To Advocate or Not to Advocate
Goal
Choose to advocate for themselves and/or community during key times
including election periods, a state budget process, or crisis period,
and community and personal crisis periods.
Objectives
- Asked, "When is an appropriate time to advocate for themselves/community?"
state the following times: an election period, a state budget process,
or crisis period, and a community crisis and personal crisis period.
- Asked, "How can people advocate for themselves or their community
during an election period or state budget or community or personal
crisis period?", state how. Vote, attend a rally, and write to,
meet with and call legislators must be included in the response.
- Given an election period, a state budget process, or crisis period
or community or personal crisis period, decide whether or not to advocate
for themselves and/or community.
Preparation and materials
- White board/Newsprint
- White board markers
- Pencils/pens
- Paper for students
- Activity 1 (Option1): Copy of the play, The Advocacy Decision for all students.
- Activity I (Option 2): Copy of Community Issue Research Project for all students.
Introduction
Review: Quickly review concepts from all previous lessons as a class,
encouraging input from as many students as possible in all covered areas.
Warm-up
Ask students if they attended classes in an ABE program last year.
For those who respond yes, ask them if they participated in any advocacy
activities and to explain if they chose to do it or not. Did they write
letters to the governor or to their legislators? Did they go to the
statehouse or meet with their legislators? Did any students choose to
not advocate? Why do they think they chose to or chose not to?
Tell students: We have learned many things about state government and
taxes during these past classes/weeks, including finding out what services
the Massachusetts government provides, where taxes come from, kinds
of taxation and what the people of Massachusetts, including you, can
do when there is a problem with services and taxes. In this lesson,
we will review many of the things we learned, then apply this new knowledge
to a real tax/service or budget crisis situation. In the end, you can
choose about if you want to advocate and if you choose to advocate,
you can practice all that you have learned.
Option One
Activity 1
Distribute copies of the play, The Advocacy Decision to all
students. This activity is a dramatization of the budget crisis situation,
as it applies to the adult basic education field in Massachusetts. As
a play, it involves students' participation as characters and/or as
the audience. It can be performed with the students staying in their
seats, and simply reading from their scripts, or as a more formal play,
with the students sitting apart from the rest of the class. This is
an opportunity for the students to apply what they've learned and for
the instructors to evaluate students' understanding of the material.
It is suggested that you discuss the context of the play and assign
or have eight students volunteer for the roles the class before the
play is to be performed, so students can study and practice their lines.
The day of the play:
1. If students are amenable to enacting the play in a formal fashion,
arrange the room so that the setting is a break room, with eight seats
for the actors/actresses.
2. Discuss again the context of the play with students. Remind them
that it's depicting a real (current) situation in the state. Define
any unknown or difficult vocabulary. Help students with pronunciation,
intonation, and body language where appropriate.
3. Have students take their places and begin the play.
Activity 2
1. Ask students for their reactions to the play.
Discuss as a class:
- Do they think Demitri will change his mind?
- Will he choose to advocate?
- What advocacy methods can he choose from to help save his classes?
- What method do you think he'll use or not use? Why?
- Think of the characters in the play. Who do you agree with? Why?
Who do you disagree with? Why?
- What if many classes were filled with people, students, teachers
and directors who think like Demitri?
- What are some other times you may choose to advocate? What could
change if you advocated?
Activity 3
Tell students: The purpose of this play is to make you think about
whether you will choose to advocate now for your classes or not. The
play is also meant to help you think about advocating for yourself or
your community (including your ABE community) in the future. This is
a decision only you can make. We hope that after studying all of this
information in all the lessons, you feel you can make the right choice
for yourself.
Option 2
Project-based approach
Activity 1
In teams, have students research/identify an issue in the state or their community or surrounding one that concerns them. They can use the internet, newspaper, television or other media outlet to identify the issue. Have teams follow the issue via media outlets, collecting articles and other print/material that characterizes the issue. Teachers can choose to have students complete one or more of the following products and include it in student portfolios.
Consider developing templates and/or rubrics to help guide students along with this work. See the following page for an example.
- Word Document
- PowerPoint presentation
- Excel Spreadsheet
- Community Member Interviews
Teachers can also consider sharing the products with their program director for consideration in a program media event and/or for inclusion in Massachusetts Alliance for Adult Literacy (MassAAL) activity. Contact Ernest Best at [email protected] for more information on MassAAL.
Community Issue Research Project
Name: Date:
Let the following questions guide you in your research on a community issue that faces the state or your community and affects you and/or other community members:
- What is the issue?
- What state service or taxes are involved?
- Who is affected by this issue and how?
- What MA state legislators are working on this issue or may be able to help with it?
- What advocacy method do you think would work best with this issue? Why?
Your teacher will request that you complete one or more of the following products to report out to the class about the issue you have chosen to study. Make sure you answer the questions above in your project and consider including text, pictures, audio and other enhancements to best communicate your findings.
Products:
Skills focus: writing, computer
Write a personal opinion essay on why the issue is important to them and what they think should be done about it. Include what advocacy method(s) you recommend and how you can get others involved in the advocacy endeavor.
Skill focus: oral presentation, writing, computer
Create a slide presentation on the issue and the impact it is having on the state or the community. Include text, images and even audio clips that help communicate the importance of advocacy for the issue or whether advocacy work has already taken place.
Skill focus: analysis, numeracy, computer
Create a spreadsheet that depicts financial aspects of the issue including tax dollars savings/costs implications.
- Community member interviews
Interpersonal, communication: oral, written
Locate three community members and interview them about the issue and how it impacts them, their family or fellow community member. In your written report on the findings, include how knowledgeable they were about the issue and how they became/stay informed about it. Have they advocated about the issue? How?]
Enrichment/extension activities:
Beginning ESOL/Literacy students:
- Have students work in small groups reviewing earlier activities.
Intermediate/higher ESOL, ASE/high ABE/GED students:
- Have student write or discuss what they have learned from past advocating
experiences.
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Table of Contents | Introduction
| Unit 1 | Unit 2
| Unit 3 | Resources
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