Activities

These activities may be used in any order.

Activity	Title	Time	Use before viewing	Use after viewing	Materials used
					Web	TV or video	Other
1	The Diamond of Awareness	30 mins	Yes	Yes	No	No	Copies of student worksheet
2	Family Dynamics	30 mins	Yes	Yes	No	No	No
3	Family Trees	30 mins	Yes	Yes	No	No	No
4	Guess the Action	30 mins	Yes	Yes	No	No	Prepared papers
5	Discussion Topics	20 mins each, A to E	Use after viewing each section of the programme		No	Yes	Discussion questions as student handout if desired
6	Written Work	30 mins	No	Yes	No	Yes	No
7	Discussion on Conflict Resolution	30 mins	No	Yes	No	Yes	Discussion questions as student handout if desired
8	Research	Any available	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Questions as student handout if desired

Activity 1: The Diamond of Awareness

The activity set out below, which should be presented as a worksheet, aims to help students form positive images of deafness and deaf people, and to be flexible in their views about ways in which deaf people may cope with deafness.

Student Worksheet
The Diamond of Awareness

Position these statements into a diamond shape in order of significance (see diagram). You can just work with the first nine statements listed, or incorporate the additional seven.

First nine statements to be grouped:

• It is easier for deaf children to understand sign language than speech.
• Deaf people are the same as hearing people.
• Hearing people are different from deaf people.
• Deaf children should live near to other deaf children.
• Deaf children should go to special schools.
• All deaf people wear hearing aids.
• Wearing hearing aids is the same as wearing glasses.
• Hearing aids are a miracle 'cure' for deafness.
• Lip-reading solves the problem of not hearing for deaf people.

Additional seven statements:

• All hearing people should learn sign language.
• All deaf people should learn to speak and write English.
• Most deaf children are born to hearing parents.
• Spoken language is equal to signed language.
• Blindness affects the quality of a person's life more than deafness.
• Deaf people can 'see' better than hearing people.
• All television programmes should have subtitles.

Notes for Teachers

It is likely that your students will have preconceived ideas about deafness, deaf people and the deaf community, gained from various channels, the home, television, books, etc.

Some of these ideas may be inaccurate assumptions. It is important that hearing students are helped to form positive and correct images of deafness and deaf people and to be flexible in their views about different language users.

We should stress here that if you have partially deaf or deaf students in your class it is crucial they are comfortable with the following activities. The only way to assess this is to talk each activity through with them beforehand and be led by their feelings as to whether they wish to be involved.

The 'Diamond of Awareness' activity may be a completely inappropriate exercise to be carried out in the presence of deaf students, especially if they are in the minority. If the exercise is led by a deaf person then that will of course, be different. Other activities, if carried out in the right way, could be led by the deaf or hard of hearing student or students, increasing their confidence and sense of contribution.

You can work as a whole class, in two teams or in small groups.

The Student Worksheet gives a list of statements designed to stimulate and help form opinion. The statements are not meant to be seen as 'truths' or 'untruths'. Ask your team, group or individual student to position the statements into a diamond shape in order of their significance or insignificance. For example, a student may place the statement 'Deaf children should live near other deaf children' higher on the list than 'Lip-reading solves the problem of not hearing for deaf people' or vice versa.

Whatever the hierarchy, each student must explain why they are placing the statement in such a position, above or below other statements. This encourages the student to think through what they believe or don't believe, understand or don't understand, helped by others in the class who put their own opinions forward for consideration.

If, for example, one student places the statement 'Lip reading solves the problem of not hearing for deaf people' in a high position on the chart, why not have another member of the class say a word or sentence without voice for them to lipread? It may be that the student revises their thinking about the statement's position on the chart.

Activity 2: Family Dynamics

This activity aims to:

• raise issues about stereotyping
• practice communicating non-verbally

Divide the class into two or more groups. Ask each group to create a short mime or dance that portrays 'harmony' or 'conflict' within the family to perform for the class.

