The Minority Report
Unit Plans

Rationale/Overview
When I first thought about teaching at the college level, I was hopeful that the environment would be more diverse than the white, middle-class, Christian schoolroom that I was used to.  Unfortunately, the academic culture in the U.S. is by its nature white, middle-class, and Christian, and I found that many of my college students had little idea of what minorities face on a daily basis.  I read Peggy MacIntosh's article about white privilege and male privilege and used it in class one day to point out the "invisible knapsack" that many of my students carry with them.  This led to a lively class discussion and then to this paper assignment, in which students put themselves into unusual situations and discuss their reactions.

Context
This paper is usually positioned near the end of the semester, when students have already become familiar with their writing processes.  I want them to be able to focus the topic instead of on their process for this paper.

Objectives and NCTE/IRA Standards Addressed
Students' objectives include:

• to read and respond to assigned articles

• to experience life as a minority (as much as possible) and respond to that experience

• to use their writing processes to write a 1200 word essay on the topic of minorities

This paper addresses the following NCTE/IRA standards:

1.  Students read a wide range of print and nonprint texts to build an understanding of texts, of themselves, and of the cultures of the United States and the world; to acquire new information; to respond to the needs and demands of society and the workplace; and for personal fulfillment. Among these texts are fiction and nonfiction, classic and contemporary works.

4.  Students adjust their use of spoken, written, and visual language (e.g., conventions, style, vocabulary) to communicate effectively with a variety of audiences and for different purposes.

5.  Students employ a wide range of strategies as they write and use different writing process elements appropriately to communicate with different audiences for a variety of purposes.

6.  Students apply knowledge of language structure, language conventions (e.g., spelling and punctuation), media techniques, figurative language, and genre to create, critique, and discuss print and nonprint texts.

7.  Students conduct research on issues and interests by generating ideas and questions, and by posing problems. They gather, evaluate, and synthesize data from a variety of sources (e.g., print and nonprint texts, artifacts, people) to communicate their discoveries in ways that suit their purpose and audience.

8.  Students use a variety of technological and information resources (e.g., libraries, databases, computer networks, video) to gather and synthesize information and to create and communicate knowledge.

12.  Students use spoken, written, and visual language to accomplish their own purposes (e.g., for learning, enjoyment, persuasion, and the exchange of information).

Materials/Preparation
Teachers should familiarize themselves with the Minority Report Assignment Sheet, lessons plans, the "bias tests" and other activities outlined in the activities section.  Arrange for a speakers' group of your choice to come to class.

Activities/Instruction
Follow activities on the Minority Report Activity Sheet.

Plan B/Adaptations
There is always a chance that there will be a minority of some sort in class, and I would have those students do a personal essay discussing his or her experiences.  Perhaps those students could devise a "privilege" sheet, based on MacIntosh's article, for their minority status.

Student Assessments/Reflections
Students will be reflecting several times throughout their writing processes.  First, they'll reflect on the MacIntosh article.  They'll also react to the preference test.  They'll debrief after the speakers' panel comes to class.  And they will also be reflecting on the appropriateness of their paper for their chosen audience and forum.

Teacher Analysis of Methods
In this unit, students were immersed, if only for a little while, in an unfamiliar culture.  They thus had the opportunity to learn something about that culture they were previously unaware of.  Through class activities I demonstrated what the final paper might look like.  Expectations were clearly outlined in the assignment sheet for student performance.  Students were responsible for completing much of the work on their own, as usual in my class.  Also as usual, students were able to use language to express themselves in their papers, and they were able to approximate the desired model through the drafting process, when I responded to them before the final draft was due.

This unit, like all my paper units, involved experiential, hands-on learning.  Students were encouraged to put themselves into situations where they were minorities and to record their reactions.  Students took on diverse roles:  primary researchers, coaches in revision, proofreaders.  During the drafting process, they were actively learning by doing most of the talking and reflecting.  Essay writing demands higher order thinking, and their reflections showed that.  Students chose their topics from among many suggestions and were free to devise their own topics.  They worked collaboratively with each other to write and revise their papers.  Students will be assessed on their complete units, in which I will note growth over successive drafts.

Reflection on Lesson
This unit went very well the first time I taught it.  Students responded especially well to the Pride Panel, and I think some of them went overboard on their minority experiences.  One student almost got hit by a car when she was blindfolded!  Another student found that his dorm was not handicap accessible (it's the oldest one on campus and is due to be razed).  Student reflections indicated that in some cases, their eyes were opened about subcultures they had not really thought about before.  I wish there were more cultural events they could participate in during this unit, and I will look for more opportunities next time I teach it to bring these events to the students' attention.