Program overview + Sample lesson
A Spectator’s Guide to World Views
For years 10–12
Providing clear, objective treatment of ten highly influential systems of thought, A Spectator’s Guide to World Views helps students navigate their way beyond the school gate by providing a framework through which to filter the dominant voices of our secular culture.
This sample is comprised of three elements—Teacher’s manual; Student workbook and the accompanying chapter from the book.
Duration
Ten lessons offer at least a term’s worth of work.
Scope and sequence
Lesson Core concepts
Introduction
Life visions
What is a world view?
1
God’s signpost
The Christian world view
2
We have the technology Modernism
• Every person has a world view
• Every person’s world view influences their decisionmaking processes
• Based on God’s revelation
• Supported by evidence
• Influences how a Christian thinks and behaves
• What is a world view?
• How to investigate world views
• How to determine your personal world view
• Revise ‘What is a world view?’
• Discover the Christian world view
• Examine links with Bible verses
• Critique the Christian world view in real-life situations
Learning Intentions
Students will:
• understand what a world view is
• identify their own world view
• raise questions about significant differences between world views.
Students will:
• understand the core beliefs of Christianity
• acknowledge biblical support for a Christian world view
• express the link between a Christian’s world view and lifestyle.
3
Blown away Postmodernism
• Historical context
• Key ideas
• Influence on the world
• Relationship with Christianity
4
Whatever it takes Utilitarianism
• Historical context
• Key ideas
• Influence on the world
• Relationship with Christianity
• Consequential ethics
• Influence on the world
• Potential problems with utilitarianism
• Comparison activity
• Investigating the rise of modernism
• Looking at different perspectives on the science/ religion debate
• Link to previous learning and predict postmodernism
• Historical context and research a postmodern philosopher
• Core beliefs of postmodernism and its impact on our society
• Relationship with Christianity
• Ethical scenarios: Why use consequentialism?
• Core beliefs: What the philosophers have said
• Activity: Problems that arise in the real world
Students will:
• understand how modernism developed historically
• be able to explain modernism’s influence on our society
• be able to articulate and respond to the perceived conflict between Christianity and science.
Students will:
• be able to identify the differences between postmodernism and modernism
• be able to identify postmodern elements in their own cultural setting
• be able to critique postmodernism when compared with a Christian world view.
Students will:
• understand the consequential justification of utilitarianism
• be able to identify potential problems that arise when acting in a utilitarian way
• be able to identify and evaluate utilitarian thinking in current society.
• Inspiring humans
• The ‘Happy Human’
• History of humanism
5
Not drowning, waving Humanism
• Relationship with Christianity
• Humanism in Hollywood
• What makes humans special?
• Is human decency derived from religion?
• Modern-day Prometheus
• Timeline of humanism
• Humanism and Christianity
Students will:
• understand and articulate the key features of humanism
• be able to explain humanism’s influence on our society
• be able to articulate and respond to the conflict between Christianity and humanism.
6
Freedom to choose
Liberalism
Scope and sequence
• Liberalism in action
• Central beliefs
• Liberalism and Christianity
7
Sleeping with the enemy Feminism
8
My truth/Your truth
Relativism
• Are we living in a postfeminist society?
• Domestic violence, sexism and sexualisation
• Defining freedom
• US Declaration of Independence and the US Bill of Rights
• Central beliefs
• Freedom in the Bible
Students will:
• understand the benefits and consequences of liberalism
• be able to identify potential problems that arise when acting in a liberal way
• be able to identify and evaluate liberalism in current society.
9
Do-it-yourself
New Age spirituality
• Seeing things differently
• Cultural, moral and religious relativism
• Relativism and Christianity
• Peer survey
• Q&A
• Sexism in Hollywood
• Social media
• Similarities and differences with Christianity
• Optical illusions
• Differentiating relativism
• Critiquing the parable
• Moral compass
• Relativism and Christianity
Students will:
• understand how feminism developed historically
• be able to explain feminism’s influence on our society
• be able to articulate and respond to the perceived conflict between Christianity and feminism.
Students will:
• understand the core beliefs of relativism
• acknowledge different permeations of relativism
• express the link between Christianity and relativism.
• Influences of the New Age
• Central beliefs
• New Age and its ongoing development
• Create your own religion
• Central beliefs
• New Age in modern culture
• New Age and Christianity
• Music of the New Age
Students will:
• understand how the New Age developed historically
• be able to explain the New Age influence on our society
• be able to articulate and respond to the perceived conflict between the New Age and Christianity.
