Overview
In this lesson, students will explore the predictable pattern of suppressing women’s rights as a common war and conflict tactic. Students will examine potential root causes of this action, as well as its consequences.
In addition, students will examine how education can be utilized by youth (particularly girls) as a means for changing cultural bias, gender misinformation, and outdated ways of knowing and being. Students will gain insight into how knowledge can be wielded as the “most powerful weapon in the world,” (Reference to Nelson Mandela – though Meena herself makes this statement). Most importantly, students will learn how a new generation of girls can apply knowledge as their secret weapon against oppressive regimes and ideologies through nonviolent, peaceful education as a means to create lasting change in the hearts and minds of others.
Notes for Teacher
Country: Afghanistan TO COME
Meena’s composition, “Dawn” portrays the dreams, hopes, and struggles of women and girls in Afghanistan today. “I wrote ‘Dawn’ to raise awareness of the challenges faced by girls and women in Afghanistan and to express that through our struggles, we can stand up for our rights,” said Karimi, a newly arrived cello major at Interlochen Arts Academy. “Today the situation in Afghanistan is even more difficult because the Taliban are not letting girls and women go to school or work. This is why we must work even harder to support girls and women in Afghanistan.”
“Connecting our voices through this composition and through the community unites all of us around this important cause. Together we will continue our story and share the message that girls and women in Afghanistan are strong. It is my hope that when they hear this performance, they will know that we are not giving up on them.”
(Excerpt from the Interlochen Center for the Arts website: https://www.interlochen.org/news/composition-arts-academy-student-meena-karimi-to-be-performed-chineke-orchestra-londons)
Student Ages or Grade Level
9th to 12th Grades
Essential questions the lesson will address:
Why do you think it is common that females are typically the first to be oppressed during
Is a girl’s right to education fundamental to fostering peaceful and just societies?
Can education be used as a means to bring about non-violent change?
Is there a connection between education and peace?
Learning Outcomes
Students will be able to . . .
▪ Identify, through text analysis and dialogue, possible explanations for the oppression of women and girls during times of conflict and war
▪ Examine, through inference, what some of the root causes, as well as consequences are of female oppression
▪ Evaluate the significance of girls’ access to education in relationship to sustainable peace and just societies
▪ Evaluate the connection between access to education and peace
▪ Discuss the extent to which education can be utilized as a means to bring about non-violent change to sclerotic gendered belief systems and societies
Common Core State Standards (11th grade)
▪ CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SL.11-12.1.B Work with peers to promote civil, democratic discussions and decision-making, set clear goals and deadlines, and establish individual roles as needed.
▪ CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SL.11-12.1.C Propel conversations by posing and responding to questions that probe reasoning and evidence; ensure a hearing for a full range of positions on a topic or issue; clarify, verify, or challenge ideas and conclusions; and promote divergent and creative perspectives.
▪ CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SL.11-12.1.D Respond thoughtfully to diverse perspectives; synthesize comments, claims, and evidence made on all sides of an issue; resolve contradictions when possible; and determine what additional information or research is required to deepen the investigation or complete the task.
▪ CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.11-12.2 Determine two or more themes or central ideas of a text and analyze their development over the course of the text, including how they interact and build on one another to produce a complex account; provide an objective summary of the text.
▪ CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.11-12.2 Write informative/explanatory texts to examine and convey complex ideas, concepts, and information clearly and accurately through the effective selection, organization, and analysis of content.
Curriculum Glossary and Key Concepts and Ideas
● Right to Education: a right to free, compulsory primary education for all and an obligation to make secondary and higher education accessible to all (ICESCR).
● Oppression / Gender (Female) Oppression: Prolonged cruel or unjust treatment or exercise of authority, control, or power; tyranny; exploitation (Oxford). Women and girls often face oppression in many ways that men and boys do not such as restrictions on mobility; lack of access to decision-making power; lower literacy rates; discriminatory attitudes of communities and healthcare providers (WHO).
● Education: The systematic instruction, teaching, or training in various academic and non-academic subjects given to a person, typically at a school (Oxford).
● Non-violence: the avoidance from violence as a matter of principle (Merriam Webster).
● Peaceful and Just Societies: Peaceful societies are contemporary groups of people who effectively foster interpersonal harmony and who rarely permit violence or warfare to interfere with their lives (Peaceful Societies UNC). A Just society is one in which each person is socially and economically secure, and where the state is politically, legally, and administratively inclusive and fair (Wikipedia).
● Taliban: ultraconservative political, religious, and a militant faction that emerged in Afghanistan in the mid-1990s. It ruled approximately three-quarters of the country from 1996–2001, before being overthrown following the United States invasion. The Taliban regained power in August 2021 after years of insurgency and currently controls all of the country (Britannica).
Formative Assessment Strategies
The teacher can make a note of…
● Class brainstorm and opening discussion of the country context
● Individual participation in discussion and journal writing during Meena introduction
● Class-wide effort in affinity mapping activity about female oppression
● Individual engagement in fishbowl activity and final sketching activity
Materials for Instructor
● Laptop
● Projector
● Speakers
● Large Flip-pad or Whiteboard/Chalkboard
● Marker, Dry-erase markers, or chalk (depending on the writing surface)
● Meena Karimi Video Clip for Part Two to come
Materials for Students
● Paper and writing utensils
● Colored Pencils, Markers, Crayons
● Imagine Journal
● Post-it Notes
Lesson Plan
Part One:
I. Opening Discussion: Background Information on the Taliban and Afghanistan (25 min)
Step 1:
Ask students what prior knowledge they have of Afghanistan and/or the Taliban? Solicit responses.
