Teaching sequence

Work through this resource material in the following sequence:

15 minutes

Tune In: Understanding bias, discrimination, prejudice and stereotypes

20 minutes

Find Out: What are Commonwealth Games Australia doing?

25 minutes

Take Action: Community action

5 minutes

Reflection

Learning intentions

Students will:

create strategies they can implement to challenge stereotypes, bias, prejudice and discrimination.

Success criteria

Students can:

identify scenarios of inequality
propose and implement strategies to build equality.

Preparation

In this lesson, you will be using the Cool.org Act Framework. Our Framework is informed by research on the process of design thinking, and the role of critical and creative thinking. The Framework offers various strategies and tactics to inspire and facilitate meaningful action.

We recommend reading about the Framework before this lesson to gain a deeper understanding.

Tune In: Understanding bias, discrimination, prejudice and stereotypes

Step 1

Explain to students that they will be deepening their understanding of bias, stereotypes, prejudice and discrimination in this lesson. On a whiteboard, copy or project the table below for your students to view:

Term	Definition
bias	This occurs when someone shows favouritism towards certain people or things over others in an unfair way, often due to personal preferences or unconscious influences.
discrimination	This is the act of treating someone unfairly or unequally because of characteristics such as race, gender, age or other differences, often resulting in denial of opportunities or rights.
prejudice	Forming an unfair or negative opinion about a person or group without sufficient knowledge, often based on preconceived notions or stereotypes.
stereotype	Refers to a widely held but oversimplified and generalised belief about a group of people, assuming that all group members share the same characteristics or behaviours.

Provide the opportunity for students to ask questions about these terms.

Step 2

Your students’ task is to read the scenarios on the Student Worksheet and identify which scenario is an example of bias, discrimination, stereotype and prejudice.

Encourage students to revisit the terms and definitions table on the whiteboard to assist them in identifying each example.

Once students have completed the task, provide them with the correct answers below:

scenario 1 - bias
scenario 2 - prejudice
scenario 3 - discrimination
scenario 4 - stereotype

Find Out: What are Commonwealth Games Australia doing?

Step 1

Explain to students that many people across Australia are working to minimise bias, discrimination, prejudice and stereotypes within organisations and workplaces. Commonwealth Games Australia has implemented strategies to target these within its organisation.

Step 2

Provide each student with a copy of the Minimising bias, stereotypes, prejudice and discrimination within CGA Factsheet and read through as a class. You may like to lead the reading or ask student volunteers to take turns reading.

Step 3

Ask students to turn and talk to the person next to them to discuss 1 of the strategies that stood out to them. Invite students to share these with the class and list keywords and themes on the whiteboard.

Take Action: Community action

Step 1

Open the Cool.org Act Framework document using a digital display so it is visible to the students. As a class, read about each tactic and the dot-point list of ideas accompanying it.

For your reference, the tactics covered in the Framework are listed below.

Choose change – choose to change your habits and form new ones by considering what you do, buy and select.
Share knowledge – share the knowledge you develop by reading, watching, listening and actively finding out ways to be able to pass it on.
Join forces – join networks and grow your connections by finding organisations or movements.
Create impact – create and experiment with building stuff that will make the situation better.
Pitch ideas – pitch to people to find your voice by talking, debating, writing, recording and exchanging ideas.
Grow momentum – grow your crowd and amplify your voice by organising events involving your community and beyond, or even starting a business.

Step 2

Your students’ task is to plan an initiative that promotes inclusion within your school community, or a sports community/club/association. The action must focus on challenging biases, stereotypes, prejudices and discrimination!

Step 3

Divide students into 6 groups and allocate 1 of the Cool.org Act Framework tactics to each group. Each tactic includes a dot-point list of actions to take.

In their groups, students are to select 1 action from the list and brainstorm ideas on the Student Worksheet to develop a plan to implement this action within their school community or a sports community/club/association.

For example, for ‘Pitch Ideas’, students could collaborate to develop a series of TikTok-style videos sharing how to be upstanders in challenging situations, or they could write an elevator pitch to the school council to commission an Aboriginal artist to work on a reconciliation art project with the school community or a sports community/club/association.

Step 4

Invite each group to the front of the classroom and encourage them to introduce their plan to their class. Ask for student volunteers to provide constructive and positive feedback to each group.

Reflection

Instruct students to think quietly about the advantages to the community if their action is successfully implemented. Ask students to turn to the person next to them to discuss the advantages of taking action. Invite students to share their discussions with the class.

A Country We Are Proud to Represent

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A Country We Are Proud to Represent

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