Troy Drayton

"Stand Up! Speak Out! The Social Action Curriculum for Building 21st-Century Skills" by Troy Drayton, Joe Bernhart, and David Sebek provides lesson plans for middle school students. The lesson plans include preparation notes including purpose, student learning goals, instructional strategies, key terms, and a materials list. Implementation instructions include time requirements, instruction notes,and reproducible handouts. Topics covered include persuasive techniques, propaganda, equality and inequality, citizenship, literary devices, exposition, bullying, research, action plans, contemporary social issues, website evaluation, logic, emotional appeal, rhetorical appeals, world conflict, WWII, and oppression. Most units require several days to complete in the classroom. While the core content of this curriculum will be relevant into the future, example websites for analysis are likely to become less relevant and/or unavailable.… (mehr)

What an amazing resource! This volume contains a number of lesson plans on topics relevant to what modern education *should* be all about. Each set of lessons includes step-by-step instructions (including scripts for reading to students), handouts, Internet links, and additional ideas for extension activities. I can't wait to try some of these in my classroom. My only hesitation: The book claims to be for grades six through eight, but the vocabulary used in some of the lessons (especially on the handouts) would be over most of my students' heads. Extensive scaffolding and prepping would need to be done to make these accessible to all.… (mehr)

The introduction states that the authors perceive citizenship as " . . . a set of tools and understandings that allow for people to accurately interpret and, hopefully, respond with courage to the sometimes unpleasant realities of the real world." The goal of their curriculum is to give students the tools to become " . . . active participants with a social conscience who are willing and informed enough to speak up or out when it is needed." These are worthy goals and I appreciate their overall approach. There are clear lesson plans with specified objectives, activities and projects, and suggestions for literary and historical resources. As a retired teacher of communication, I appreciate the content related to persuasion and the variety of instructional strategies. However, I have concerns about aspects that need more attention.

First, I think some key terms need revising. I wouldn't allow a student to use the authors' circular definitions, where a word is defined by using the root of that same word (e.g. "persuasion is the action or fact of persuading someone. . ." ). More problematic is the handling of the term equality. The authors' definition states that "equality is the state of being equal, especially in status, rights, and opportunities." However, the exercise they present is not about rights and opportunities, but about the unfairness of equalizing people's talents and abilities. To me, that misses the point. Being a citizen of social conscience is more about understanding "equality before the law." This chapter would be better served with a study of the United Nation's Universal Declaration of Human Rights; appreciating the equal treatment that humans deserve regardless of their differing abilities or talents. Finally, defining justice simply as "just behavior" gives short shrift to an essential term for understanding social consciousness. Collecting and discussing the myriad definitions that can be found for social justice would complement the human rights discussion.

A term that needs definition is race. Students are asked to break down the elements of their identities by age, gender, and race, and then recognize how advertisers target those aspects. The Encyclopedia Britannica says race is "the idea that the human species is divided into distinct groups on the basis of inherited physical and behavioral differences." This may be the first opportunity that students have to understand how race is actually a social construct. The Encyclopedia Britannica goes on to explain that, "Genetic studies in the late 20th century refuted the existence of biogenetically distinct races, and scholars now argue that “races” are cultural interventions reflecting specific attitudes and beliefs that were imposed on different populations in the wake of western European conquests beginning in the 15th century." A better approach to understanding targeted audiences is to identify co-cultures to which we belong. A culture is defined by Dictionary.com as "the total range of activities and ideas of a group of people with shared traditions, which are transmitted and reinforced by members of the group." Using culture instead of race (and explaining why) can focus the discussion of targeted advertising analysis on legitimate criteria of "shared traditions" rather than perpetuating racial stereotypes.

One topic that I believe was effectively addressed was bullying. The topic culminates with the students' presentation of a Bullying Expo with interactive exhibits they have created in response to their research. One thing I would add is to examine the school's policy on bullying (surely each school should have one) and have students discuss how that policy relates to their research and whether the policy is adequate and effective.

The authors' objective to encourage students to speak their own minds is clear. I would like to see it balanced with a more obvious intent for students to also demonstrate a respect for differing opinions and multiple perspectives. The authors encourage teachers to use whatever aspects of their work is relevant and adapt the units accordingly. Even though I would do many things differently, as indicated above, there is much that is useful and well worth considering. With adaptation, STAND UP! SPEAK OUT! is a rich resource for teachers to, in the authors' words, "bring children together and help them develop as a socially responsible community."… (mehr)