeling/doing something differently, the sharing of stories through reflective modes can often be about sharing experiences, encouraging empathy and coming to a new or enhanced understanding of an issue.

Explain to the class that before completing some detailed analysis of a reflective text they will watch a short excerpt from Chasing Asylum with archive and interview footage related to Vietnamese migration to Australia in the 1970s and 1980s. This will orient them to the topic of the TED-talk and provide a chance to identify and evaluate spoken reflection as well.

Watch the following clip and ask students to pay close attention the second half:

Chasing Asylum Clip 11 (https://vimeo.com/184275993)

Briefly discuss some of the elements of reflection in the clip, such as Malcolm Fraser’s explanation of the events and the outcomes they had.

Step 2.

Before watching the following TED-talk by Tan Le with the class, provide each student with a printed copy or ask students to open this transcript of the talk (also linked on the Student Worksheet). Contextualise the TED-talk by reading the brief biographical information about Tan Le and referring students back to the experiences of seeking asylum they have studied thus far. If they have a printed copy, encourage students to note their thoughts/impressions on the transcript as the clip plays.

Tan Le: My Immigration Story (https://youtu.be/hCop3IGZH2o)

Refer students to the activity table on the Student Worksheet and explain that they now have some time to analyse and evaluate the reflective elements of the TED-talk. Remind students that when considering the evidence or examples, they need to also consider any aspects of empathy and the effects these have in positioning the audience. Students can use the transcript to revisit parts of the talk or copy specific lines from the text.

Differentiation:

Depending on class or student needs, this activity could easily be completed in pairs or groups, with students working collaboratively to read, identify, discuss, analyse and evaluate the use of reflective elements.

Give students time to complete this task individually, then reform as a class to share their analysis. While facilitating the discussion, ensure emphasis is placed on the analysis of the language and elements of reflection in the talk. Students might refer to the use of anecdotes from different phases of her life to build a clearer idea of their impact, or the overall structure of the speech. A nuanced point students could make might be what Tan Le reports learning from her experience, communicated at the end of the talk. Students could also focus on some of the language used to describe situations, emphasising the words that communicate feelings.

Extension opportunity:

If the Rhetorical Voices lesson has been delivered, ask students to also analyse the use of rhetorical devices in the TED-talk. Emphasise the need for students to consider the audience, the context and why there is particular emphasis on ethos and pathos.

Reflection

Ask students to reflect on their learning by completing a combined 'Think, Pair, Share' and adapted 3-2-1 activity about reflective texts, reflective language and how they can be used. The 3-2-1 activity requires students to reflect on 3 things they learnt, 2 things they find interesting about the topic and 1 analogy/metaphor or symbol for an aspect of the topic. Facilitate a brief discussion with the class based on student responses from those who are comfortable sharing. There is a table to structure the activity on the Student Worksheet and the following questions could be used to extend student reflection:

Broadly speaking, what did you find easy or less challenging about this task?
What elements of the task or reflection did you find more challenging?
If you were asked to do this task again with different reflective texts, how would you approach it differently?
Think about the parts of the tasks you found both easy and/or challenging. What could this reveal about how reflection can be used to position audiences?
How has your understanding of reflection and the topic of refugees and people seeking asylum evolved or developed after examining reflective elements of these texts more closely?

Voices of Chasing Asylum - Reflective Voices

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