This activity was used with children in key stage 2, year 6.

Context

This school is developing a joint curriculum on citizenship with a school in the Republic of South Africa via a linking project that began in September 2001. So far both sets of staff have participated in two in-service sessions on citizenship in the curriculum (at key stages 1 and 2) that were conducted over e-mail by senior managers.

The teacher had written a drama about relationships between two different racial groups.

This drama activity involved two teachers working with two groups of children in the main assembly hall.

Aims

• To explore the issue of discrimination.
• To gain a growing respect for differences and diversity.
• To develop a sense of justice.
• To empathise with different groups of people.

Activity objectives

• To experience a sense of individual self-worth through drama.
• To create, adapt and sustain different dramatic roles, individually and as groups.
• To use dramatic techniques for exploring characters and issues.

Activity description

The drama is set in an imaginary land and features two groups of non-existent people. The story was read to the children at the start and in the middle of the drama lesson. As some of the issues being explored were sensitive, the teachers decided that a make-believe narrative would best engage the children's interest.

The class had some previous experience of conflict-resolution dramas. To give the children support for their learning in this drama context, the teachers used appropriate stopping points within the story, where the children would engage in active role-play.

The story 'In the land of the Zigs'

The drama is set in a long valley high up in a mountain range, at the dawn of civilisation. Two groups of people live there: the Zigs and the Zags. The Zigs are a handsome group of farmers living on the valley floor, near a river. The Zags live high up on the mountainside: they are short, live in stone houses or caves, and hunt their food.

For the Zigs, life is constantly improving. They live harmoniously together. Meanwhile, for the Zags it is a different story. Life for them is much harder. They live in constant fear of attack from the wild animals roaming freely at this altitude, and must hunt the wild animals for food.

The two groups live like this for a long, long time, until a volcano erupts. The lava flow destroys the homes of the Zags and everything they have. They manage to escape the advancing lava flow by running downhill to the land of the Zigs. The Zigs see the eruption and the advancing horde and are panicked into making a decision about what to do. Both groups have to decide on plans of action to solve this situation.

Session 1

On entering the assembly hall, each child dipped a hand into a bag to pick a piece of white or red ribbon, which they each tied in a band to wear around their heads. In this way, the children were sorted at random into the two different groups: the Zags and the Zigs.

The role-play action took place during an appropriate pause in the story, after the children had been given cue cards for their group. The two groups then further divided into family groups. After a general class discussion, each child selected a role to ensure a balance of family structures and age profiles. Both teachers acted as elders (one for each group). The children did not have any difficulty in selecting their roles and quickly enacted their day as a family.

During this part of the drama there were opportunities for the freeze-frame and the 'shoulder tap' techniques so that the children could step out of role to explain what they were doing and how they were feeling. The children all became heavily involved with their character role and were willing to describe themselves and their feelings in role during a hot-seating activity.

While the children were re-enacting their day, the teachers stopped the family groups to discuss and reflect on what they were doing and how their drama could be improved. Each teacher gave feedback to their respective group: the 'elder' to the Zigs constantly praised the children and approved of everything they did, building up their self-esteem; the 'elder' to the Zags gave mainly critical feedback that established an atmosphere of uncertainty and low self-esteem. No matter what the Zags did, nothing was good enough for their elder.

Towards the end of the first session (approximately half an hour), there was a plenary meeting to share the children's experiences. Two children from each group sat on the hot-seat to explain their roles. The attitudes of the teachers towards each group (one negative and the other positive) were reflected in the children's comments. The Zigs said they were working well together: cooperation was good, with everyone taking care of each other. Life was good! The Zags, on the other hand, found that nothing was going right for them. No matter how hard they tried to hunt they could not succeed. They were confused because everything they did brought criticism from the elder. The Zags enjoyed being in role but were not totally happy. However, both groups were keen to carry on.

At this stage of the activity there was a break.

