Teacher Preparation

Overarching learning goal: Students develop skills in the analysis of texts, including documentary and media texts. They will read, view and listen to public documents examining and reflecting on the intentions behind these texts. They understand that there can be a link between life events, poverty and homelessness.

Teacher content information: This lesson is based on THE OASIS documentary, which raises awareness of youth homelessness, celebrates the resilience of young people who are experiencing homelessness in Australia and empowers the next generation of young people to take action to prevent youth homelessness in the future.

Young people often become homeless because of family breakdown, often stemming from parental conflicts or a collapse of their relationship with a husband/wife or partner. Some young people who are living independently become homeless because they can’t afford living expenses such as rent. Being homeless is unsafe, unhealthy and very stressful. Young people experiencing homelessness are not a homogeneous group. They come from a range of family backgrounds, have diverse dispositions, expectations and desires, and they encounter services of varying quality. Their common needs are to have a stable home; friends; healthy nutrition; to be cared about as individuals; to have adequate educational support; help when they need help; and reliable adults in their lives.

THE OASIS documentary can be viewed online for free or the DVD can be purchased from the Shark Island Productions store online.

Warning: The documentary contains explicit language, images of drug use and confronting scenes and may offend some viewers. Teachers should use their personal discretion when showing the documentary. This resource deals with the rising problem of youth homelessness and its associated social and personal issues. There may be students in your class who have experienced some of the issues discussed. You are encouraged to arrive at a set of agreements with your class about the best way to approach the issues being covered in a way that recognises the dignity of our fellow human.

This lesson deals with issues that arise from mental illness. Please take steps to understand if students in your class could be triggered by the content, and allow them to subtly opt out of the lesson if this occurs.

Teaching sequence:

20 minutes	Part A: Understanding the precariousness of poverty
40 minutes	Part B: Understanding poverty in Australia
40 minutes	Part C: Creating narration of Beau's story
10 minutes	Reflection

Work through this resource material in the following sequence:

Part A: Understanding the precariousness of poverty

Step 1.

As a class, conduct an image search for the word 'precarious' (project the search onto a screen).

Step 2.

Discuss and establish what the word means.

Step 3.

Do the same for 'poverty in Australia.'

Step 4.

Guide a quick discussion about what the phrase 'The precariousness of poverty' suggests.

Part B: Understanding poverty in Australia

Step 1.

Organise the class into an even number of groups.

Step 2.

Distribute to each group one of the articles linked below. Ask students to read the articles and list the causes and effects of poverty that are detailed in each:

Millions of Australians struggling to survive below the poverty line, Salvation Army survey finds
One million Australians living in poverty - it’s just not good enough
There is an extra video in this report that may be worth viewing and analysing, especially in relation to the attention that the interviewee draws to the impact of mental health on the ability for people to work when they are suffering from mental illness.

Step 3.

Students write one word or phrase from the article that they had difficulty comprehending on a small piece of paper, and put it into a ‘hat’ (container of some sort) at the front of the room. Each student then picks a piece of paper out of the hat, and spends five minutes researching the meaning of the word or phrase that is on that piece of paper using a dictionary or an internet search.

Step 4.

If possible, arrange the classroom into a horseshoe or circle formation (with the tables to the side of the classroom). Ask students to share what they have discovered, and encourage the class to seek clarification on any questions or misunderstandings that they have.

Part C: Creating narration of Beau's story

Step 1.

Watch Beau’s story - It highlights the challenge of mental health and living precariously close to poverty.

THE OASIS - Beau (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_WfSqRbAOHc)

For more information on Beau, go to https://theoasismovie.com.au/the-oasis/about/characters/beau.php

Step 2.

Notice that there is no narration in the documentary. It might be useful to have a discussion about the omission of narration in THE OASIS and why the director chose to do so. (You can read more about the observational style of documentary making here: https://www.desktop-documentaries.com/storytelling-techniques.html)

Step 3.

Students think about and interpret Beau’s experiences. Ask students to conduct one-on-one interviews, or have a group discussion guided by the questions below:

What is happening to Beau when he first visits Paul at The Oasis Youth Support Network?
What are the risks faced by Beau in his everyday life in relation to poverty and homelessness?
When should Beau have received the help that he required?
Why do you think that Beau chose to visit Paul?
Why is Beau acting the way that he is acting?
What does it mean to say that Beau is living precariously close to poverty and homelessness?
Who does Beau have to help him when he needs it?
Where does Beau go after seeing Paul?

Students should record a summary of their discussion on the Student Worksheet.

Step 4.

Students begin the process of creating a voiceover to narrate the section of THE OASIS that features Beau’s experiences. Encourage them to think about the style that they would like the narration to have. To get some ideas about narration styles, check out the details about narration styles on this website: https://bekindrewrite.com/2011/09/09/the-7-narrator-types-and-you-thought-there-were-only-two/. Before commencement of drafting the narration content, ask students to think about the following:

What view will your narrator have of Beau - i.e. sympathetic/condemning/indifferent etc?
How will that be conveyed through what is said in the narration?
How will you ensure that the narrator sounds the way you want them to?
What words should the narrator use in order to sound like that?
What pronouns will the narrator use?

Direct students to begin drafting their narration of Beau's experiences and to ensure that the time it takes to say what has been drafted fits the clips from THE OASIS that feature Beau. Have students check with a partner/another group about whether or not the clips reflects the type of narration chosen. Students are encouraged to watch the clips with no sound so that they can get a good feel for the time they are required to fill with their narration. Here are some points that could be covered in the narration:

The precariousness of poverty.
Risk factors that Beau is facing and the effect of the factors on Beau, including his living situation, his health and well being.
The help that Beau receives after he visits Paul and how his life changes afterwards, including details about the change that has occurred in Beau’s life before/after he goes to hospital.
The support mechanisms that Beau relies on in order to stay away from poverty and homelessness.

In order to signpost their draft narration, students could take screen shots of the film and use them to act as sub-headings.

When their draft is complete and refined, students can use a voice recorder (on their smartphone, tablet or using computer software) to record their narration.

Reflection/Homework

Complete the narrative creation activity and submit.

Differentiated Learning

Extension: In an analytical piece, assess the role that the Salvation Army plays in the lives of people who experience poverty. You could include a description of how Paul responded to Beau when he first came to The Oasis Centre offices, and the support that the Salvation Army offers families and individuals who have tough times. In your piece, consider and explore: what would happen to these people if organisations like the Salvation Army and individuals like Paul weren’t there to help?

Provisional Learning Support: Students work as mixed-level groups to discuss the two articles. Students could take screen shots from the film and narrate a slide show of those pictures. They should keep the narrative that follows Beau’s story, however they could record it independently of the film and supplement their recordings with the pictures from the film. They could do so by recording a slide show using PowerPoint and a pair of smartphone headphones for a microphone.

The Oasis - Comparing Representation in the Media

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