Gr. 8 Social Studies Unit Plan – TERFs and Harry Potter

SOCIAL STUDIES UNIT PLAN: TERFs and Harry Potter

Katrina, Fran, Tessa, Colin, Laurel, Sam

Scenario:

Group 6 – Grade 8 students. Students are working on book reports and sharing their work so far in a peer mentoring activity. One student is reviewing Harry Potter and the other calls the author a TERF. Debate in the class starts surrounding whether one can like Harry Potter and be a trans ally. Questions surrounding ‘cancel culture’ arise. Design a mini-unit to take this up.

Additional Resources:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4wbZOKFqtCI – How you can still like HP after JKR

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TERF

https://owl.excelsior.edu/argument-and-critical-thinking/logical-fallacies/logical-fallacies-ad-hominem/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lrYx7HaUlMY – TEDx “I’ve lived as a man and a woman and here’s what I learned”

https://www.jkrowling.com/opinions/j-k-rowling-writes-about-her-reasons-for-speaking-out-on-sex-and-gender-issues/

a) Learning Outcomes and Objectives

What does it mean to be trans? A TERF?
What is cancel culture? How does it show up in mainstream media/politics? Is it possible to support someone’s work when they are openly exclusionary of certain groups of people?
What are phobias? Is transphobia relatable to arachnophobia (for instance)? Why/why not?
What happens to our activism when we exclude people from our fight for rights?
How can we, as a class, come together to support LGBTQIA2S+ Rights?

b) Connections to Social Studies Curriculum

Grade 8 Big Idea:

Changing ideas about the world created tension between people wanting to adopt new ideas and those wanting to preserve established traditions

Content:

Philosophical and cultural shifts

Curricular Competencies:

Assess the credibility of multiple sources and the adequacy of evidence used to justify conclusions (connect to Ad Hominem Fallacy)
Use Social Studies inquiry processes and skills to ask questions; gather, interpret, and analyze ideas; and communicate findings and decisions
Make ethical judgments about past events, decisions, or actions, and assess the limitations of drawing direct lessons from the past
Explain different perspectives on past or present people, places, issues, or events, and compare the values, worldviews, and beliefs of human cultures and societies in different times and places

c) Plans for Differentiation and Inclusion

Make sure we establish a “brave” and “safe enough” space ahead of time. If there are any openly trans kids in class, try to have a conversation with them in advance to let them know we’re visiting this topic in class and offer them the opportunity to take a walk, visit the counsellor’s office or Pride Space if the school has one, speak up (or not) as they need to, and/or to invite a friend or two for support if they would like.

Some kids may not have read or watched Harry Potter (Whaaaaaaaaat? We know), so let’s brainstorm something we love from our childhood and is part of our identity as a thing we grew up with and love.

All activities include choice and options for how students wish to participate and what deliverable they feel most drawn to working on.

Conflict Intervention Plan: Take breaths, practice NVC, take space away from the heat if needed, “seek first to understand before being understood”, lean into the discomfort, listen with your heart, ask for help. Differentiate between opinions and moral judgements.

Ensure everyone has access to technology for videos/research

d) Critical Reflections/considerations of Social Justice

Promoting critical thinking and discussion on terms being used, who they impact, what they achieve, where they come from, possible alternatives.

Encouraging understanding of fear and people’s actions/reactions as they relate to fears.

Encouraging students to use NVC to reflect on and express their reactions and opinions in a helpful and productive manner

Coming up with positive action that will promote inclusion, understanding, respect, and joy.

e) Assessment

Ongoing assessment, in the form of participation, discussion, self-assessment, and exit slips. Co-create rubrics as a class for activities in lessons 2, 3 & 4.

Lesson 1: What does it mean to be trans? A TERF?

Introduce issue and spark class discussion. What do they already know about it? Who has strong feelings? (linked: thecut.com article – “What Did J.K. Rowling Say This Time?”)

Include Genderbread person: https://www.genderbread.org

TERF definition: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TERF

Continue to discuss:

What is cancel culture?

