Celebrating Harmony Week: Everyone belongs

This lesson is an ideal opportunity to celebrate Harmony Week. Harmony Week is a time to celebrate Australian multiculturalism and the successful integration of migrants into our community. The central message is "Everyone Belongs," fostering inclusiveness, respect, and a sense of belonging for all Australians, regardless of cultural or linguistic background.

Teaching sequence

Work through this resource material in the following sequence:

10 minutes

Tune In: The mystery object

30 minutes

Find Out: Relationship role-plays & reflection

25 minutes

Take Action: Harmony hub public service announcements

Learning intentions

We are learning to analyse the role of respect, empathy, power, and coercion in developing healthy relationships.
We are learning to identify how gender stereotypes can impact power dynamics and decision-making within relationships.

Success criteria

I can explain how respect and empathy contribute to positive relationships.
I can provide examples of how gender stereotypes might influence power and decision-making in different relationships.

Learning activities

🌍 Making it matter

Use imagination and story to warm up abstract knowledge and make the curriculum matter.

Alright, team. I need your urgent attention. You’ve been selected for a special task force – the 'Community Harmony Unit'. Why? Because our school, a place we all value, has been experiencing some subtle but concerning shifts. It's nothing overt, no major incidents, but there's a growing undercurrent. Small groups are forming, cliques are solidifying, and some students feel unheard or misunderstood. The sense of belonging, which is usually so strong here, feels like it’s starting to fray around the edges.

You see, Harmony Week is fast approaching, and it's more than just a celebration; it’s a commitment to ensuring everyone feels welcome and respected. We've been tasked with designing a "Harmony Blueprint" for the school. This blueprint isn’t just a fancy document; it needs to be a living guide, a set of clear principles and actionable strategies that can address these subtle tensions before they become bigger problems.

The clock is ticking. If we don't act now, if we don't understand the dynamics of respect, empathy, power, and unconscious biases like gender stereotypes, our school community could become a less inclusive place. Your mission is to delve deep into these concepts, identify the challenges, and propose concrete ways we can reinforce a culture where every voice is valued and every student feels a sense of belonging. The success of our entire Harmony Week initiatives rests on your insights.

🎯 Why this matters

This narrative creates a "need to know" by positioning students as crucial members of a 'Community Harmony Unit' responsible for designing a "Harmony Blueprint" to address growing social tensions, directly linking to the need to examine the roles of respect, empathy, power, and coercion in developing respectful relationships (AC9HP8P04) and how gender stereotypes influence power dynamics (AC9HP8P03).

💡 Tune In: The mystery object

Step 1

Teacher presents a small, everyday object in a covered box or bag, revealing only a small part of it or describing its texture/weight without showing the whole item. Examples could include a tangled ball of different coloured yarn, a smooth polished stone, or a broken piece of a puzzle.

Step 2

Students are asked to guess what the object is, what its purpose might be, and what it represents. They can ask up to 5 'yes or no' questions about the object.

Step 3

Teacher fully reveals the object (e.g., the tangled yarn ball). Teacher explains that this object, in some way, represents 'inclusion' or 'diversity' or 'relationships'. Students discuss in small groups what connections they can make between the object and these concepts. For example, a tangled yarn ball could represent how different individuals (colours) can become intertwined in a complex relationship, or how diversity adds texture and strength but can also lead to knots if not handled with care.

Step 4

Teacher facilitates a brief whole-class share, inviting groups to explain their connections, highlighting the idea that understanding something fully requires looking beyond initial assumptions and considering all its parts, much like understanding people and relationships.

🔍 Find Out: Relationship role-plays & reflection Graphing our feelings

Step 1

Teacher introduces the key concepts: respect, empathy, power, coercion, and gender stereotypes, providing brief, student-friendly definitions for each.

Step 2

Teacher presents three different scenario cards (one at a time) to the class. Each scenario describes a brief social interaction or relationship dynamic that touches upon at least one of the key concepts. Examples:

Scenario A: A group of friends is deciding what game to play, but one friend always insists on their choice, making others feel ignored.
Scenario B: Two students are working on a group project. One student, believing they are naturally better at technology because of their gender, takes over all computer-based tasks, not allowing the other to contribute equally.
Scenario C: A new student joins the class and struggles to understand the school's social norms. Other students make fun of their "odd" behaviour behind their back.

Step 3

For each scenario, the teacher asks for three volunteers to briefly role-play the situation as described (no longer than 1 minute). The focus is on showing the interaction, not solving it yet.

Step 4

After each role-play, students work in small groups (3-4 students) to discuss: * What key concepts (respect, empathy, power, coercion, gender stereotypes) are evident in this scenario? * How might each person in the scenario be feeling? * What are the potential short-term and long-term impacts of this interaction on the relationship?