Session 2

After the break one of the teachers, in role, stressed that a mistake had been made and that both groups had to change sides. This caused general surprise but both groups changed quickly, adapting to their new roles in new family groups with renewed interest. The new Zags took on an air of stupidity. When asked why they were doing this the group replied: 'Because we are stupid!' A self-fulfilling prophecy, resulting from the previous plenary session.

After a while the volcano erupted, causing confusion for the Zags, who approached the Zigs menacingly. The groups confronted one another on either side of the river. Each group formulated its plan of action.

At first the Zigs did not want the Zags to join them, because of the negative attitudes of this group. The Zags desperately wanted to cross the river and live in the land of the Zigs, and they became increasingly angry that their pleas were not heard. The teachers, in role, acted as moderators to find a solution to the problem. The Zags pleaded their case and the Zigs listened attentively. Eventually one family from each group joined together to discuss how they could live harmoniously, and an amicable solution was reached.

At the end of this session a plenary meeting was held where the children discussed their feelings towards the dilemma, the initial reactions and why the Zigs changed their minds and allowed the Zags to live with them.

Commentary

Parallels were drawn between the drama and political situations around the world, such as the aftermath of the 11 September 2001 attacks on the United States, the Nazis and the Jews in the Second World War, the Balkan Crisis in the 1990s, and the apartheid system that operated in South Africa from 1948 to 1991. The class discussed moral rights and wrongs (touching on human behaviour and attitudes, similarities and differences between people, and various beliefs, races and cultures). The morning ended with the children jotting down what they had learnt from the drama.

This drama activity was the fourth in a series of lessons about the Republic of South Africa (see the school's scheme of work, below) where the children researched information about the country and learnt about the nature of the apartheid policy.

The school's scheme of work: Finding out about the Republic of South Africa

Lesson	Objectives	Activities
1	To articulate personal responses to literature, identifying why and how the text affects the reader. To recognise how the choice of first or third person affects readers. To distinguish between implicit and explicit points of view and to understand how these can differ.	Read an extract from Nelson Mandela's book, Long Walk to Freedom, to the class. Each child makes notes on immediate emotional responses to the text and on factual information about the writer (eg in which 'person' is the text written). Supported group: give the group simple questions on which to focus. Highlight unusual language and meanings in the passage. Give groups sections of text to study in depth with guidance questions for later discussion, when each group feeds back on the section of the text they have studied.
2	To research information using a range of resources. To skim and scan. To use the skills of note-taking and summarising. To use inference and deduction.	Ask the children to work in groups to research information about South Africa. Each group should concentrate on using one type of source (eg storybooks, brochures, photographs, video clips, artefacts, the internet and a first-hand account from a South African visitor). The children should focus on: the information they are collecting; how to conduct the research; organising themselves and planning their own strategies; recording information in their own chosen way. Supported group: to be helped by learning support assistant.
3	To identify the main points of the biography. To clearly record what they found. To draw on their empathy with Mandela to write a diary. To understand the genre of biography and to compare it to autobiography.	Read the biographical text on Nelson Mandela as a class. Discuss the use of language in the piece. Core group: use the text to record a time/date chart for Nelson Mandela, noting the years and the major facts of his life history. Supported group: imagine they are Nelson Mandela. Choose a picture and write (in the first person) what they as Mandela may have been feeling. Extended group: write a diary extract imagining they are Nelson Mandela imprisoned on the island.
4	See activity objectives.	See activity description.

Points to note

Within three months of the project being taught, the headteacher and the deputy of the UK school had visited the Republic of South Africa to meet the children and teachers in the exchange programme. (There will be a reciprocal visit in 2003.) During the visit, both groups of teachers worked on the joint curriculum for citizenship that will be used by all classes in both schools.

The children will, in groups, link with their South African counterparts via e-mail and through a structured programme of lessons, to share a personal understanding of the way of life in both countries. The teachers in each school hope this exchange programme will last for several years.