Lesson Focus: Defining Community, Stereotypes, and Representation
Length: 45 min
Learning Objectives Students will:

• Evaluate how different communities or issues are represented in the media and how that representation relates to actual everyday experiences in those communities.

• Develop a definition of “stereotype” — what does it mean, how might it impact them and others, how does it relate to what they see in media, etc.

• Construct questions about a community/issue that will guide future inquiry.

Part 1: First Impressions – 25 minutes

Step 1: Students will brainstorm their impressions of Africa and discuss perceptions of the continent as seen through various forms of media. 

1. Establish the students’ perceptions. Ask: “What do you think of when I say Africa?” Write the words volunteered by students on the board, about a dozen or so. You can also have them write their words individually on Part 1A of the Lesson 1 Activity document.

2. Establish where these impressions come from. Ask: “Where did we get these ideas? Where do you get your news and information?” You’re looking to have the students build a list of media sources: TV, magazines, newspapers, Internet, commercials, movies, etc.

3. Begin to build toward a conversation about stereotypes, which will happen later in this lesson. Ask: “Do you think these are accurate descriptors? What do you think is missing in this list of words? What do you remember about Africa from stories you’ve seen/read in the news, or in movies, commercials, books, etc.?”

Step 2: Consider photographs of Africa — first a set of images that fit conventional stereotypes, followed by a set of images from Everyday Africa. Students will discuss their observations, comparing them to their initial impressions of the continent from the start of the class.

Part 2: Impressions of my community – 10 minutes

Start by quickly touching on what stereotypes are. Probably the word has already come up by now — if it hasn’t, this is a good time to introduce it. The students will now move from considering media coverage and stereotypes of Africa to an analysis of media coverage and stereotypes of their own community.

1. Begin this section of the lesson by underscoring the ways the material you’ve been working through so far has been about stereotypes, and tell the students that now you’re going to see what happens when you apply this kind of analysis locally.

2. Engage in a version of the “What do you think of when I say…?” exercise, but this time about the school’s community, or the communities in which your students live. Start by asking what they think of when they think of their community, then ask what they think others think of when they think of their community. Make a list of words for each question. You can also have students write these down on Part 2 of the Lesson 1 Activity document.

3. Show the students the news headlines/articles/photographs you’ve found from their own community or region. Sometimes it can be useful to simply do a Google image search for your city/state/region, as these often show the most stereotypical images of a place. The sources for this can be local, national, or international news sites, but could also be other forms of media — TV shows, films, videos, etc. You can share these items with the class from your computer on an overhead projector or hand out copies of newspapers or magazines.

4. Lead a discussion with the students that explores any stereotypes found in the pieces of media you’ve shared. Discuss the ways in which the stereotypes are accurate or inaccurate, and the ways in which they might be harmful/misleading.

Part 3: A Call to Action – 10 minutes

This is where the thrust of the rest of the curriculum is laid out. You want your students to leave this first session full of new thoughts on how media is made, and full of new ideas and inspiration to go out and improve upon it. This is also the moment to tell your students that the unit will wrap up with a physical exhibition of their work — an opportunity for peers, family, and other members of their community to see and interact with their photography and the stories they want to tell. Hopefully this will get them even more excited about this project!

1. Have the class work together to come up with a well-articulated definition of “stereotype.” If it’s helpful, they can write an individual definition on Part 3 of the Lesson 1 Activity document.

2. Once the class has agreed on a definition they like best, write the final definition on the board. This will be the definition referred back to throughout the curriculum, and it is always up for debate — encourage students to think about the term and the definition, and make clear that they can suggest changes to the definition at any time throughout the sessions.

3. Explain to students that over the next several weeks they will be digging more deeply into stereotypes, how journalism is made, and the importance of truth in storytelling. These are issues that can be worked through using numerous forms of media — but for this curriculum we’ll be using photography. They’ll be learning about photography as a storytelling tool, and they’ll be going out into their own communities to use their newly learned skills to tell true stories about their lives through images — images they will use to create their own personal photo projects as well as a class-wide photo project that will be shown as a public and/or school exhibition. This exhibition will be the main output of the class’s Everyday [Your School/Town] project.

4. Best of luck as your students tell stories about their community! We'll be excited to see the results!