Perceptions of Religious Conflict and Critical Media Skills: Wikipedia
Renata Suzuki
Renata is an Economics ESP teacher at Sophia University, Tokyo. Current interests are environmental and peace education, learner autonomy and CALL, particularly using blogs for professional development. She has published a book of free EFL ecosongs for kids at http://www.onegreenleaf.net, among others. The presented ideas come from Columbia Peace Education Certificate Learning Unit Outline.
E-mail: renate@zaa.att.ne.jp
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Introduction
Background
Lesson Plan
References
There is no escaping the internet. It has made profound changes in the way information is managed, positively shifting the locus of control away from institutions and companies, making multiple voices heard. Wikipedia's growing influence as research tool and ready information provider is one such example. However, in this growing mass of information, a critical awareness of who sources are and what messages they are sending is vital. For instance, many world conflicts are potrayed as simple struggles between fundamentally different cultures, world views and religions. In my understanding, education systems should be providing learners with the skills to discern "the onslaughts of fundamentalist reductionisms in the realms of gender, culture and religious and political ideology" (Jenkins & Reardon, 2007).
The EFL lesson plan offered below hopes to sensitize students to how wikipedia information is collaboratively created and invite students to get actively involved in creating and checking information themselves. At the same time it aims to develop students' sensitivity to how language may create or feed tension, and how in media (here, wikipedia) presentation complex economic and political conflicts can be transposed and polarized in terms of religious conflict.
The learning unit below was developed during Peace Education Certificate professional development offered by Columbia University, Teachers College, Tokyo. For me, learning a foreign language is the door to a global awareness, the first understanding of what diversity on a planetary scale offers, the first step toward approaching others with respect on their linguistic terms. In other words, peace education. As such, it makes sense that the content of EFL learning can profitably involve the peace-building critical awareness skills the lesson plan below hopes to spark.
1. Learning audience: Japanese University level students (19-23) or adult. English as a Foreign Language (EFL): High-intermediate level
2. Learning Setting: The unit may be integrated into a global issues/ peace education content-based instruction (CBI) curriculum or simply as one topic-based segment in a general EFL language course.
3. One session of 90 minutes (One University unit)
4. Theme/Subject: Critical media literacy/ 2002 Gujarat Violence Wikipedia Entry
Topic: What is wikipedia? What is a good wikipedia entry? What happened in Gujarat 2002?
Issue: to develop a critical understanding of underlying economic and political conflicts presented in media as religious conflicts
to help students get actively involved in creating and/or checking information to develop a linguistic sensitivity to how language may create or feed tension
5. Core concepts: Principles of Peace Journalism; Portrayal of Religious and Cultural Conflict; Active Citizenship for Peace within a Human Rights Framework
6. Learning objectives:
Knowledge: Vocabulary/problematique concerning portrayal of religious conflict How wikipedia information is built as free and collaborative knowledge; 1981 Declaration on the Elimination of All forms of intolerance and of discrimination based on religious belief
Skills: Linguistic skills: Reporting feelings, needs and rights from different viewpoints. Expanding and conceptualizing abstract vocabulary (truth; objectivity; honesty; realism; credibility; accuracy; reliability; neutrality; controversial; dispute; balanced; notable; verifiable; valid; misinformat
ion; vandalism; up to date, collaborative, free ). Quoting and citing sources.
Socio-cultural skills: An incipient awareness of problem analysis, relocating a portrayal of religious conflict in a wider political and economic picture; development of critical and peaceful reading and writing skills and a growing awareness of personal ability to take action for the benefit of the community.
Interpersonal skills: Ability to work in large and small groups in peer learning situations. Cooperating in positive sharing, questioning and brainstorming. Valuing different peer learning styles through multimodal learning: language texts (spoken and written), visual banners, voice and art.
Meta-cognitive skills: Reflecting on how wikipedia builds knowledge collaboratively and peacefully over time in the same way the classroom does; reflecting on how we are linked to the global community through the internet.