How does it show up in mainstream media/politics?

What are your thoughts on the critique that cancel culture gives the person being ‘cancelled’ an out? When we are “cancelling” someone or something, what are we trying to achieve? Can we achieve it in a different way?

How does cancel culture relate to call-out culture and boycotting?

What is lost when we simply ‘cancel’ the offending person/product and avoid the conversation about why?

Exit Slip Activity:

In groups of 3-5, research and defend one instance where “cancel culture” has been a positive social justice action. One where it has not been.

Lesson 2: Exploring Phobias

Students will investigate specific phobias (i.e. homophobia, transphobia, biphobia, arachnophobia, etc.), represent their learning in a visual way, and come up with treatment plans for this phobia.

Activity 1. Discussion

As a class, define the words phobia and fear. What is the difference?
Discuss what is the difference between a fear of spiders and a fear of someone’s gender orientation or sexual identity?
How do prejudices or lack of understanding add to fears?
How does talking about someone’s aversion to trans individuals as a ‘phobia’ diminish their personal responsibility to examine intolerance?
Discussing the power of language, who understands the word phobia to mean a clinical condition? Why does this definition not work for terms including transphobia, homophobia?

Definitions:

phobia: an exaggerated usually inexplicable and illogical fear of a particular object, class of objects, or situation; (https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/phobia); an extreme or irrational fear of or aversion to something (https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/phobia)

fear: a distressing emotion aroused by impending danger, evil, pain, etc., whether the threat is real or imagined; the feeling or condition of being afraid (www.dictionary.com/browse/fear)

Activity 2. Research

Students will then choose a specific phobia they wish to learn more about
Research will involve finding out what the phobia is a fear of and what physical/emotional reactions can come up for a person with this phobia

Activity 3: Demonstration

Create a caricature of a person with this phobia reacting to their phobia and label the physical reactions as well as the definition of the phobia
Create a “treatment plan” for overcoming this phobia

Activity 4: Sharing of Learning

The class will then share their caricatures, definitions, and “treatment plans” with the class.

Teacher assessment based on rubric co-created with the class.

Lessons 3 & 4: Addressing the Issue

Read JK Rowling’s comments on this controversy. What do you notice? Do you see signs of fear/phobia, if so what are they?
What happens to our activism when we exclude people from our fight for rights?
Has there ever been a time where you held back from speaking up because you were concerned that you would say the wrong thing or inadequately express your point of view?
Connect with Liberalism: if we are free while others are not, then are we truly free?
For others to gain equal freedom, do we have to give up a part of our freedom? Why or why not?

Activity options:

1: If you disagree with Rowling, construct an argument using NVC to address the issues she brings up. https://www.jkrowling.com/opinions/j-k-rowling-writes-about-her-reasons-for-speaking-out-on-sex-and-gender-issues/

2: Suggest that students create a skit, an art piece, a comic, a video, or some other deliverable where they use their NVC skills to communicate with JKR based on what she said in her interview.

3: Think about what Ron, Hermione, Harry (or another favourite character) would say to J.K. Rowling in response to her trans exclusionary tweets. Can students write a letter to her from their favourite character’s point of view?

This would require that all of the students have been exposed to Harry Potter Characters
Maybe students can write a letter from their favourite character’s point of view (not necessarily from Harry Potter universe)

Can students extend their thinking to other places of exclusion within their school community?

Peer Assessment: Co-create a rubric as a class that assesses understanding of liberalism, LGBTQIA2+ issues, NVC skills

Students will provide feedback to their peers through assessment using the rubric.

Lesson 4: Extension Time

Space for reflection and wrapping up work that requires some more time to complete.

Students complete a self-reflection on:

-what they have learned

-challenges they found within the content discussed

-questions that arose while learning

-where they would like to go next

For next lesson:

Watch: Can You Still Love ‘Harry Potter’ Without JK Rowling? (Yes, Here’s How) | Mashable Explains