Step 2:
Once students have shared their prior understanding, go over the definition of the Taliban provided in the glossary section. Then project and show the following Vox video titled, The Taliban, explained This is a 14-minute video and we recommend educators watch it prior to screening it for students. There may be points in the video where it can be paused to check student comprehension, answer questions, and carry out short discussions.
Step 3:
After the video, open up the room for discussion by having students popcorn share their feelings and thoughts around the video. If students are reluctant to share, use the following prompts:
In the opening of this video, the main female speaker discusses how education for girls was banned under the initial rule of the Taliban, why do you think this was done?
What are your own thoughts about access to education?
Is this anything you take for granted regarding access to your own education?
II. Meet Meena, Dialogue, and Journaling (15 min)
Step 1:
Project and/or share with the students a little bit about Meena Karimi by
sharing the excerpt below:
Meet Meena Karimi. Karimi started her musical studies at the Afghanistan National Institute of Music. She performed around the globe as part of the Zohra Orchestra, Afghanistan’s first all-female orchestra, at such venues as the Sydney Opera House, the British Museum in London, and the World Economic Forum in Davos. Karimi has also collaborated with youth groups from Northern Ireland’s Beyond Skin and Portugal’s Orquestra Divino Sospiro.
Meena’s composition, “Dawn” portrays the dreams, hopes, and struggles of women and girls in Afghanistan today. “I wrote ‘Dawn’ to raise awareness of the challenges faced by girls and women in Afghanistan and to express that through our struggles, we can stand up for our rights,” said Karimi, a newly arrived cello major at Interlochen Arts Academy. “Today the situation in Afghanistan is even more difficult because the Taliban are not letting girls and women go to school or work. This is why we must work even harder to support girls and women in Afghanistan.”
“Connecting our voices through this composition and through the community unites all of us around this important cause. Together we will continue our story and share the message that girls and women in Afghanistan are strong. It is my hope that when they hear this performance, they will know that we are not giving up on them.”
(Excerpt from the Interlochen Center for the Arts website: https://www.interlochen.org/news/composition-arts-academy-student-meena-karimi-to-be-performed-chineke-orchestra-londons)
Step 2:
Screen the 3-minute video of Meena.
Step 3:
Once the students are done watching the clip of Meena lead a discussion. If they need prompting use the following questions:
● What connections are you making between the Vox video and the video clip of Meena?
● Why does Meena believe her generation can make a difference?
Step 4:
Have students write a reflection in their Imagine journals. The following prompts are optional:
What are some reasons why females are typically the first to be oppressed during times of conflict and war?
Why is it fundamental to a high functioning society that girls specifically have access to education?
Note: If you would like to split this lesson into two sessions, this is the suggested place to stop.
PART TWO:
I. Affinity Mapping (20 min)
Step 1:
Pass out a small stack of post-it notes to each student. Tell the students they are now going to work through a strategy called Affinity Mapping. Explain to students that you will be setting a timer for 5-7 minutes, and in that time you would like them to write down as many ideas as they can think of (only 1 idea per post-it note!) related to the following two questions:
What are some of the root causes of female oppression?
What are some of the consequences of female oppression?
Step 2:
Once the students have had enough time to write down their ideas, have them begin to cluster their post-it notes into categories of similar ideas which have emerged. This can be done on a blank wall, a white board, or a large piece of butcher paper. Students should have 5-7 minutes to continue to rearrange their post-it notes into whatever categories they see emerging from the activity.
Note: Before moving onto the discussion, take a few minutes and have a student label the clusters with the chosen category.
Step 3:
Once students are satisfied with their clustering and categorizing of ideas, have them sit back down to begin discussion. The post-its and categories will act as a springboard for further dialoguing.
II. Fishbowl Discussion (20 min)
Divide the class into two groups. Have group number one sit in an inner circle in the center of the room. Then have group number two sit in an outer circle around group number one.
Project the following question onto the overhead and provide group number one with ten minutes to dialogue around the below prompts. While group number one is in conversation, group number two should be listening and taking notes.
Question: How is a girl’s right to education fundamental to fostering peaceful and just societies?
Once the first group has had 10 minutes to dialogue, switch places so the inner group now becomes the outer group, and vice versa. And, repeat the process with the inner circle having a dialogue based on the below question, while the outer group takes notes.
III. Closing Activity – Sketch It! (Remainder of class time.)
Project the following closing video clip from Meena [video timestamp: 17:25 – 19:10 in the VII video]
Based on the closing video clip and quote by Meena related to education as a non-violent means of change, have students sketch in their Imagine Journals with markers, colored pencils, or crayons their response to the following closing inquiries:
What is the connection between education and peace?
To what extent can education be used as a means to bring about non-violent change?
End the class by sharing with students that although we have discussed the harsh realities in Afghanistan, there is also hope for a positive future. Play this clip from Meena talking about being a musician and her love for her country: