Home economics snapshot 5
Using a resource as a trigger
Inquiry
The higher level thinking required in The New Zealand Curriculum (2007) can be a little daunting to some level 6 and 7 students who may be reluctant to express their views for fear of appearing “dumb” to their classmates. How can we capture their interest and challenge their thinking?
The media provide home economics teachers with endless resource material that can easily be used to initiate discussion, encourage debate, and challenge opinions in the classroom. The material is topical, accessible, free, maybe controversial, and a very useful tool.
Refer to the
Teaching and Learning Guide for home economics to ensure your classroom is a safe, inclusive learning environment before using these resources.
Teacher inquiry
Having re-read the
Teaching and Learning Guide section on reflective thought and action, the teacher explored ways to use media resources to support the learning programme and increase interest and participation in discussions.
The teacher trialled the following ideas:
Level 6
The level 6 class news item was relevant to the particular learning programme.
Monday morning starter. It got students out of their seats and encouraged them to form an opinion, to challenge or support different viewpoints, and to actively participate in decision-making.
"Children’s sport needs fast food support”, from the website
www.stuff.co.nz had strong links to Strand D – Healthy communities and environments. Students learn to make informed, ethical decisions about food choices, based on their knowledge of current issues in food and nutrition, and their understanding of factors that influence preferences and behaviours at school and community levels.
Students began by reading the article and discussing the main focus and opinion expressed. They then placed themselves on a continuum - strongly agree, agree, disagree, strongly disagree.
The class then formed groups of four, one from each position on the continuum, and each student gave their point of view. They then tried to form a consensus and delivered their final viewpoint to the class.
Many interesting views were expressed. This provided a good introduction to the thinking skills needed at level 7 and 8. De Bono's Thinking Hats may have also been used to develop thinking and ideas (see
Health snapshot 6 for other possible learning activities).
Level 7
The level 7 class were researching sustainability. This has strong links to Strand C – Relationships with other people and Strand D – Healthy communities and environments.
Students were struggling with some of the concepts, such as fair trade, factory farming, organic food, carbon footprints, and food miles. Everyone brought a news item related to sustainability and read it to the class. The teacher selected the most appropriate ones (that is, those that were most relevant to their learning programme) to go in the hat, and a student drew out the “Topic for the month”. The article selected was “organic food – is it really?”
This became the focus for both practical and theoretical work, in class tasks, and homework for the next four weeks. Students visited an organic orchard, talked to the farmer, compared organic and non-organic food, and selected recipes for a practical class. They researched on the internet and recorded all their activities on a blog, which was presented to the class on the final day. They had to provide their own answer to the original question “Is it really?” This provided the learning platform for later assessment of AS91301, where students discussed the value of farmers’ markets to the local community.
Letter to the editor
The level 7 class were presented with a controversial “Letter to the Editor” from our local paper on family poverty “The Poor Have Chosen Their Lot”, which clearly lays the blame for poverty on poor family choices. Students discussed the letter from several viewpoints and they all had to contribute to the discussion by expressing their opinions. They then had to write a letter of reply to the paper. The best response was selected by the class with the intention of sending it to the newspaper. Strong curriculum links to strand D – Societal attitudes and values.
Achievement objectives that could be used as a basis to develop learning intentions
- 6A1: Investigate and understand reasons for the choices people make that affect their well-being and explore and evaluate options and consequences.
- 6D1: Analyse societal influences that shape community health goals.
- 7C1: Analyse the nature and benefits of meaningful interpersonal relationships.
- 7D1: Analyse ways in which events and social organisations promote healthy communities and evaluate the effects they have.
Possible assessment links to achievement standards
- AS90957 Demonstrate understanding of societal influences on an individual’s food choices and well-being.
- AS91301 Analyse beliefs, attitudes and practices related to a nutritional issue for families in New Zealand.
- AS91302 Evaluate sustainable food related practices.
Learning inquiry
Level 7 students appreciated being involved in the planning and choice of topic. The students enjoyed the varied teaching and learning activities and, although the confident students tended to dominate much of the debate, the activities were structured so that everyone had to contribute to discussions. There was clear evidence of increased participation and improved knowledge and understanding, and this was reflected in the high level of achievement in their final assessments.
Literacy became an area of focus in the level 7 activities, as some of the material used provided challenges with specialised vocabulary and higher order thinking.
The use of resources triggered the learning activities and supported the programme in an interesting, non-threatening way.
Students learnt to:
- listen to and respect others’ opinions
- think critically
- have a point of view and express their viewpoint
- work together for consensus
- look at credible evidence.
Learn more
Teachers could refer to:
Last updated July 28, 2015
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