teaching disgrace using second life

Mindy Wong and Yap Chern Kai (IJC English Literature Unit)

Teaching Disgrace Using Second Life

IJC English Literature 2010 2

Contents

• Rationale for using role-play and Second Life

• Lesson objectives• Implementation Process• Lesson based on a scenario• Good Practices


The use of Second Life in IJC

Sets were modelled after the places described in Disgrace to create the reality and authenticity of South Africa

1. Rationale


Rationale for using role-play To help students appreciate the unfamiliar

physical and social contexts of South Africa

To foster knowledge application and experiential learning

To ensure a safe environment for the presentation of alternative viewpoints


Rationale for Using Second Life

Wider engagement

Longer response time

Greater suspension

of disbelief

Caters to student interest

2. Learning Outcomes


Learning Outcomes

Skills application

Develop the “ability to understand and comment on the ways in which the historical and cultural backgrounds of the text and author inform the meaning of the text” (SEAB, 2009, p.5)

Practise vocabulary, quotations and structures (taught in regular tutorials) in immersive roleplay


Learning Outcomes

Habits of Mind #16: Encourages students to listen with understanding and empathy

3. Implementation Process


Drafting of scenarios and role cards

Creation of set and avatar Eg. Depiction of Ettinger, the German farmer who

believes in using guns as defence against blacks

Implementation Process


Avatar: PetrusLoose khaki shirt (sleeves rolled up) and pants. Tall, lean and muscular. With pipe.


Implementation Process Finalisation of pre- and post-activities

Secondlife usage instructions

DO NOT fly or sit

chat in real life alter the appearances multitask

Student grouping

4. Lesson Design


The Lessons Two 1hr lessons based on imaginary

scenes 4 characters per scenario Onscreen role card for each assigned

avatar Hardcopy quotation list as reference Preparatory worksheet


Handout for reference – Quotations sample

“This is his temperament. His temperament is not going to change, he is too old for that. His temperament is fixed, set. The skull, followed by the temperament: the two hardest parts of the body.”

“He has always been a man of the city, at home amid a flux of bodies where Eros stalks and glances flash like arrows.”

“But he has forgotten how to woo. The voice he hears belongs to a cajoling parent, not a lover.”

“David Lurie, disciple of nature poet William Wordsworth and until recently professor at the Cape Technical University.”

“I was what used to be called a scholar. I wrote books about dead people. That was where my heart was. I taught only to make a living.”

Character: David Lurie

Lucy to David: “Wake up David. This is the country. This is Africa.”

David to Lucy: “’Lucy, Lucy, I plead with you! You want to make up for the wrongs of the past, but this is not the way to do it. If you fail to stand up for yourself at this moment, you will never be able to hold your head up again. You may as well pack your bags and leave.”

“It was history speaking through them, ‘ he offers at last. ‘A history of wrong. Think of it that way, if it helps. It may have seemed personal, but it wasn’t. It came down from the ancestors.”

“Booty; war reparations; another incident in the great campaign of redistribution.”

Theme: Apartheid


Scenario Description


Conversation FocusRole-players will focus on the following discussion areas:

Impact of the end of Apartheid on their lives Views on the prospects of national reconciliation and reasons for or personal experiences which shape these views

Thoughts on the legacy of colonialism, namely, aspects of the West (political/economic/social/academic/technology) which are relevant to South Africa in the ‘90s?


Lesson Pre-activity From the perspective of the assigned

character, each student will consider the above areas in different time periods of the character’s life.

Guiding questions are provided.


Lesson Pre-activity: ExcerptPAST: THE SOUTH AFRICA OF YOUR YOUTH (1950s-1980s)Write a short response to these questions: - What was the relationship between the blacks and the whites like? - Describe your personal experiences with the other races? - What did the future (ideals and aspirations) mean for you back then?


Role-play mission

PRESENT AND FUTURE: POST-APARTHEID (1990s onwards)

Each student is to chat with at least two characters to gather their views on the three focus areas.

Student can refer to the saved chat log for the information after the role-play.


Role-card 1


Role-card 2


Lesson Post-activityReflection: Similarities and

differences between the viewpoints of characters

Teacher-led discussion based on excerpts of the chat log to link conversations to context and text.


Observations of the chat log:Reflects knowledge related to characterization

that students have sub-consciously assimilated

Prompts new ways of looking at the relationship between the characters and the context of the novel

Useful resource for generating alternative PERSONAL and CRITICAL responses

Teacher facilitation is critical to helping students obtain insights and package ideas in a felicitous manner

Lesson Post-activity


Measuring Effectiveness

A-level style essay question based on the theme of South African reconciliation

Students could provide nuanced responses based on the perspectives of different characters.


Role-play in action


Good Practices - Classroom management Group/pair stronger students with the

weaker ones Setup time to log in, learn to manipulate

avatars and set up chat log storage Pre-roleplay discussion time Constant explicit reminders not to fly or

play with other functions


Good Practices - Lesson design and planning Extrapolated scenarios “Immersive” pre-activity Prior knowledge of roles 30-40 min role-playing time Deliverable role-play mission Prompts/comments during the actual role-

play Focused discussion based on specific

segments of the chat log

Thank you!

teaching disgrace using second life

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