Empowering Students to Advocate: A Service as Action Unit on the Impact of Communication

By Heather Adkins High School English Teacher

The MYP framework gives us the opportunity to expose the students to authentic situations and learning experiences. By using the Global Context of Orientation in Space and Time, specifically looking at the “interconnectedness of individuals” and the Key Concept of Communication, our Grade 10 students were given an opportunity to explore how different text types can impact audiences to advocate for a people or a cause.

This was a specially designed Service as Action unit built on previous units where we studied the art of a personal essay and a novel that chronicles the plight of North Korean defectors. Both of these units are focused on using text to tell the stories of individuals through a variety of tools and perspectives. As students end their study of a unit where we explored the stories of the North Korean defectors by reading a novel written by an American journalist, there is a natural way to connect to authentic learning outcomes using text types to engage in the world. Students have spent time researching and gathering information about other people groups that are in crisis in our current global community. They have then used that information to build a collection of texts that advocate for current humanitarian crises while demonstrating their understanding of how different mediums of communication can impact an audience.

The students were grouped by country or people group of interest and then had a choice of three different text types: Editorial Cartoon, Magazine Cover, or Poster Campaign. They independently learned about these text types and disenfranchised people groups with lessons designed to provide a self-study experience,with the expectation that they would design a product at the end of their study. Then groups were asked to design an exhibition tri-fold and prepare to share their research, new text type expertise, and ultimately, advocate for the people they had been researching.

Students demonstrated a passion for learning along with care for their fellow human beings. We hope to inspire them and others to serve our community on a local and global level through the power of advocacy and modern mediums.