A unit of inquiry from Wabisabi Learning about leadership

1.
© 2019 Wabisabi Learning
Lead On
A Wabisabi Inquiry-Based
Learning Unit
Year Level 6
wabisabilearning.com

2. Lead On
Year Level: 6
Global Concept: Integrity / Social Justice
Wabisabi Inquiry Process
Learners are inspired to be curious about peaceful and inclusive societies and
connect examples of integrity in leadership in order to communicate how
leaders have the potential to influence others by creating a shared
understanding or charter of global citizenship.
Other Possible Lines of Inquiry
Curious
• Peaceful and Inclusive societies - UN 2030 goal
• How do we demonstrate integrity?
• Is this an intrinsic quality, and how is it shaped by the world?
• Butterfly effect
• Tolerance and Understanding
• Global Citizenship - what does it mean?
• Leadership
Connect
• Living our Values and Beliefs - self awareness
• Speaking out for others—Whose responsibility?
• Examples of integrity in leadership
• Current examples - NZ PM strong voice for tolerance, unity, empathy
• Society places greater significance on certain people, groups, events.
• Popular culture and how this communicates / influences / challenges
society’s views
• How is this determined, and is it always in the best interests of ALL people?
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3. Communicate
• Understanding fosters compassion for others
• Leaders have the potential to influence and inspire
• Certain characteristics make a great leader, and great leaders are
important in a society
• Leaders are responsible for representing the many voices of their people, as
one voice
• Shared values define, guide and unify us
• People, places, communities and environments are diverse and globally
interconnected
• We are great as a nation / group / world through our combined identities
• Global Citizenship transcends political or geographical boundaries
Create
• Evaluate the qualities of great leadership
• Create a shared understanding or classroom charter of global citizenship
• Create / determine a set of global values that are inclusive of all people.
• Develop a leadership credo
• Create a scenario / interview / speech of great leadership in action, to
influence / inspire
Essential Question: “What is greatness?”
Herding Questions
Great leaders:
• What characteristics make up a good leader, and why are good leaders
important in a society?
• Who is the greatest leader you know of? (Present or past) Why?
Citizenship:
• How have we developed as a society with global connections?
• What is global citizenship?
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4. • What is my role as a global citizen?
• How does society determine significance, and what does it mean to be
significant, or insignificant?
Altruistic service:
• “With great power comes great responsibility” - what does this mean?
• Do the wealthy and famous have a responsibility give back to the less
fortunate?
• Do we all have this responsibility?
• What are some examples of this?
Connections Through Context and Relevance
• Leadership in popular culture - famous voices speaking out for a cause
• Leadership and citizenship in school contexts - creating a culture of
belonging and inclusion
• Personal Responsibility - who am I as a citizen / leader and what are my
values?
• Altruistic Service - helping others less fortunate
• Environmental Stewardship - How are we responsible for our planet?
Leadership in popular culture - famous voices speaking out
for a cause
Good leaders are important to society. They inspire us, guide us, and help us
become better people. History is filled with examples of them, and good
leaders can even be found among everyday people leading normal,
everyday lives.
Students work in groups to develop an interview/panel discussion scenario
involving a famous actor or singer. This person will be interviewed by a panel
of interviewers on the subject of “what makes a good leader?” They will
create personas for each character by developing a deep and relevant line of
thought-provoking questions and answers, which will then be used to write a
real script.
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5. Learning Intentions
HASS
• explain the significance of an event/development, an individual and/or
group. (HASS)
• identify and describe continuities and changes for different groups in the
past and present. (HASS)
• describe the causes and effects of change on society. (HASS)
• describe how people, places, communities and environments are diverse
and globally interconnected and identifies the effects of these
interconnections over time. (HASS)
• describe the rights and responsibilities of Australian citizens and the
obligations they may have as global citizens. (Civics and Citizenship)
• develop appropriate questions to frame an investigation about the society
in which they live. (Civics and Citizenship)
• locate, collect and organise useful information from a range of different
sources to answer these questions. (Civics and Citizenship)
• examine sources to determine their origin and purpose and describe
different perspectives. (Civics and Citizenship)
• evaluate information to draw conclusions. (Civics and Citizenship)
• when planning for action, identify different points of view and solutions to
an issue. (Civics and Citizenship)
• reflect on their learning to identify the ways they can participate as citizens
in the school or elsewhere. (Civics and Citizenship)
• present ideas, findings, viewpoints and conclusions in a range of
communication forms that incorporate source materials and civics and
citizenship terms and concepts. (Civics and Citizenship)
ENGLISH
• understand how language features and language patterns can be used for
emphasis.
• show how specific details can be used to support a point of view.
• explain how their choices of language features and images are used.
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6. • create detailed texts elaborating on key ideas for a range of purposes and
audiences.
• make presentations and contribute actively to class and group discussions,
using a variety of strategies for effect.
• demonstrate an understanding of grammar, and make considered
vocabulary choices to enhance cohesion and structure in their writing.
• use accurate spelling and punctuation for clarity and make and explain
editorial choices based on criteria.
Challenge
You are a famous actor/singer who is known for doing a lot of charity work all
over the world, and people have come to admire your values and beliefs that
helping people and setting an excellent example for others is essential. You
have recently been asked to interview on a favorite radio show. The topic is
“what makes a good leader?”
Together with some classmates, you will create an interview scenario. One of
you will play the star, and the others will play a panel of interviewers. Have fun
creating unique character profiles and traits for each role. Design a dynamic
and thought-provoking line of questioning for the interviewed star about
what it means to be a leader with some thoughtful answers for each question
and turn it into a working script.
Each group’s script should include examples of some of the interviewed
celebrity’s favourite leaders from history, or even current figures or famous
people, whom he or she feels have done great things and helped people or
tried to make the world a better place. Your group will incorporate three
chosen examples of such leaders into the interview script. In the script, you
must give the leaders’ names, occupations, and what they have
accomplished that is important to the theme of the interview.
You are then required to rehearse your scenario and perform it as a recorded
podcast, a filmed live interview, or as an acted scene. You have 10–15 minutes
for your interview to take place.
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7. Define
Students should have a clear picture of the task and have reflected on the
ideas posed by the question of what it means to be a leader by discussing
their viewpoints on various key figures. Present the challenges outlined in the
scenario, and ensure that students provide a written definition of what they
are required to accomplish in this lesson.
Success Criteria
Students clearly understand that they have been asked to create
character profiles for a fictional celebrity and interviewers, and build a
panel interview/discussion script around them. The theme is “what
makes a good leader?” The script is to be assembled using a thoughtful
and logical line of question/answer threads, and a discussion of three
examples of famous historical leaders that inspired the celebrity guest.
They are aware it will be recorded as though a podcast or live interview,
or performed as a rehearsed scene.
Discover
Students look at examples of panel discussions of a Meet the Press nature to
gather ideas of how their project may be staged and scripted. Focus their
attention on details such as types of questioning, and how the banter between
each person works and flows. They will also discuss in their groups the leader
figures that they most admire and why. They will choose three concrete examples
of exceptional leaders and conduct research into their histories to learn about
them, and establish ideas on how they will work references and discussions about
them into their project. Roles for each member must be assigned for character
development according to what the group decides after an open discussion/
comparison of who they feel would be best suited for which role.
Success Criteria
Students have conducted research into various historical leaders and
examined examples of panel discussions for their project development.
They have a sense of the three people they would like to work into their
script.
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8. Dream
Using what they’ve learned and discovered, students can now begin to think
about their own project design. By now, roles should be chosen for each
member. They need to decide how they want to perform their project
according to what resources they have available, and discuss how the project
will look, feel, and sound in the medium they intend to use. They will think
about a persona for the celebrity being interviewed and for the interviewers
as well. They’ll visualize how they see each other interacting and discussing
leadership and its defining qualities, and how it will translate into a workable
script.
Success Criteria
Students have designed a proposal for creating their interview, have
chosen a medium for production, and have envisioned how it will look as
it progresses. They also have a clear idea of who will play which
character, the distinctive personalities each character will be given, and
how they will all interact with each other in a working script.
Design
Each group maps out the production phases of the project according to
timelines and deadlines they create. They are required to create a persona for
their own character to provide a contrast between all the different characters
in the interview script. They begin to develop a script around their previous
research with the appropriate content and guidelines applied. Guide them to
structure a logical flow of events in their script with good questions and
answers and a cast of characters that interacts dynamically and creatively
with one another. Remind students that this kind of format is not like a one-
to-one interview. What is unique about a panel discussion is that meaningful
questions generate other more in-depth questions, and some of the answers
provided may be challenged by other members of the panel, making for a
lively and entertaining program. A discussion is exactly that—a real sharing of
ideas.
Success Criteria
Each group should now be equipped with a production plan, a working
interview script, and a cast of unique characters for the performance.
There is an established timeline for completion and a realistic set of
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9. deadlines, taking into consideration any on-the-fly revisions they may
want to make during the production phases.
Deliver
Students present their projects to the rest of the class. The interviews must be
as staged in film, radio, or live theatrical performance. Look at the quality of
the scripts and how they flow. Listen for good lines of questioning, a feel of a
group having a discussion and sharing ideas (as opposed to just answering
posed questions), and that all the concepts laid out in the define stage as
prerequisites have been addressed in the project. Also look at elements such
as set design and use of characterizations of roles by each group member. It
is recommended that a set of criteria for assessment be given to each student
corresponding to each project to help them grade each interview as it is
performed.
Success Criteria
Students have performed or shown their interviews for assessment. They
have also completed a peer assessment grading on each performance
according to the set criteria.
Debrief
The entire class now has a chance to share their views on each project and
what they enjoyed about each one. Discuss the unique ways that each project
captured the spirit of defining the meaning and importance of leadership.
Have each group share insights as to how their own project unfolded and
give ideas of what they feel truly worked and what could have been done
better.
© 2019 Wabisabi Learning

