This is an experiential form of work where students from the second grade of secondary education onwards are introduced to the topic of diversity and discrimination.
Objectives
Students experience that everyone is unique.
Students engage in discussions about different perspectives.
Students see that diversity is a broad concept based on different aspects: origin, appearance, gender, physical ability, socio-economic status ...
Students recognise this diversity as a possible basis for discrimination.
Target
Second and third grade secondary school students.
Run
Beforehand: introduction of the theme and objectives
Phase 1: pupils are each given a sheet on which they find the description of a character. They study this sheet silently and empathise as much as possible with this character. If necessary, to check that they have understood the text correctly, you can ask them some additional guiding questions.
Stage 2: Students line up together. The class should be large enough so that pupils can step at least 7 metres forward, and 5 metres backwards. The pupils close their eyes and shake hands.
Stage 3: The teacher reads several statements to the students. Those who recognise 'privilege' based on their character take a step forward. In contrast, those who face disadvantage or exclusion take a step backwards. If necessary, pupils should let go of each other's hands when they are too far apart.
Stage 4: After reading out all the statements, students open their eyes and see where their character has a place in society.
Stage 5: classroom discussion. The teacher hangs out eight large flaps in the classroom, each of which should represent a category: origin, sexual orientation, family situation, money, religion, disability and appearance. The teacher explains these categories to the students
Stage 6: Pupils may go to the flaps with markers and note how they experience privileges or disadvantages within those categories. You let pupils explain their responses in this regard
Stage 7: You show that these different categories (race, wealth, origin, appearance, etc.) need not exist separately, but that some people suffer disadvantages because their identity depends on different categories together. In this way, you explain to your students what 'intersectional thinking' is, and how it relates to discrimination. Sometimes people are not discriminated against on the basis of one characteristic, but on the basis of an interplay of characteristics from different categories
Beforehand: introduction of the theme and objectives
Phase 1: pupils are each given a sheet on which they find the description of a character. They study this sheet silently and empathise as much as possible with this character. If necessary, to check that they have understood the text correctly, you can ask them some additional orientation questions.
Phase 2: the pupils position themselves in a line. The class should be large enough so that pupils can step at least 7 metres forward, and 5 metres backwards. Students close their eyes and shake hands.
Stage 3: The teacher reads several statements to the pupils. Those who recognise 'privilege' based on their character take a step forward. In contrast, those who face disadvantage or exclusion take a step backwards. If necessary, pupils should let go of each other's hands when they are too far apart.
Phase 4: After reading out all the statements, pupils open their eyes and see where their character has a place in society.
Phase 5: Classroom discussion. The teacher hangs out eight large flaps idie each to represent a category: origin, sexual orientation, family situation, money, religion, disability and appearance. The teacher explains these categories to the students
Phase 6: Students may go to the flaps with markers and note how they experience privileges or disadvantages within these categories. You let pupils explain their reactions to this
Phase 7: You demonstrate that these different categories (race, wealth, origin, appearance, etc.) need not exist separately, but that some people experience disadvantages because their identity depends on the interplay of different factors. Discrimination does not always depend on a single cause, but sometimes assumes that different axes of identity intersect. In this way, explain to your students what 'intersectional thinking' is, and its connection to discrimination.
Resources:
sheets on which you describe the characters in detail: 'character cards'
space to be large enough (students should be able to take 7 steps forward, and 5 steps backward)
large paper flaps for note-taking
Sources and links
https://www.schooluitdekast.be/sites/default/files/methodiek/bijlage/privilegewalksecundair.pdf https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hD5f8GuNuGQ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O1islM0ytkE
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