Ask the students to consider the various dynamics that exist in families using examples from the performed mimes. For example, a parent may have been portrayed as very strict, or a teenager as rebellious. Ask the groups to explain verbally, what they were trying to convey in the mime. Is it expected that all parents are strict, or all teenagers rebellious? Is it expected that male and female family members have gender specific attributes? Is it right to stereotype people by the role they occupy in a family?

The activity could be extended to discuss whether various dynamics might be the same or different for families with a deaf member or members. Consideration of the dynamics in the family in the film could add focus to this discussion. What examples does the group have of reasons for family relationships becoming stressful? How can harmony be achieved?

Activity 3: Family Trees

This activity aims to raise issues about stereotyping and its appropriateness.

Divide the class into groups. Ask each group to decide amongst themselves who is going to represent each particular family member (mother, father, aunt, uncle, grandparent, cousin, baby, boy child, girl child, teenager, and so on), and to think of a movement or gesture that best depicts that person.

Ask each group in turn to present a character depiction (for example, grandma might be in a rocking-chair, baby sucking its thumb, and so on). Ask the other students to guess who each individual represents. Follow with a class discussion about stereotyping and the appropriateness of the representations. Who knows a grandmother that is very active and not the rocking-chair type? Do all young children suck their thumbs? What do uncles do? And so on. Do the family members in the film conform to stereotypes? How do you think the father would have reacted had he viewed the video Zoë made?

Activity 4: Guess the Action

This activity aims to explore non-verbal communication and help students experience the frustration of not being able to speak.

Prepare pieces of paper with an action, object or title written on them. For example, actions could include: kissing, shouting, swearing, hammering, gardening. Objects could include: car, bicycle, scooter, canoe, water skis, bus. Titles could be film or book titles.

Ask each student in turn to pick a piece of paper and enact what is written on it to the rest of the class without making any sound.

This can be done as a competition between two or more groups. The winning group is the one that successfully guesses the most number of words.

Discuss how it feels not to be able to convey what you mean through speech.

Activity 5: Discussion topics designed to follow each section of the drama

Stop the video after each section of the drama and use these questions to lead class discussion.

(A) Family and School

• What would it be like to be part of Zoë's class? How would you treat her? Would you think of her as different? Would you make an extra effort to include her? Would you feel sorry for her?
• How would you react if all of your friends turned on someone, like in the film when the class taunted Zoë? Have you ever been in a situation like this when you have gone along with the crowd? How does it feel to be the person being teased or bullied?
• Zoë often storms out of situations - is this a reasonable way to act? Could she handle things differently? What would be a better approach?
• Why do you think it is important to Zoë's parents to think of her as only partially deaf? What are they worried about?

(B) Education

• What do you think of the media studies teacher who helps Zoë? What is the difference between being supportive and being patronising?
• What kind of a relationship does Zoë have with Karen? Why does Karen say, 'Don't be like me'? What does she mean? Is she talking about her relationships with her boyfriend and her parents? What do you think Karen's relationship with her family is like. Why did she leave home?
• Why do you think photography is important to Zoë?

(C) Relationships

• Can you tell what Zoë and Karen think of Ben's cousin Dennis? How do you know what they think?
• What is your response to Dennis as a character? What do you think Ben feels about having him around?
• What do you think Ben means when he says to Zoë, 'Your deaf heart is beating tonight'?

(D) Work

• What prevents Zoë from communicating effectively with the first colleague she meets on her work experience placement?
• Mark tells Zoë that many people thought he could not succeed because he is black and deaf. How can these factors be a barrier to getting a job? How did Mark deal with them? What other barriers to getting a job can you think of? How can these be overcome?
• Within the workplace what sort of things enable a deaf person to communicate effectively with colleagues or customers?
• What effect do you think meeting Mark has on Zoë?

