Teaching Sequence

Work through this resource material in the following sequence:

10 minutes – Part A: Activating Hope
25 minutes – Part B: Hope And The Leadership
40 minutes – Part C: Using Visualisation To Persuade
5 minutes – Reflection

Part A: Activating Hope

Explain to students that this lesson is about hope. It features clips and explores issues from the documentary film, The Leadership, about a leadership cruise for women in STEMM - science, technology, engineering, maths, medicine.

Step 1.

Play this clip from The Leadership:

Dr Meredith Nash on being a feminist (https://youtu.be/arU1w9tJ1w4)

Step 2.

Show students this quote, “Despair is a form of certainty, certainty that the future will be a lot like the present or decline from it. Optimism is similarly confident about what will happen. Both are grounds for not acting… Hope just means another world might be possible, not promised, not guaranteed. Hope calls for action; action is impossible without hope.”― Rebecca Solnit

Step 3.

Have students complete a THINK FEEL WONDER. First, students should write down what this quote makes them think or feel, or what questions they have about the quote or the video. They should then share these with a partner and write any additional thoughts.

Step 4.

Circulate and choose some students to share their thoughts. Ask students: Why is hope important?

Step 5.

Explain to the class that thinking about how much positive change has already happened can help us to realise that change is possible. Ask students to think about what they know:

How was gender inequality different 10 years ago?
How about 100 years ago?
200 years ago?
2000 years ago?

Step 6.

Ask students to write a letter to a person living 100 years ago. They need to describe the current status of gender equality to a person from that era, to bring them hope for the future.

Step 7.

Invite volunteers to share their letters, if they feel comfortable doing so.

Part B: Hope And 'The Leadership'

Step 1.

Ask students to identify ‘moments of hope’ that they recall from the film. (You could also play an excerpt (from near the end). Have students identify how the film creates a hopeful ending.

Sample answer: It includes uplifting snapshots of what some of the women experienced back in their workplaces after attending the Homeward Bound leadership training. For example, one woman got a pay rise and promotion.

Step 2.

In this clip from The Leadership, Songqiao discusses her program ‘Wild Bound’ which aims to educate children in China about the environment. Play:

Hope - Songqiao Yao (https://vimeo.com/554136797/c470134b4b)

Have students discuss, or write answers to these questions:

How does this mission reflect Songqiao’s hope for the future? Provide examples.
Why do you think the filmmakers included these scenes?
Does Songqiao’s mission make you feel hopeful? Why/why not?

Step 3.

Sonqiao mentioned that in 2048 China will have the opportunity to review their decision to not mine in Antarctica. Future adults (who are children now) will also have many other important decisions to make. In pairs, write a description of how these adults may think or act, if they were educated through the ‘WildBound’ program as children.

Consider:

What memories they may have
What they may have been taught to prioritise
What situations they might be able to improve for the world.

Step 4.

In this clip from The Leadership, Dr Deborah Pardo discusses her new outlook on balancing motherhood with work. She also discusses her entrepreneurial goals. Play:

Hope - Dr Deborah Pardo (https://vimeo.com/554136856/e13c0c236f)

Something I saw/heard	How it made me feel hopeful

Step 5.

Ask students - what still needs to change to make the future even more hopeful for women in STEMM fields?

Step 6.

Ask students to consider the fact that Songqiao Yao and Dr Deborah Pardo were only two of hundreds of people who have attended, or will attend, the Homeward Bound leadership program. Does that make you feel hope for the future? Why/why not?

Part C: Using Visualisation To Persuade

Step 1.

Read the ‘six opportunities’ MAKE PDF? (p. 16) from the Australian Academy of Science’s Women in STEM Decadel Plan (source). You might like to do this as a class.

Low literacy support: Students could read the six opportunities in plain English below and highlight keywords instead of completing Step 2.

