Discrimination: Discussion Topics for the Classroom

Revised Edition: LukivPress (Victoria, BC), 2022.

Previously published as Discrimination—Socio-Emotional Discussion Groups (McNaughton Centre [Quesnel, BC], 2011).

Introduction

This program, through class discussions, explores unhumanistic (discriminatory) forces of intolerance, racism, sexism, and homophobia at students’ experiential level, encouraging them to empathize with and show compassion to others; it also highlights the importance of our setting goals (objectives), in particular students’ setting academic goals, to give us direction that modifies our behaviour in positive ways, as we try to reach those objectives.

Resources for discussions:

1. Students’ goals, opinions, and experiences;

2. Teacher’s knowledge of a) how goals modify behaviour and of b) how intolerance, racism, sexism, and homophobia cause many problems; and

3. Videos that feature unlikely friendships in the animal world (as found on youtube video-streams), chosen for their message that discrimination contradicts responsible behaviour.

Students spend the first week (five classes; each class lasts 15 minutes [each morning at McNaughton Centre teachers discuss with their first class of the day socio-emotional concerns]) exploring goals in a variety of contexts (e.g., personal, academic, career). For the next 20 15-minute classes: students each day view one of 20 youtube video-streams, and construct a single class web, based on the discussion topic of the day. Truths implied by the video-streams: Discrimination is both illogical and unethical (mean and unloving).

In this program, students will:

1. Set achievement [academic] goals for the next six-week cycle [semester] of classes[; students may also benefit from discussions about how not only academic, but also how personal and career goals can modify behaviour in beneficial ways];

2. Evaluate their success in reaching achievement goals they set for the previous six-week cycle;

3. Define stereotype;

4. Describe various forms of prejudice and discrimination;

5. Analyze historical, social and religious roots of discrimination;

6. Define marginalized;

7. Describe how some marginalized groups have responded to discrimination;

8. Discuss the impact of discrimination upon a marginalized group; and

9. Demonstrate skills and attitudes of open-mindedness and respect for diversity.

[Dennis Hawkins-Bogle, Principal at McNaughton Centre, wrote these nine educational objectives as part of a locally developed course (for the Quesnel School District, BC), approved by the BC Ministry of Education.]

The author

Dan Lukiv, published in 19 countries, is a poet, novelist, columnist, short story and article writer, and independent education researcher (hermeneutic phenomenology). As a creative writer, he apprenticed with Canada’s Professor Robert Harlow (recipient of the George Woodcock Achievement award for an outstanding literary career), the USA’s Paul Bagdon (Spur Award finalist for Best Original Paperback), and England’s D. M. Thomas (recipient of the Cheltenham Prize for Literature, Orwell Prize [biography], Los Angeles Fiction Prize, and Cholmondeley award for poetry). He attended The University of British Columbia (creative writing department), the acclaimed Humber School for Writers (poetry writing program), and Writer’s Digest University (novel writing program).