(E) Media

• Karen says her son has 'a right to choose his language'. What does this mean? How do his family, school and neighbours affect his choice? What does Zoë think about these issues?
• What is Zoë trying to say through her media assignment? Does she succeed in getting her message across? How have other people helped her?
• How do you think Zoë's experiences will affect her relationship with her mother and father?

Activity 6: Written Work

Discuss with the class whether they would prefer to go to a school where all the other students had hearing difficulties, or a mainstream school, if they were deaf. Ask them to write two accounts explaining why someone might make each of these choices. Would the same considerations be relevant to a blind student, or a student confined to a wheelchair?

You could use the Internet to research these issues: http://www.rsdmanchester.org has information about special education for deaf students. Other websites may also have relevant information.

Activity 7: Discussion on Conflict Resolution

1. What helped Karen to resolve her difficulties? (For example, her sister's sympathy, a supportive teacher, other deaf young people, a role model in Mark, a way of expressing her views, so unlocking her frustration.)

2. Think of a conflict in your school or family. How might the tension be lessened? (Consider the role of a close friend or relative, the role of a person in authority, an example from someone else's experience, a method for release of tension.)

3. Which minority groups have been discriminated against and become the centre of conflict in society? (Consider racial minorities, slow learners, poor people, orphans, illegitimate children.) How can we try to understand their position?

4. Think of a recent conflict situation in the news, locally, nationally or internationally. What are the causes of the conflict you have chosen? What would you suggest could be done to lessen the conflict?

Activity 8: Research

Websites listed elsewhere in these notes all have relevance here, but some of particular relevance are specified.

1. Find out what support exists for deaf people in your area. How are deaf

students educated locally and nationally? What higher education opportunities exist for deaf students? (Ask any HE institution this question.)

Useful website addresses:

http://www.rnid.org.uk
http://www.lisa.sbu.ac.uk
http://www.ndcs.org.uk
http://www.rsdmanchester.org

2. How can deaf people learn to communicate better? (For example, by learning to lip-read, learning British Sign Language, finger spelling, meeting with other deaf or partially deaf people.)

Find out what technical aids are of value to deaf people. (For example, hearing aids to boost residual hearing; telephones which are amplified to increase the level of sound received; minicom machines or textphones where the message is typed into the telephone and appears as text on the recipient's machine; amplified sound on television sets; subtitled programmes on television; Teletext; hearing aid loop system installed in rooms where meetings or concerts take place; e-mail; internet; fax; flashing or vibrating alarm clocks, telephones, door bells, baby alarms, smoke detectors.)

How can deafblind people communicate? (The deafblind finger touch or manual alphabet is described at: http://www.deafblind.com)

Useful website addresses:

http://www.deafblind.com
http://www.bda.org.uk/
http://www.rnid.org.uk
http://www.circularsound.co.uk

3. Find out about British Sign Language.

Useful website addresses:

http://www.rnid.org.uk
http://www.batod.org.uk
http://www.cacdp.demon.co.uk

4. What are the causes of deafness?

There are two types of deafness:

• Conductive loss - damage or blockage in the outer or middle ear. Glue ear is a common ailment, particularly in children. Most conductive losses can be treated medically.
• Sensori-neural deafness (or nerve deafness) - occurs in the inner ear, usually affecting the hair cells of the cochlea. It is serious and permanent.

Useful website addresses:

http://www.rnid.org.uk
http://www.ndcs.org.uk
http://www.seecenter.org

5. Study the success of a disabled person who has become famous. For example:

• David Blunkett MP (who is blind)
• Evelyn Glennie (the percussionist who is deaf)
• Stephen Hawking (the scientist with Motor Neurone Disease)
• Christopher Moon (who lost a leg while mine clearing in 1995 and has since run several marathons, notably across the Sahara in 1997. He was awarded the Royal Association for Disability and Rehabilitation's People of the Year Award in 1998. Visit their website at http://www.radar.org.uk)
• Christopher Reeve (the actor who became a paraplegic after an accident)