Original Text	Plain English Version
LEADERSHIP Stronger cohesion and leadership across the Australian STEM ecosystem will amplify and strengthen diversity outcomes.	Organisations, governments and individuals will work together to improve diversity outcomes (such as the numbers of women in different roles and working conditions). Leaders of all groups will treat issues about diversity as important.
EVALUATION Establishing a national evaluation framework will guide decision-making and drive investment and effort into measures that work.	There will be nationwide criteria used to judge (assess the strengths and weaknesses) of different programs. Programs that are found to be successful will be funded and used.
WORKPLACE CULTURE A significant cultural shift in workplaces is necessary to create gender equity for women in STEM. A culture that is inclusive and respectful, challenges traditional stereotypes, is free of discrimination and bias, enables flexibility and accommodates career interruptions and changes will maximise women’s participation in the workforce.	Workplaces will focus on changing their culture to make sure it includes women in all ways. This will include being flexible, for example, with maternity leave or part-time work due to household responsibilities. Everyone will work together to stop stereotyping and discrimination.
VISIBILITY Seeing women in diverse STEM careers, and equally represented in the media, in public events, and in other forums like boardrooms and classrooms will provide role models for girls and women and inspire a nation.	Organisations will celebrate women and will make sure that when organising events or groups of experts, they include women in equal numbers to men. For example, a panel could include a few women and a few men.
EDUCATION Strengthening the education system to support teaching and learning on a national scale will enable and encourage all girls and women at all levels to study STEM courses and equip them with the skills and knowledge to participate in diverse STEM careers.	Schools will focus on teaching STEMM subjects well so that everyone is capable of having a career in STEMM. The government will help schools to do this with national resources.
INDUSTRY ACTION Establishing a national framework that guides and provides tools to address gender equity amongst SMEs will impact the vast majority of businesses not reached by existing programs.	A document will be made to explain how organisations can improve and achieve gender equity (both men and women’s needs being met in the workplace). This will help all the businesses that don’t already have policies and tools for these issues.

Step 2.

Have students select one of the opportunities and read the ‘strategic recommendations’ (from p. 21 onwards). They can do this individually, in pairs or in groups.

Step 3.

Ask students to brainstorm a plan for one strategic recommendation using the template on the Student Worksheet (example provided below). They should consider what the workplace might look like if this strategic recommendation came true:

What things would people think about or feel?
What actions would they take?
What would the effects be? Consider possible flow-on effects.

Example:
Strategic Recommendation 3.1: Make each STEM organisation responsible and accountable for establishing a non-discriminatory workplace culture that does not tolerate harassment and bullying.

Map out a plan:

What things would people think about or feel?
Possible answer: People would be able to focus on their jobs. They would feel welcome and included in the workspace.
What actions would they take?
Possible answer: If someone was being bullied they would report it. They would seek to retrain those who engaged in this kind of behaviour.
What would the effects be? Consider possible flow-on effects
Possible answer: Better work would be done due to increased collaboration. People would be happy at work so turnover would be lower.

Step 4.

Ask students to turn their plan into a visualisation (low literacy students could draw and label their visualisation, perhaps like a comic strip):

Example visualisation:

Imagine: You walk into a lab in 2030. Everyone might be wearing a white lab coat, but the similarities stop there. You see all kinds of hairstyles, skin colours, genders and bodies. Everyone is working quietly, but there is a hum of collaboration in the air. In the corner you see a few people discussing some results. They smile as a junior staff member showcases their findings. You notice on the calendar that there are some celebrations scheduled - days off for employees to celebrate their various religious holidays. You also notice the bathrooms are separate cubicles with their own sinks with no gendered signs on them. You walk further into the lab and an employee lets you know that they have a safe and private means of reporting any comments or behaviour that makes them feel uncomfortable. There is a no-tolerance policy for bullying or harassment and everyone is trained in ways to make sure that they aren’t behaving in ways that make others feel unwelcome - after all, they need everyone there to work on the world’s biggest problems. When you talk to the lab manager they let you know that creating a positive culture is just as important to them as obtaining grants or good data. The culture keeps the people happy and the people do the work. You think that it’s definitely the kind of place you’d like to work and when you go home to your children you tell them that. They say maybe they’d like to work there too.

Step 5.

Circulate and choose some effective examples to be read to the class.

Reflection

Ask students to discuss these questions in small groups:

Did the film The Leadership make you more or less hopeful for the future? Why/why not?
How did the process of writing the ‘visualisation’ make you feel?
What actions can you take to feel more hopeful for the future?

Differentiated Learning

Extension - Students could incorporate their positive visualisation into a persuasive speech to be presented in class. They should either write the speech for the context of changing a policy in their future workplace or writing a petition to the general public about a law being changed.

Provisions for Learning Support - ‘Plain language’ versions of the text for Part C have been provided. Students may also wish to draw and label their visualisations (perhaps like comic strips), rather than to write them in full.

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?

The Leadership - Improving Gender Equality in the Workplace

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