• Juxtaposing the Western and Third Worlds
10
I buy, therefore I am Consumerism
• Marketing consumerism
• Religious consumerism
• Is greed good?
• Critiquing or commending consumerism
• Selling Coke to different lifestyles
• Christianity and consumerism
• Revisiting your world view
• Assessment task
Conclusion
Your world view
• Recap: dominant world view thinking through history
• Determining your own world view and subsequent life choices
• Assessment activities
Students will:
• understand and articulate the key features of consumerism
• be able to explain consumerism’s influence on our society
• be able to articulate and respond to the conflict between Christianity and consumerism.
Students will:
• understand what a world view is and be able to express their own
• be able to clearly articulate the differences between world views
• be able to critique different world views from a Christian perspective.
Teacher’s manual sample | Chapter 4
A spectator ’s guide to
world vıews
Ten ways of understanding life
Teacher’s manual | Written by
Matthew Lovell & Stuart Tye
CHAPTER 4
Aim
To understand how a utilitarian world view shapes decision-making in everyday life.
Outcomes
• All students will understand the consequential justification of utilitarianism.
• Most students will be able to identify potential problems that arise when acting in a utilitarian way.
• Some students will be able to identify and evaluate utilitarian thinking in current society.
Background
As Cameron mentions in the ‘History’ section of this chapter, utilitarianism has been around in many forms for many hundreds of years. Examining philosophical thought for the last 200 years, we see the struggles of society grasping for a way of determining how to live a moral life, while at the same time moving away from God as the source of those morals. With reference to the previous two chapters then, utilitarianism spans both modernism and postmodernism—we are not dealing with a ‘straight line’ of history any more. Over those few hundred years, the need developed for moral discourse that didn’t reference God or any grand metanarrative. One only has to think of France or other parts of the UK to realise that this remains the case for much of the developed world today.
Kant memorably posited a rule-based approach, known as deontology. In his system of morality, actions are deemed to be good or bad by examining the action itself. It is the work of Bentham and Mill that is probably most well-known for establishing utilitarianism as a credible, alternative system. Keeping in mind that this is a world views unit, the aim of the lesson then is to examine utilitarianism as a way of guiding decision-making in all areas of one’s life, not merely as an optional way of thinking about ethics.
The lesson
Scenario thinking
There are many famous examples throughout the history of philosophy that can be used to engage students with the moral frameworks based on consequentialism and deontology. Begin the lesson by posing a scenario to the class and asking the question—how would you respond? Allow time for thought, argument and clarification amongst student groups and the class as a whole. Two simple examples are provided in the text on page 64.
Central beliefs
Introduce students to the main concept of utilitarianism in the Student handbook: ‘I’ll do whatever it takes to make more happiness in the world.’ Have them place a mark on the line to indicate where they think they sit in relation to the statement. Pose the following questions and allow time for reflection and a written response: Whose happiness? How should we measure happiness?
Have students complete the summary table using the information on page 65 of the text. By ticking the agree/disagree boxes students are able to see the extent to which their current world view aligns with the guiding principles of utilitarian thinking. The first few boxes have been (partially) completed to help the students get started.
Singer logic
While there is not time in the lesson to look fully at the historical roots of utilitarianism, it is worth briefly considering the work of well-known Australian philosopher Peter Singer. Read through pages 69–70 of the text as a class to discover utilitarianism in the real world. Singer can be seen in action on ABC’s Q and A (see https:// www.youtube.com/watch?v=MwyQATye5BU). He is responding to a question asked at 13:35 of the previous clip (see https://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=Fx45Rb4jWs0).
Utilitarianism and Christianity
Adopting a utilitarian lifestyle can result in people justifying actions that don’t fit with the Christian world view. As Cameron notes on page 99 of the text, ethical decisions must have an eye on the future to a certain extent, but there are clear limits (he provides five examples from 1 and 2 Corinthians where it is clear that consequentialism should not be used).
So in what ways can utilitarianism be ‘antiChristian’?
Pages 73–75 outline eight of these potential problems. The Student handbook encourages your class to think about each one, and to clarify their understanding by thinking of a real world example. The list on the Chapter 4 PowerPoint slides can be used to help with class discussion once students have finished the activity.
Extras
a. Watch the film clip for Pharrell Williams’ Happy (https://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=y6Sxv-sUYtM&feature=player_ embedded). Discuss in small groups or as a class: Why was this song so successful? What is the relationship between emotions and our thoughts? Why does feeling happy seem like the right thing to do?
b. Undertake a research or essay task on the work of Bentham and JS Mill. Answer the following question: What are the elements of the hedonic calculus, and to what extent do you agree with them?