Korean Job Discussion Forums

[ippy]

Incendiary issue i appreciate. But im doing a winter camp and i want to give them an introduction to feminism. Its an all girls middle school, and the students in my class for this project are the brightest second grade (going into third grade) students.

I dont really have a plan here, im more posting to find out some ideas, but the rough outline might be something along the lines of splitting them off into groups, giving each group a subject area, and having them research and work through towards a presentation. Truth is, in English it kinda makes things a bit stupid and turns the central learning experience (the glass ceiling they might end up facing in their lives) into the secondary bit. Unfortunately the English will be their central focus... boo! But lets not get caught up in the problems.

Just looking more for ideas on where to start and how to keep it at a level that might interest them. I recognise that really this is something that only a few people might find immediately interesting at least until university age, but i figured the more they found out, and the more their assumptions were challenged, the mroe interesting theyd find it. Plus, it might beat the crap out of them learning songs and watching movies

[ticktocktocktick]

I did a thing in my MS 2nd grade textbook recently about jobs for women and men. It went along the lines of 'XXX is a job for women/men, not for women/men because XXX.'

You can model it with serious and amusing examples to get them going. I used the following two most often:

Cleaning is a job for women, not for men because women are better at it.

OR

Cleaning is a job for women, not for men because men are very dirty.


This led to all sorts of random discussions with my kids, and I was surprized to learn just how liberal they are (girls and boys). I'm sure you could easily expand on this.

[DosEquisXX]

I actually did something similar with my advanced students, though I focused on gender rather than calling it feminism. Had some gems:

"Teacher, my mother is lazy. She watches TV all day and dad works until 10:00."

[cj1976]

Although your intentions might be good, this kind of lesson should be done carefully. Gender roles in Korea are very different to back home, and it could be seen as a passive-aggressive dig at Korean culture. It;'s like people who want to talk about fan death or Dokdo. Why bother? We're not here to do any of that, even if does keep us entertained.

[ippy]

yepyep, i plan to tread very very carefully. Ive roped in my young 20 something coteach as well. I want to keep the korean aspect of it preceisley because it needs to directly relate to THEIR opportunities and aspirations at the end of the day. If it doesnt, it will just become an abstract and pretty meaningless project.

And ticktock, nice nice, i might use that as an introduction for sure. I may be a jerk though and get them in groups and give them ten jobs with five men and five women of different ages and compel them to make decisions about where theyll distribute them based upon their assumptions

[DosEquisXX]

[Poltergeist]

Great idea, and good luck keeping the thread on track.

I think having them research narrower topics will keep it interesting--how about self-defence for women (as one of the subtopics)? You could have them act out skits on their subtopics.

[ippy]

As i say, its not really going to be very in depth at the end of the day, its just bright middle school students. The truth is i just want them to look at information that directly relates to their prospects and opportunities and note the connection for themselves.

Maybe ill surround it with an "i dont understand [x]" context

[ippy]

[Poltergeist]

Advertising is a great topic too! Killing Us Softly may be too disturbing for that age group (and too long for an ESL class) but you could consider showing them short clips from that film.

I was serious about self-defence too ... I think it's useful information for women/girls of all ages.

[whiteshoes]

Really interesting idea.

I'd consider having group make some statement, and then do a research project on in.

You could go all kinds of ways with teaching prompts with this. You could say something outlandish (ex. women are not as good as men) and make them "teach" you how you are wrong, using research to back themselves up.

Having said that, I'd be careful pushing one set of ideas. Let them come to it however they might. If you want them to refute the idea that women are not as good as men, you might get a presentation about how women are better at cleaning then men which may not be what you're aiming at.

You could also discussion the different ways women have been treated in different cultures throughout time. Lots and lots of stuff. And, I think really great practice for students who might be going abroad for high school or college.

[Poltergeist]

[supernick]

Make sure you remind them that it's perfectly fine for their mothers to go out and work and for their fathers to stay home, and when not wathcing the daily dramas, to head out to Hyundai Department store wearing his best. Dad can meet up with his friends for a cup of over priced coffee and mom can pick up the tab.

[superNET]

[Poltergeist]

Ha ha ... it took longer than I expected for the trolls to descend.