Essential Question What are unions? How and why did unions form and are unions still relative today? Are unions a hindrance or an advocate of education in public schools? How do documentarians use rhetoric to persuade an audience?
Teaching Rationale As students grow to become adult decision makers of our country, it is important that they explore different facets of historical context and juxtapose the context with today’s needs. The understanding of unions is an example of a philosophy that students need to comprehend, particularly in a state that does not allow collective bargaining (unions) for teachers. When turning on the TV, we are inundated with politically motivated opinions as to whether unions are necessary in order to protect the worker or an evil machine that propagates harm on our economy. The overall intention is for students, through examination of differing sources, to build their own belief in unions and their place in our society. Before students can make a decision of their belief, they first must understand the historical reason for the creation of unions and how unions are viewed by today’s standards. In order to explore the historical creation of unions, students will read A Long Hard Journey: The Story of the Pullman Porter by Pat McKissack. This award winning young adult non-fiction text explores how post-civil war, freed African American men created a union in order to protect their rights and improve their working conditions. With an understanding of how and why unions were created, students will then explore the contemporary views of unions through opposing views of the importance of Teacher Unions in clips from the documentaries, Waiting for Superman and The Inconvenient Truth Behind Waiting for Superman. Finally, students will apply their previous knowledge of rhetoric and a documentarian’s editorial choices (such as visuals, text, and audio) to explore how the documentarians used the devices in the creation of their film.
Why these clips, and what do we hope to accomplish? The above excerpts were chosen to show specific takes on unions within the public educational system. Both documentaries agree that the root of all evil within educational system failure lies within the hands of government officials and school boards. Where they differ is in the belief of Teachers Union role within that failure.In Waiting for Superman, Guggenheim states that the reason the US educational system is failing is due to, in part, Teacher Unions. By granting tenure to teachers, he proposes that bad teachers are allowed to work and harm students every day with little or no recourse, and that the rights of these tenured teachers are protected by Teachers Unions.
However, the documentary, The Inconvenient Truth Behind Waiting for Superman, defends a teacher’s need to be protected from these same government officials and school boards so that they can fight for the rights and needs of their students without recourse.
In order for students to explore and develop their belief in union involvement ,and in order for students to gain insight into how rhetorical and editorial elements can be employed in visual mediums, these clips will be used to view conflicting points of view and to accomplish the task of having students move from being a viewer to a critical thinker of the information presented.
Lesson Plan Details
Excerpt #1. Waiting for Superman, sequence time: 0:35:33-047:55.
Excerpt #2. The Inconvenient Truth Behind Waiting for Superman, sequence time: 0:39:09 - 0:59:20.
Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Operators
What are unions?
Show a clip from The Simpsons titled __“Ralph Teaches”__, and have students write, on their own sheet of paper, their answer to the EQ. Have students write down what information they already know about unions. Then we will discuss their ideas aloud as a class. Add to the discussion the fact that Georgia is a right-to-work state that does not allow unions. Ask students if that is a good or bad thing.
How and why did unions form? Are unions still relative today?
Read A Long Hard Journey: The Story of the Pullman Porter by Pat McKissack. After reading the novel, students will discuss with their collaborative partner, the historical facts presented in the text in regards to the Pullman Porters. Students will add more detail to their definition of unions on their sheet of paper by including how and why unions formed. Finally, a class discussion will be held as to whether unions are still needed in today’s society.
Are unions a hindrance or an advocate of education in public schools?
The students will create a t-chart on their piece of paper. At the top of the first column students will write hinder. On the top of the second column, students will write advocate. As the students view the documentary clips, students will be tasked with writing down specific moments in which they feel that the documentarians persuade the audience to believe that unions are either a hindrance or an advocate. Then students will discuss with their collaborative partner the specific points that they notated and why. Require students to use specific details to back up their statements.
How do documentarians use rhetoric to persuade an audience?
We will next move students from passive viewing towards critical analysis of the documentarian’s use of rhetoric and editing to persuade an audience. (Prior to this activity, students will have already worked with the decision making behind editorial choices within nonfiction film. and the elements of rhetorical persuasion: ethos, pathos, and logos, and other strategies.) Have the students view the film clips two more times keeping a keen eye out for editorial and rhetorical choices and task them to notice what they notice. Give prompts to remind the students to search for editing elements. These questions would be as follows:
Are there changes in the lighting you would not expect to see? If so, do these changes evoke any emotional response from you as a viewer?
Can you see the documentarian or can you just hear his/her voice? Does this make the narrator appear more or less reliable?
How is sound used in the film (both diagetic and non-diagetic)? Does the choice of sound persuade you to view the video in a certain manner?
How does the film employ ethos, pathos, and/or logos?
How does the film present other appeals (think red herring, bandwagon, testimonial, false analogy, name calling, or other techniques that you have learned in class this semester)?
Have students return to their collaborative partner and discuss ways in which the documentarians persuaded and used editing elements to enhance their message. Instruct students to freewrite an answer to the following prompt: What elements of persuasion and editing do you think were most important in the framing of the text? Do these elements change your viewpoint? Finally, lead the class into a discussion/debate, using information from the films, over whether or not they think that unions are a hindrance or an advocate for education. Should the state of Georgia encourage or allow the creation of workers unions?