Step 5

Teacher brings the class back together for a brief whole-group discussion after each scenario, clarifying understanding and guiding students to articulate how these concepts play out in real-life interactions. Teacher explicitly models how to identify subtle forms of power imbalance or the influence of gender stereotypes.

Step 6

Teacher introduces the idea of "flipping the script." For each scenario, students in their small groups brainstorm and discuss how the situation could have been handled differently to promote respect, empathy, and more balanced power dynamics, free from coercion or gender stereotypes. They consider specific actions or words that could change the outcome.

✨ Take Action: Harmony hub public service announcements

Step 1

Teacher explains that students, as members of the 'Community Harmony Unit', will create a "Harmony Hub Public Service Announcement" (PSA) campaign for the school. This campaign aims to raise awareness and promote respectful and inclusive behaviour during Harmony Week and beyond.

Step 2

In their small groups, students select one of the core concepts (respect, empathy, power dynamics, challenging gender stereotypes, or preventing coercion) that they feel is most important to highlight for the school community.

Step 3

Each group designs a short (30-60 second) PSA script or storyboard. The PSA must: * Clearly define their chosen concept in simple terms. * Show (through a brief scenario or vivid description) how the concept applies in school life. * Offer one or two concrete, actionable tips for students to demonstrate this concept (e.g., "Show empathy by actively listening to your friends"). * Conclude with a memorable slogan for their Harmony Hub campaign.

Step 4

Students create a visual element for their PSA, such as a poster sketch, a series of simple illustrations for a storyboard, or a visual aid for their chosen concept. The visual should be impactful and clear.

Step 5

Groups prepare to present their PSA script/storyboard and visual to the class, articulating their message and why it's important for fostering a harmonious school environment.

🌱 Story of Change: Project Rockit

Project Rockit is Australia's youth-driven movement against bullying, hate, and prejudice. Founded by sisters Rosie and Lucy Thomas, it empowers young people with the skills, confidence, and empathy to stand up to cyberbullying and online hate, fostering safer, more inclusive digital spaces.

Assessment opportunities

Observation during Tune In: Assess student engagement and initial understanding of the object's connection to inclusion/diversity.
Group discussion monitoring: Listen to student contributions during scenario discussions to gauge their understanding of respect, empathy, power, and gender stereotypes.
PSA Script/Storyboard: Evaluate how well students articulate their chosen concept, provide relevant examples, and offer actionable advice for promoting harmony and inclusion.
Peer Feedback: Have groups provide constructive feedback on each other's PSAs, focusing on clarity, impact, and actionable advice.

Differentiation

Support:
- Provide sentence starters or a word bank for group discussions and PSA creation.
- Pair students with stronger literacy or social skills with those who need more support.
- Offer pre-filled definitions for key vocabulary.
Extension:
- Challenge students to develop a "code of conduct" for respectful digital communication, integrating concepts of empathy and challenging online gender stereotypes.
- Ask students to research and present on a specific historical or current event where a lack of respect or empathy led to significant social division, and how it was overcome.
Extension (Literacy):
- Students write a short reflective journal entry from the perspective of a character in one of the 'Find Out' scenarios, exploring their feelings and thoughts about the interaction and what they would do differently next time to demonstrate more respect or empathy, or challenge a gender stereotype.

Where to next

This lesson lays a strong foundation for exploring specific types of relationships (friendships, family, online interactions), conflict resolution strategies, and understanding the impact of social norms and expectations on individual wellbeing. Subsequent lessons could delve into digital citizenship, healthy relationship boundaries, or practical skills for advocating for oneself and others in challenging situations.

Key vocabulary

Harmony: A state of agreement or concord; a pleasant arrangement of parts.
Inclusion: The practice or policy of providing equal access to opportunities and resources for people who might otherwise be excluded or marginalised.
Diversity: The practice or quality of including or involving people from a range of different social and ethnic backgrounds and of different genders, sexual orientations, etc.
Respect: A feeling of deep admiration for someone or something, elicited by their abilities, qualities, or achievements. Treating someone with consideration and regard.
Empathy: The ability to understand and share the feelings of another.
Power: The capacity or ability to direct or influence the behaviour of others or the course of events.
Coercion: The practice of persuading someone to do something by using force or threats.
Gender Stereotypes: Oversimplified and often inaccurate beliefs or assumptions about the characteristics, roles, or behaviours of people based on their gender.

This lesson was created by Thea + CoolPlus AI

The Empathy Echo Chamber: Building Bridges of Respect

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Summary

Learning intentions

Success criteria

Lesson Guides and Printables

Lesson Details

Prior Knowledge

Skills Required

Curriculum Mapping

Resources Required

UN Sustainable Development Goals

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