Lesson summary
This lesson is designed to be completed independently by students.
Students will focus on the ways that culture affects the impact of messages. They will read an article comparing how individualistic and collectivist cultures view messages around social distancing and other policies in different ways. They will complete a table to generate ideas about the collective and individual benefits and risks when following, or not following, government policies during this pandemic. Students will be guided to understand the main messages of the article through comprehension questions. They will then connect the article to their lived experience by classifying messages they have seen as individualistic or collectivist. Finally, they survey people in their social circles to look for patterns in answers.
Learning intentions:
Students will...
- consider individual and collective reasons for complying with social distancing
- summarise an article about how cultural values affect messaging
- You will apply what you’ve learnt to generate several messages that consider cultural resonance.
Success criteria:
Students can...
- identify the difference between individual and collective risks and benefits
- locate key information and explain it in your own words
- consider cultural resonance when creating your own texts.
Lesson guides and printables
Lesson details
Curriculum mapping
Year 9 English:
- Analyse how the construction and interpretation of texts, including media texts, can be influenced by cultural perspectives and other texts (ACELY1739)
Year 10 English:
- Identify and explore the purposes and effects of different text structures and language features of spoken texts, and use this knowledge to create purposeful texts that inform, persuade and engage (ACELY1750)
General capabilities: Literacy, Ethical Understanding, Critical and Creative Thinking.
Background information:
We are living through unprecedented times and our lives have been forced to change almost overnight as a result of COVID-19. How to move forward, when a vaccine is to be developed (or may never be) is now the focus of many governments.
Resources required
- Device with internet connection
- Pen and paper (optional)
- We’re not all in this together. Messages about social distancing need the right cultural fit
Tips for parents and carers
Students can feel a range of emotional responses when researching and discussing COVID-19. If you need further support for students please refer to: https://coronavirus.beyondblue.org.au/
Additional info
This lesson has been developed in partnership with The Conversation. The Conversation’s mission is to be known as a prominent and trusted publisher of new thinking and evidence-based research, editorially independent and free of commercial or political bias. The Conversation hopes teachers will use their content as a source of truthful information, and that teachers can show their students the importance of trusted, evidence-based information in understanding the world around them and making informed decisions about their actions. Please follow the republishing guidelines when using The Conversation’s articles.
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