What are unions? How and why did unions form and are unions still relative today?
Are unions a hindrance or an advocate of education in public schools?
How do documentarians use rhetoric to persuade an audience?
As students grow to become adult decision makers of our country, it is important that they explore different facets of historical context and juxtapose the context with today’s needs. The understanding of unions is an example of a philosophy that students need to comprehend, particularly in a state that does not allow collective bargaining (unions) for teachers. When turning on the TV, we are inundated with politically motivated opinions as to whether unions are necessary in order to protect the worker or an evil machine that propagates harm on our economy. The overall intention is for students, through examination of differing sources, to build their own belief in unions and their place in our society. Before students can make a decision of their belief, they first must understand the historical reason for the creation of unions and how unions are viewed by today’s standards. In order to explore the historical creation of unions, students will read A Long Hard Journey: The Story of the Pullman Porter by Pat McKissack. This award winning young adult non-fiction text explores how post-civil war, freed African American men created a union in order to protect their rights and improve their working conditions. With an understanding of how and why unions were created, students will then explore the contemporary views of unions through opposing views of the importance of Teacher Unions in clips from the documentaries, Waiting for Superman and The Inconvenient Truth Behind Waiting for Superman. Finally, students will apply their previous knowledge of rhetoric and a documentarian’s editorial choices (such as visuals, text, and audio) to explore how the documentarians used the devices in the creation of their film.
Why these clips, and what do we hope to accomplish?
The above excerpts were chosen to show specific takes on unions within the public educational system. Both documentaries agree that the root of all evil within educational system failure lies within the hands of government officials and school boards. Where they differ is in the belief of Teachers Union role within that failure.In Waiting for Superman, Guggenheim states that the reason the US educational system is failing is due to, in part, Teacher Unions. By granting tenure to teachers, he proposes that bad teachers are allowed to work and harm students every day with little or no recourse, and that the rights of these tenured teachers are protected by Teachers Unions.
However, the documentary, The Inconvenient Truth Behind Waiting for Superman, defends a teacher’s need to be protected from these same government officials and school boards so that they can fight for the rights and needs of their students without recourse.
In order for students to explore and develop their belief in union involvement ,and in order for students to gain insight into how rhetorical and editorial elements can be employed in visual mediums, these clips will be used to view conflicting points of view and to accomplish the task of having students move from being a viewer to a critical thinker of the information presented.
Lesson Plan Details
Excerpt #1. Waiting for Superman, sequence time: 0:35:33-047:55.
Excerpt #2. The Inconvenient Truth Behind Waiting for Superman, sequence time: 0:39:09 - 0:59:20.
- What are unions?
Show a clip from The Simpsons titled __“Ralph Teaches”__, and have students write, on their own sheet of paper, their answer to the EQ. Have students write down what information they already know about unions. Then we will discuss their ideas aloud as a class. Add to the discussion the fact that Georgia is a right-to-work state that does not allow unions. Ask students if that is a good or bad thing.- How and why did unions form? Are unions still relative today?
Read A Long Hard Journey: The Story of the Pullman Porter by Pat McKissack. After reading the novel, students will discuss with their collaborative partner, the historical facts presented in the text in regards to the Pullman Porters. Students will add more detail to their definition of unions on their sheet of paper by including how and why unions formed. Finally, a class discussion will be held as to whether unions are still needed in today’s society.- Are unions a hindrance or an advocate of education in public schools?
The students will create a t-chart on their piece of paper. At the top of the first column students will write hinder. On the top of the second column, students will write advocate. As the students view the documentary clips, students will be tasked with writing down specific moments in which they feel that the documentarians persuade the audience to believe that unions are either a hindrance or an advocate. Then students will discuss with their collaborative partner the specific points that they notated and why. Require students to use specific details to back up their statements.- How do documentarians use rhetoric to persuade an audience?
We will next move students from passive viewing towards critical analysis of the documentarian’s use of rhetoric and editing to persuade an audience. (Prior to this activity, students will have already worked with the decision making behind editorial choices within nonfiction film. and the elements of rhetorical persuasion: ethos, pathos, and logos, and other strategies.) Have the students view the film clips two more times keeping a keen eye out for editorial and rhetorical choices and task them to notice what they notice. Give prompts to remind the students to search for editing elements. These questions would be as follows:- Are there changes in the lighting you would not expect to see? If so, do these changes evoke any emotional response from you as a viewer?
- Can you see the documentarian or can you just hear his/her voice? Does this make the narrator appear more or less reliable?
- How is sound used in the film (both diagetic and non-diagetic)? Does the choice of sound persuade you to view the video in a certain manner?
- How does the film employ ethos, pathos, and/or logos?
- How does the film present other appeals (think red herring, bandwagon, testimonial, false analogy, name calling, or other techniques that you have learned in class this semester)?
Have students return to their collaborative partner and discuss ways in which the documentarians persuaded and used editing elements to enhance their message. Instruct students to freewrite an answer to the following prompt: What elements of persuasion and editing do you think were most important in the framing of the text? Do these elements change your viewpoint? Finally, lead the class into a discussion/debate, using information from the films, over whether or not they think that unions are a hindrance or an advocate for education. Should the state of Georgia encourage or allow the creation of workers unions?