POWER TO THE PEOPLE

PROGRAMME 3: K TO O

ACTIVITIES

Guidance

Teachers should be familiar with relevant guidance on how to deal with controversial issues (see Links) before using the programme. They should also decide in advance whether to view it in its entirety or in parts.

The activities below support a mix of individual, paired and group work. You may wish to revisit the outcomes of the 'before viewing' activities once learners have seen the programme.

Before viewing

List a) the reasons why people protest and b) the methods that they use. Review your lists and identify the top three items in each. Justify your choices. What would you be prepared to protest about and which methods would you use?

Discuss one or more of the following:

• People protest because they think that they can change the world
• A democracy cannot survive without protests
• An occupation is a better protest method than a demonstration
• Naked protests should be banned
• Peaceful protests and mass civil disobedience achieve more than violent demonstrations and riots
• A protest will only be as successful as the amount of media coverage that it gets
• Protestors should not break the law
• Protestors should not put lives at risk
• Young people are more likely to take part in protests than older people.

After viewing

To view 4Learning video clips you will need Windows XP/2000 and Windows Media Player 9, 10 or 11. Unfortunately, the clips are not supported on Macintosh computers.

The video clips may contain a few seconds of extra material at the beginning and end. We have therefore included opening and closing descriptions to help identify the intended scene.

Clip one: Martin Luther King 02:37 – 05:05

• Opens with Anthony Thomas saying, 'I first became aware of Martin Luther King when I was at school.'
• Closes with Paul Elliott saying, 'So they're not looking at colour, they want to win.'

Explain why Anthony Thomas and Paul Elliott believe that they will be able to make the world a better place by promoting Martin Luther King's principles of peaceful protest and equal treatment for different races. Which of them do you think has the best chance of success, and why? Explain whether you would be prepared to join a protest movement based on these principles.

Clip two: Lyrics 06:37 – 08:27

• Opens with Paul Stokes saying, 'I think the difference between the current music scene and the music scene of, say, the 1960s when protest songs seemed to have their heyday…'
• Closes with Paul Stokes saying, 'I think songs are good for protest because they communicate ideas very quickly and in a way that people remember.'

List the reasons why people write protest songs and the topics that they cover. Explain whether you think that protest songs influence people's attitudes and change their behaviour. Should all protests have a song? Write your own song, or update on old one, for a protest cause in which you believe.

Clip three: Mahatma Gandhi 12:31 – 14:42

• Opens with Sachin Nanda saying, 'The one core value that definitely could be transferred is this idea of restraint.'
• Closes with Sachin Nanda saying, 'Let history speak to you.'

Explain why Gandhi fasted and how this helped to stop the conflict between Muslims and Hindus in India. Do you agree with Sachin that people can learn a lot from history and that Gandhi's approach could help to solve the problems in the Middle East? Is there a case for engaging in armed and violent resistance and protest if peaceful methods fail?

Clip four: Naked 16:26 – 19:25

• Opens with the narrator saying, '18-year-old Rhian is about to take her clothes off in public.'
• Closes with Dr Papadopolous saying, 'They may be joining you, but for completely different reasons.'

Explain why Rhian was taking part in a naked protest. What do you think that her protest achieved? Do you think that Dr Papadopolous is right when she says that naked protests do not always give the message that protestors want them to give? Would you be prepared to take part in, or support, a naked protest?

Clip five: Occupation 19:57 – 21:45

• Opens with Sam Wooldridge saying, 'Never, ever thought about protesting before.'
• Closes with Dr Papadopolous saying, 'I think that goes to the core of everyone's understanding of what it means to say, "Stop."'

Explain why Sam, Sharon and Dr Papadopolous believe that occupation is an effective protest method. What other types of protest groups and movements could use this method? Does the success of this protest method depend on the involvement of a close-knit community?