Values: Human responsibility for the collaborative creation of knowledge and for contextualizing events in global political and human rights frameworks (Active Citizenship for Peace); Observing the unity of all humanity and a commitment to a just and ethical portrayal of others in media (Human Solidarity)
7. Learning materials:
A: Pairwork Interview (10 min.) (Building on prior experience)
- How often do you use wikipedia? (Once a day/once a week/ etc.)
- What do you use it for? (Looking up things I don't know/ researching homework/etc.)
- Which wikipedia language do you choose? (English/Japanese/ etc.)
- On a scale of 1-10, do you trust wikipedia information? Explain your rating.
- Have you ever followed up wikipedia links and researched deeper, checking sources and information?
- Have you ever corrected a wikipedia entry or written a wikipedia entry yourself?
B: Teacher-led Whole Group Reading material (5 min.)
Since its creation in 2001, Wikipedia has rapidly grown into the largest reference website on the Internet. The content of Wikipedia is free, written collaboratively by people from all around the world. This website is a wiki, which means that anyone with access to an Internet-connected computer can edit, correct, or improve information throughout the encyclopedia, simply by clicking the edit this page link (with a few minor exceptions, such as protected articles and the main page).
Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:About
C: Small Group Wikipedia Banners (10-15 min.) Each Group receives a banner and explains what they think it means, when it might appear on the wikipedia screen to the class (Group consultation and discussion, 5 mins. Whole group sharing, 5-10 min.)
D: 2 Groups Jigsaw Reading Worksheet (A & B) 20 min. Introducing key vocabulary: accuracy; reliability; neutrality; controversial; dispute; balanced; notable; verifiable; valid; misinformation; vandalism; up to date. After a 10 min. silent reading period where students highlight and make notes, A students and B students pair up to share results verbally.
| A: Wikipedia Positive Aims |
B: Wikipedia Negative Aspects |
The ideal Wikipedia article is balanced, neutral and encyclopedic, containing notable verifiable knowledge. In particular, older articles tend to be more comprehensive and balanced. An increasing number of articles reach this standard over time, and many already have. However this is a process and can take months or years to be achieved, as each user adds their contribution in turn.
However, unlike a paper reference source, Wikipedia is completely up-to-date, with articles on topical events being created or updated within minutes or hours, rather than months or years for printed encyclopedias. Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:About
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(Listen to your partner and take notes) |
| Please highlight key words in the text and list them below to explain wikipedia's positive aspects to group B. |
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| A: Wikipedia Positive Aims |
B: Wikipedia Negative Aspects |
| (Listen to your partner and take notes) |
newer articles may still contain significant misinformation, unencyclopedic content, or vandalism. Users need to be aware of this in order to obtain valid information and avoid misinformation which has been recently added and not yet removed. (See Wikipedia:Researching with Wikipedia for more details). Some articles contain statements and claims which have not yet been fully cited. Others will later have entire new sections added. Some information will be considered by later contributors to be insufficiently founded, and may be removed or expounded.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:About
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Please highlight key words in the text and list them below to explain wikipedia's negative aspects to group B. |
E: Matching Pairs (Confirming Concepts) 10 min. Possible Answer Pairs: truth & verifiable; objectivity & realism; credibility & accuracy; balanced & neutrality; controversial & dispute; misinformation & vandalism; up to date & notable
| Match the concept on the left with a similar one on the right. Discuss your choices with peers. |
| - truth |
- vandalism |
| - objectivity/td>
| - realism |
| - credibility |
- notable |
| - balanced |
- accuracy |
| - controversial |
- neutrality |
| - misinformation |
- verifiable |
| - up to date |
- dispute |
F: (Optional) Chanting concepts with movements 5-10 min. (audio-kinaesthetic task) (Some classes may not feel comfortable with acting, although may feel safe in small groups. At this point in the lesson some kind of movement/break is recommended to oxygenate the brain and relax the body for further study).
Teacher picks a designated concept per small group, who develop a chanting (speed pitch volume etc.) and body movement to express their word. (6 group example: truth, balanced, up to date, misinformation, controversial, dispute). Teacher points to each group in turn to begin chanting, ending up with a raucous moving classroom, then fading out each group in turn.
