Teaching Sequence

Work through this resource material in the following sequence:

30 minutes	Part A: Mock debate
30 minutes	Part B: Appeals to persuade
60+ minutes	Part C: Enacting social change
15+ minutes	Reflection

Part A: Mock debate

Step 1.

Explain to students that today they will be considering ways to minimise the effects of climate change and hazards through a debate activity. Separate the class into two even groups. Group A - National Approach, and Group B - Local Approach and let them know that they will be participating in a debate to help flex their persuasive and critical thinking skills.

Group A - National Approach
You believe that the best way to combat future climate-related disasters is to take a National Approach, using government initiatives and funding to enact change..

Group B - Local Approach
You believe that the best way to combat future climate-related disasters is to build the resilience of local communities, focusing on grassroots change initiatives.

Step 2.

Explain to your class that the debate will allow students to use their persuasive writing skills in real-world situations.

Persuasive writing is a form of opinion writing used to convince others to think in a certain way and persuade the readers to share the writer's point of view.
A debate is a formal argument in which two sides take opposing viewpoints and discuss them in an organised and structured way while trying to persuade listeners to share the speaker's point of view.

By showing students the definitions, they will be able to see the connection between persuasive writing and what constitutes a debate. Do not forget to mention that someone (judge) will listen to both sides of the debate and decide which side made a better "case" and supported their arguments.

Step 3.

Read the Group perspectives from the Student Worksheet.

Step 4.

Give students 10 minutes to brainstorm as a team all the reasons they can to support their assigned side on their Student Worksheets. There are prompts to support their thinking, asking them to consider a range of big concepts:

Big Concepts	Prompting Questions
Education	Could we be educating people better about this issue? How does education play a part?
Social	How well do we look after people in our society? Could we do this better? Do we have an obligation to provide welfare and support for people who need it? How do we support people with diverse histories, identities or perspectives in our society? When is this a good idea and when is it less important?
Equality	What questions of fairness arise in this issue? Is treating everyone the same a factor here?
Economic	Is there a financial side to this issue? Does money come into it? How would this issue affect individuals and families being about to support themselves? How efficiently do we use our resources?
Cultural Heritage	How does tradition and community play a part in this issue? Should we do more to honour cultural traditions in Australia?
Environment	How do we use our resources right now? Could we use the environment differently, or better? What impact does this issue have on the environment?
Health	Is there a health element to this issue? Would your side promote a healthier lifestyle? Does your argument keep people safe? Is it a safer option and how?
Individual	Should we be able to make decisions about what happens in our community? Is there a democratic element to this issue? Do individuals have the responsibility in this issue, or governments?
Government	Is this a government concern and what should they be doing to protect people? How does the federal government protect people? How does the state government protect people? How does the local government protect people? Does the government have a responsibility in this issue?

Step 5.

Explain to the class that they will have a line debate today to debate the two positions of Group A and Group B. The benefit of a line debate is that it helps to explore different ideas and opinions. Explain the rules of the Line Debate:

The teacher is the adjudicator and has the final say.
If you have a point to share, place your hand in the air. If you call out, you will be moved to the opposite team!
If you present a valid point (as deemed by the adjudicator), you can choose someone from the opposing line to come over to your side.
The winning team is the team that has the most people on it at the end of the debate (usually around 10 minutes).

You can choose to add some more rules if appropriate, for example, penalising people for beginning a point with ‘like’, or ‘um’, by making them move to the opposite side. Your goal is to have as many students as possible contributing to the debate.

Step 6.

Commence the debate by having the two groups face each other in a line on each side of the classroom. Students may have their Student Worksheets in their hands to help prompt their thinking. As the line shares points, track these on the board using the table below:

Part B: Appeals to persuade

Step 1.

Prompted by the notes you took tracking the arguments presented in the line debate, facilitate a discussion with students about how we seek to persuade using three methods - ethos, logos, and pathos.

On their Student Worksheets are the following definitions:

Ethos - appealing to the credibility of the writer or speaker, evoking trust in an audience. For example, using professional expertise or lived experience to show your knowledge of an issue.
Pathos - appealing to the emotion of the audience through specific language choices. For example, exaggerating rhetorical questions, evocative adjectives, and using praise or blame.
Logos - appealing to the audience's reason, using reason and logic to prove a point. For example, facts, statistics, cause and effect, and research studies.

Ask students to consider the points on the board and decide which of the three appeals, ethos, logos or pathos, has been used in this Line Debate. LIkely they will identify appeals to logos and pathos, more than ethos, as speakers simply stated ideas rather than constructing a stakeholder position.

Step 2.

Based on your class discussion, have students note down one or two examples of logos, pathos and ethos (if possible) from the line debate on their Student Worksheet. If there are no examples of ethos, ask students to consider whose perspective they might trust in such a debate. They might suggest experienced firefighters, scientists, environmentalists etc.

Part C: Enacting social change

Step 1.

Try to build on your student’s argument and follow up on the discussion. Explain to students that they will now have the opportunity to create a persuasive piece, and chose from one of the following prompts or you may like to ask students to develop their own prompt with your approval.

To urge individuals and groups to change behaviour, in order to prepare for or minimise the effects of climate change and hazards
A ‘call for help’ to assist a community rebuild and recover after a hazard.

Step 2.

Ask students to use the persuasive writing planner on their Student Worksheet to help scaffold their thinking. You might like to check these before students begin writing.

Step 3.

Provide students time to write their persuasive pieces. This might be done in class time or homework; this is up to individual teacher discretion.

Reflection

When students have completed their writing, organise a place for them all to publish their work - a school social action page. Provide students the opportunity to read each others reflections, and seek to add to this throughout the year to cultivate their desire to engage with contemporary issues.

Differentiated learning

Extension

Students seeking a challenge can complete their own online research into the ethos, logos and pathos. There is a range of excellent resources and videos available, for example, examples.yourdictionary.com/examples-of-ethos-logos-and-pathos.html. From this understanding, they can add further persuasive appeal to their own writing, seeking to manipulate their audience more effectively.

OR

In part C, students have the opportunity to choose a prompt or create their own prompt with the guidance and teacher’s approval.

Provisions for learning support

Students with individual needs may not feel comfortable contributing to the line debate but can be given an alternate task of noting down the points they think most interesting or significant and sharing their favourite with the class at the end of the debate. Some students may like to take on the role of adjudicator if this is appropriate.

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?

Resilient Australia - Enacting Social Change Around Climate Change And Hazards

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