10. Further ideas aligned to the tenets of Global
Digital Citizenship
• Organize a group project aimed at instilling the ideals of leadership and
responsibility in younger students. Use digital or non-digital games and
activities that will teach these ideas.
• Create leadership campaigns that spearhead programs around school to
address issues relevant to students, such as bullying, violence, or social
media abuse.
• Film or record a student-produced message about taking the lead in
environmental issues such as recycling or carbon emission reductions.
• Organize a debate challenge with other schools to promote awareness of
issues affecting the community or the world.
• Create an event where leadership figures from all over the school are
chosen and voted on by their peers at a certain time throughout the school
year and are given recognition for the examples they set.
• What are the key differences between the concepts of leadership and
management?
• Dictators are also leaders. Research figures in history who have had this
style of leadership, and discuss the effects they had on their societies
during their lifetimes and what made people choose to follow and support
them.
• What would happen to a society that had no leadership?
• Every leader leads a bit differently. What are some unique leadership
styles? Give some examples of historical figures that are renowned for
these styles.
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11. Resources
Developing Questions
20 Questions to Ask Other Leaders
Leadership Resources
Importance of Leadership in a Society
Debate/Persuasive Speech
How to Write and Structure a Persuasive Speech
Leadership Guidelines/Ethics
How to be a Good Leader
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