Teaching sequence

Work through this resource material in the following sequence:

15 minutes

Part A: Apologising

20 minutes

Part B: Analysing Apologies

30 minutes

Part C: Comparing Apologies

5 minutes

Reflection

Learning intentions and success criteria

Students understand...

the use of common verbal and nonverbal techniques in an apology
how context affects the delivery of a speech
how different speakers approach the same communicative purpose (apology).

Students can...

compare the purpose and language of private and public apologies
evaluate the effectiveness of an apology using their own and others’ criteria
synthesise their findings to create their own apology.

Part A: Apologising

Step 1

Distribute the Student Worksheet to each student and ask them to read the quotes below and document their thoughts, feelings or interpretations.

Quote	Your thoughts/feelings/interpretations
“Never ruin an apology with an excuse.” ― Benjamin Franklin
“Would 'sorry' have made any difference? Does it ever? It's just a word. One word against a thousand actions.” ― Sarah Ockler, Bittersweet
“An apology is the superglue of life! It can repair just about anything!!” ― Lynn Johnston

Step 2

Ask students to free write for two minutes (or make a mind-map) on the question - What is the purpose of an apology?

Step 3

Tell students that today they will be analysing spoken apologies. However, the apologies they will be analysing will be public apologies, not private apologies. Ask students what they think a ‘public apology’ is and who they have seen give a public apology.

Step 4

Ask students to list examples of when people may have to give a public apology, versus a private one.

Suggested public answers: a celebrity says something offensive, a student disrupts a whole class, a CEO makes a mistake and apologises to the whole company.

Suggested private answers: someone hits someone else, someone breaks someone else’s toy/possession, someone says something nasty to someone else.

Step 5

Ask students to complete the Venn Diagram (on the Student Worksheet) comparing public vs private apologies. You might wish to prompt their thinking with the following questions:

What might each of these apologies include?
What might the audience response be (or not be) to each of the apologies?
How might the person apologising use tone?
What platform might the person apologising use to make their apology public?

Part B: Analysing Apologies

Step 1

Explain to students that they will be analysing public apologies. One example of a public apology will be a short clip from the documentary The Final Quarter, about AFL star Adam Goodes.

Note: It is strongly recommended that students have participated in The Final Quarter - Responding to the Film - Years 7 & 8 lesson beforehand, in which case, they will already be familiar with Adam Goodes and the film.

If students don’t know anything about Adam Goodes, you could share the following:

Currently, the founder of the GO Foundation with fellow Swans player Michael O’Loughlin, Adam Goodes retired from AFL in 2015 after a stellar career as number 37 for the Sydney Swans. A proud Aboriginal player, Goodes’ final three years as a footballer were hampered by racially based treatment from spectators and the media. In the following clip, Eddie McGuire is apologising publicly to Adam Goodes for making a joke about Adam Goodes playing a part in the King Kong promo, only a week after Adam Goodes had called out a young fan for calling him an 'ape'.

Invite students to arrange themselves so that they are seated where they can see the screen and remind students that this clip is only a small piece of the Adam Goodes story.

Step 2

Show students Eddie McGuire’s public apology to Adam Goodes in The Final Quarter:

Eddie's Apology (https://vimeo.com/378671594/cc67973a53)

Tell students to note down features of this apology (such as language used, tone, platform etc) and then how they might be different if it was a private apology. You may need to play this clip twice to help them complete this table on the Student Worksheet:

Feature of Eddie’s apology	How it might be different if it was private

Step 3

Ask students what they think makes a good apology - what should people do to apologise well?

Step 4

Show students the list below (from the Victorian Ombudsman’s guide to an apology):

The content of an apology usually consists of the following elements:

Recognition – recognition of the mistake and the harm it caused. The most effective apologies usually describe the mistake and harm in specific terms and avoid ‘template’ phrases.
Responsibility – an admission of responsibility or fault. Many people will not accept an apology as genuine unless it includes this element.
Regret – an expression of regret or sympathy.
Reasons – an explanation of what happened, or what will be done to investigate.
Redress – an explanation of what is being done to fix the mistake or prevent it happening again.
Release – if it is appropriate, a request for forgiveness.

Step 5

Show students the transcript of Eddie’s public apology from the documentary, The Final Quarter:

“Adam was really upset. As he said to me today, it took him aback because we’ve been through so much together. Regardless of the situation, I apologise to Adam Goodes and the Indigenous people of Australia and to every Indigenous sportsperson. I made a mistake, I made a slip of the tongue, I put my foot in my mouth. I made a blue.”