G: 4 Small group Worksheets comparing 2005 and 2006 wikipedia entry (15 min.) Group reporting and discussion. (Current editing of this article is taking place at 2002 Gujarat violence/2006 revision as of 20:33, 9 August 2006 (UTC).)
Worksheet 1: What is different in the two wikipedia entries? Make notes. Think about how the concepts (truth; accuracy; reliability; neutrality; controversial; dispute; balanced; notable; verifiable; valid; misinformation; vandalism; up to date) apply.
| Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2002_Gujarat_violence accessed 04th November 2005 |
Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2002_Gujarat_violenceaccessed 12th September 2006 |
2002 Gujarat violence refers to a series of riots and other incidents of mob violence that occurred in the Indian state of Gujarat in 2002. According to a Central Government report released in 2005, 254 Hindus and 790 Muslims were killed with an estimated 223 deemed missing in the riots, which were driven by tensions between Hindus and Muslims in the state. The human rights groups estimate the death toll to be more than 2000 with about 140,000 people turning refugees .[3]
The riots were triggered on February 27, 2002 by a fire on a passenger train, the Sabarmati Express, passing through the town of Godhra. The train was carrying Hindu activists called Kar Sevaks returning from a disputed religious site in Ayodhya. An estimated 59 passengers were killed, many of whom were women and children.
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The term 2002 Gujarat violence refers to the riots that took place in Gujarat state in India from February 27, 2002. The riots started a day after the Godhra Train Burning episode.
Officially 793 Muslims and 253 Hindus died as a result of the violence.[1][2].Unofficial estimates from Human Rights groups were between 2000 - 2500, mostly Muslims.[3][4][5]
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Worksheet 2: What is different in the two wikipedia entries? Make notes. Think about how the concepts (truth; accuracy; reliability; neutrality; controversial; dispute; balanced; notable; verifiable; valid; misinformation; vandalism; up to date) apply.
| Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2002_Gujarat_violence |
Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2002_Gujarat_violence |
The Riots
While some refer to the violence as riots others refer to it as an anti-muslim pogrom. It was actually an outburst of anger from a people who had been tolerating religious violence for far too long. While discussing the riots, it should be held in mind that the cause which led to the incident, the barbaric burning of children and women who were on a pilgrimage, shows a mindset borrowed from 7th century arabia and such a mindset has to be shocked back to the present reality.
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The Riots
Many NGOs and newspapers reported that in Ahmedabad there were elements of planning in the violence[citation needed]. Some rioters were seen with documents and computer sheets listing Muslim families and their properties, which the Indian Express claimed were accessed from the electoral rolls of the areas[citation needed]. They also had detailed precise knowledge about buildings and businesses held by members of the minority community while there were also cases where Hindus living in mixed neighbourhood were attacked and driven out of their homes. [8].
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Worksheet 3: What is different in the two wikipedia entries? Make notes. Think about how the concepts (truth; accuracy; reliability; neutrality; controversial; dispute; balanced; notable; verifiable; valid; misinformation; vandalism; up to date) apply.
| Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2002_Gujarat_violenceaccessed 04th November 2005 |
Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2002_Gujarat_violenceaccessed 12th September 2006 |
The Riots
In one of the worst incidents, on February 28 a mob set fire to the mainly muslim locality of Naroda Patia in Ahmedabad, killing at least 65 people. The community religious place was burned using LPG (liquefied petroleum gas) cylinders. According to Human Rights Watch, who visited Naroda Patia three weeks later, homes in the area were completely burned for the affected. Several witnesses claimed that the police failed to protect residents. In the following days, hundreds of young people with swords, daggers, axes, and iron rods walked around the area, shouting angry slogans.
