The school that tried to end racism
Area
Second language learning
Duration
1 session
Dimension of the advised group of students
One group of 20-30 people
Specific objectives
- To raise awareness of unconscious bias
- To practice listening skills
- To practice reading skills
- To focus on collocations
- To practice giving opinions in a discussion
Needed Materials
- Worksheets
- Access to YouTube
If the training is organized online one communication platform will be necessary.
Software
- One online communication platform, such us: Zoom, Google Meet, Webex,
etc.
- In person, no software is needed.
Description
This activity is based around a UK documentary called “The school that tried to end
racism”. The documentary focuses on a project in a school in London in which 12- and
13-year-old students were tested for unconscious race bias, and then took part in a
series of activities designed to tackle racism. Participants will watch a short clip from
the documentary, read a text about the project, and focus on collocations. They will
reflect on the key concepts that the project addresses. Finally, they have the
opportunity to reflect on how people reacted to the documentary and why and reflect
on their own opinions.
Racism is a burden to our society and might be a topic that’s dear to the heart of
disadvantaged youth and those at risk of demotivation and exclusion. The activity
gives them the opportunity to reflect on the topic and describe personal experiences,
which might be appealing and involve them further into the project.
The themes covered should be dealt with in a sensitive way:
• Be sensitive to the different cultural/ethnic backgrounds of your participants.
• Start by reminding participants that they may feel uncomfortable talking about race,
and that is OK - they are free to give their opinions, but they must be respectful of
everyone in the group.
• Ensure that you are monitoring discussions and activities.
Procedure on how to put in practice
Duration: 90 minutes
No of participants: 20-30
Methods used: group discussion, collaborative work
Competences developed: critical thinking, empathy, awareness
Step-by-step description:
1. Ask participants to look at the opinions on the worksheet and think about
which reflect their own ideas in small groups.
2. Watch the clip from the documentary and do task 1. Afterwards, discuss the
comprehension questions.
3. Participants then read more about the experiment, preparing vocabulary,
drilling pronunciation, and completing comprehension questions. Participants
then focus on collocations from the text.
4. In groups, they then discuss some questions. Encourage them to give reasons
for their opinions.
5. Selecting some comments from the YouTube section, ask participants in
groups to discuss which ones they agree with and to write their own
comment.
Debriefing question: Why might people have these opinions? What do they think the
researchers behind the project might say in response?