Step 6

Ask students to use the list of steps of an effective apology, and Eddie’s transcript, to complete the table below:

Elements of Eddie McGuire’s apology I think were effective/not effective	Why they were effective/not effective

Step 7.

Have students read the longer transcript of Eddie’s apology (excerpted from The Age, Eddie McGuire apologises to Adam Goodes for King Kong comment but will not resign).

"I'm happy to stand here in front of everybody, in front of the country, and say we do not stand for racial vilification. I let myself down because I had a slip of the tongue. [But] people don't resign because they make a slip of the tongue. It's as simple as that. I wasn't even thinking, I was thinking the exact opposite of what slipped out. I've spoken to Adam Goodes today who again showed the class he had to accept my call, to listen to my reasoning. When I realised what had been said, about 20 seconds later, I went and did an air check... I immediately retracted and apologised... I wasn't trying to be a smart aleck, certainly not to racially vilify anyone. I wasn't even thinking, because it's absolutely filled my mind since the incident happened on Saturday night. I've spent all week talking to people about what's the significance of an ape to an Indigenous man. This is something that is abhorrent to say, this is something that is terrible. That's what was on my mind, it was just something that just came out, it was simply a slip of the tongue mistake that I didn't even realise I said at the time. As soon as I realised, I made every effort to rectify the situation. Once I realised what had happened, I made every step possible to repair the hurt that had been done. I'm happy to face the court of public opinion. Adam Goodes this morning woke up and had to go through something again that he should never have had to in the first place. I don't step away from these responsibilities. I made a blue this morning. My excuse? I was a bit zoned out. Bad luck, every gun is loaded, every mic is on. I made a mistake. Now I'm going to make the difference that needs to be done and I will continue to do what I've been doing the last 30 years in the media, and that's to continue to fight for equality. It's only tough because people are hurt. It doesn't matter about me. It's a cause that I live for.”

Step 8

Ask students to add some additional points to their table based on the new information from the full transcript.

Extension option: You might like to discuss with the class why the Director of The Final Quarter (Ian Darling) chose to cut Eddie McGuire’s apology the way it was done in the film. What do you think he was trying to emphasise? Was there anything lost in the editing?

Part C: Comparing Apologies

Step 1

Tell students that they will be comparing Eddie McGuire’s apology to a very famous apology - Kevin Rudd’s Apology to the Stolen Generations. Some context is provided below:

In 2008, the then Prime Minister Kevin Rudd made a public apology to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples for the Stolen Generations. This apology was on behalf of the Parliament of Australia. The ‘Stolen Generations’ refers specifically to the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children who were removed, by force, from their families during the extensive period from the 1900s to the 1960s.

Step 2.

Show students this footage:

Sorry, Kevin Rudd's Apology to "The stolen Generation" (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b3TZOGpG6cM)

Step 3

Have students complete this table about Kevin Rudd’s speech.

Elements of Kevin Rudd's apology I think were effective/not effective	Why they were effective/not effective

Step 4

Ask students to write a paragraph in response to the question - which apology do you think was better? Explain why with reference to tone, language choices and nonverbal aspects.

Step 5

Show students the clip ‘How to Apologise’ and ask them to identify the steps of a private apology that the speaker explains.

How to Apologize (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z3H_GgtE3Tc)

Step 6

Invite students to write a private apology for Eddie McGuire to Adam Goodes that follows the steps outlined in the clip ‘How to Apologise’. They should explain what emphasis, facial expressions and tone would be used. This can be done using brackets within the text. They should try to use all the steps outlined in the video.

Step 7

Tell students to annotate the choices they made in their writing. They should explain:

Three language choices
One tone choice
One word or phrase they would emphasise

Reflection

Invite students to write a reflection in response to the following questions:

When is it appropriate to make a public apology? And a private apology?
What challenges does the speaker face in a private apology?
What challenges does the speaker face in a public apology?

Differentiated learning

Extension -

In Part B, students could write an analysis of Eddie McGuire’s speech in response to the questions:
- How is Eddie trying to position the audience?
- Considering he is an ‘experienced media performer’, how genuine do you think his apology was?
- What other information would you want to know about Eddie when evaluating his apology? Is it important to consider his past behaviour? Why or why not?
Also in Part B, you might like to discuss with the class why the Director of The Final Quarter (Ian Darling) chose to cut Eddie McGuire’s apology the way it was done in the film. What do you think he was trying to emphasise? Was there anything lost in the editing?

Provisions for Learning Support - In Part C, students could use a Venn Diagram to compare Kevin Rudd and Eddie McGuire’s speeches, instead of writing a paragraph.

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?

The Final Quarter - Language Of Apology

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Summary

Learning intentions:

Students understand...

Success criteria:

Students can...

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