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The Riots
Human Rights groups have alleged that the trucks carried quantities of gas cylinders[citation needed]. Rich homes of people belonging to the Muslim community and business establishments were first systematically looted, stripped down of all their valuables, then cooking gas was released from cylinders into the buildings for several minutes. In addition, certain mosques and dargahs were efficiently razed, and in some cases the traces are no longer visible[citation needed
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Worksheet 4: What is different in the two wikipedia entries? Make notes. Think about how the concepts (truth; accuracy; reliability; neutrality; controversial; dispute; balanced; notable; verifiable; valid; misinformation; vandalism; up to date) apply.
| Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2002_Gujarat_violenceaccessed 04th November 2005 |
Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2002_Gujarat_violence accessed 12th September 2006 |
The Riots
These killings were investigated in an unofficial inquiry comprising of Justice (retd) G T Nanavati and Justice (retd) K G shah. The inquiry included gathering and analysis of 2094 oral and written testimonies, both individual and collective, from survivors and independent human rights groups, womens groups, NGOs and academics.
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The Riots
There have been several well-publicised cases where charges were made subsequently withdrawn and again made, the most famous one being that of Zaheera Sheikh. The Indian judiciary is currently studying whether the witnesses have been victimised.
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H: Worksheet: Expanding concepts (10 min.) Definitions adapted from the Transcend scheme for Peace/ Conflict Journalism Table, Galtung (1998)
| Match the concept on the left with a definition on the right. Discuss your choices with peers. |
| - Truth |
- focus on x parties, z issues and y goals for win-win solutions |
| - Up to date |
- give voice to all parties, including women, children and grassroots peace-makers |
| - Objectivity |
- explore from historical, cultural, economic and political perspectives, not just religious sentiment |
| - Credibility |
- expose untruths and unverifiable information |
| - Balanced |
- focus on visible effects of violence, weapons, damage and suffering, creating 'us - them' mood |
| - Controversial |
- highlight only "their" untruths/ help "our" cover-ups/ misreport figures and sources |
| - Misinformation |
- highlight only "their" untruths/ help "our" cover-ups/ misreport figures and sources |
I Homework task: Either complete the worksheet below
Or Research the Gujarat conflict in more depth and make a mini-presentation
Or write a blog/diary entry on what you learned today
Or design a new wikipedia warning banner
Or make a new wikipedia entry/ edit a wikipedia entry (Japanese acceptable)
Or think of some other way you would like to show what you have learned today, consult with your teacher for approval, and go for it!
How does the Economist quote sources to introduce and justify its information to the reader? Observe, find patterns and classify:
Toshihiko Fukui, the Bank of Japan's governor, declared
Heizo Takenaka, the economic-policy chief in Junichiro Koizumi's cabinet,
Peter Morgan,an economist at HSBC in Tokyo,
China, Japan's biggest trading partner,
Retailers, such as Aeon and Ito Yokado,
Japan's latest GDP numbers, released on February 16th,
In a recent poll by the Nikkei, Japan's biggest business newspaper,
According to the most recent Tankan survey, the best gauge of Japanese business sentiment
A government survey of consumer sentiment
Most economists now expect
5. Now finish these introductions in your own words:
1) According to The Economist, _____________________________________,
2) Japanese car manufacturers, _____________________________________,
3) Junichiro Koizumi, ________________________________________________,
4) In _____________________________ article in The Economist,
5) The United States, _________________________________________________,
"The final piece" in The Economist Apr. 24th2004
8. Instructional Methods:
Students will work in large and small groups in peer learning situations, cooperating in positive sharing, questioning and brainstorming. The group collectively creates shared knowledge and supports all students at their zones of proximal development. The teacher leads the group, facilitating, managing and modeling. A plethora of learning styles and contributions are invited through multimodal learning: language texts (spoken and written), visual banners, voice and art. By avoiding simplistic right-wrong options students gain confidence to question and explore. The homework options allow students choice and motivate to move beyond the classroom to real life application.
10. Mode of assessment of student learning:
The presentation of student homework in the following session allows the teacher to assess whether learning objectives have been achieved.
Galtung, J. (1998) A short list of tasks for Peace Correspondents, Appendix A, The Peace Journalism Option, January 1998.
Jenkins, T., & Reardon, B. A. (2007). Gender and peace: Towards an gender inclusive, holistic perspective. In C.P. Webel, & J. Galtung (Eds.), Handbook of Peace and Conflict Studies (pp. in press). New York: Routledge.
Please check the English for Teachers course at Pilgrims website.
Please check the British Life, Language and Culture course at Pilgrims website.
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