Avoiding ‘Othering’ and Polarisation When Engaging in Social Action

Before teaching this lesson, please review the following information to help guide your preparation process.

Activity 1 Reflect on ‘Othering’

Explain to students that in today’s lesson they will be reflecting on how to avoid ‘othering’ and fuelling polarisation when engaging in social action or activism, and responding to violence and injustice.

First, ask students to note down their responses to the following prompts in their journal, explaining that they will not need to share their answers. 

• Think of a time when you felt judged or ‘othered’ by someone else.
  • What happened in the situation? 
  • How did it make you feel? 
  • What, if anything, were the consequences?
• Think of a time when you judged or ‘othered’ someone else.
  • What happened in the situation? 
  • What were the consequences of your actions?
  • How could you have behaved differently? What would have helped you do this? 

You might then wish to lead a short class discussion inviting students to reflect on why people judge or ‘other’ people, how these types of behaviours impact those ‘othered’ and what can be done to prevent them. 

You might also invite students to reflect on the societal consequences of judging and ‘othering’ people using the following questions: 

• Forms of hatred that target specific groups can lead to people who are, or are perceived to be, members of such groups, being ‘othered’ and targeted.
  • What might be the consequences of this?
  • Have you seen any examples of hate and ‘othering’ in society?
  • What do you think can be done to counter this? 

Then, lead a short class discussion, inviting students to share their views before explaining that ‘othering’ can also lead to polarisation* as people fail to extend empathy towards and understand other people’s viewpoints. 

 *Polarisation (noun): A situation in which people or opinions are divided into opposing groups.

Activity 2 Establish Classroom Norms

Next, explain to students that they will now consider how to create a reflective and supportive learning environment to facilitate their upcoming discussions. 

If you have a classroom contract, review it as a class. If you do not have one, share the following list of norms and ask students to reflect in pairs if there is anything they would revise, delete or add to the list so it reflects the norms that they think are important to uphold in the lesson’s discussion: 

• Listen with respect. Try to understand what someone is saying before rushing to judgement.
• Make comments using ‘I’ statements.
• If someone says something that hurts or offends you, do not attack the person. Acknowledge that the comment – not the person – hurt your feelings and explain why.
• Put-downs are never okay.
• If you don’t understand something, ask a question.
• Think with your head and your heart.
• Share the talking time – provide room for others to speak

Then, lead a short class discussion, inviting students to share their thoughts on important norms to guide their discussion and collect their ideas on the board. 

Finally, ask students to select two norms that they would like to commit to upholding during class discussion and to write these norms, and their reasons for selecting them, in their journals.

Activity 3 Reflect on the ‘Universe of Obligation’

Inform students that they will be considering how their own ‘universe of obligation’ influences how they view others. 

Explain to them that the sociologist Helen Fein coined the phrase ‘universe of obligation’ to describe the group of individuals within a society ‘toward whom obligations are owed, to whom rules apply, and whose injuries call for amends’. ¹ Although Fein uses the term to describe the way nations determine who belongs, we might also refer to an individual’s ‘universe of obligation’ to describe the circle of other individuals that a person feels responsibility to care for and protect. In this activity, students will engage with this aspect of the concept.

Distribute the handout Universe of Obligation Excerpt and read it as a class. Then, discuss the following questions:

1. What factors influence the ways individuals determine who is within their own ‘universe of obligation’? 
2. In what ways might an individual signal who is part of their ‘universe of obligation’ and who is not?
3. What do you think might be some of the consequences for those who are not within an individual’s ‘universe of obligation’? A society’s ‘universe of obligation’? 

Then, ask students to create their own ‘universe of obligation’ using the Universe of Obligation Graphic Organiser. Once they have finished, ask them to reflect on the following prompts in a private journal entry:

1. How might your ‘universe of obligation’ make you feel closer to certain conflicts, crises, or groups of people in the news? You can think about examples related to [insert current event], or reflect on other issues in the news.
2. What do you think might be gained if people challenge themselves to expand their ‘universe of obligation’ to include more conflicts, crises, or groups of people in the news/society? 

• What do you think might be lost if they don’t?

Let students know that while it is natural to feel a greater affinity towards those whom we perceive to be closer to us, it is also important to extend compassion to groups of people we may not automatically feel a connection with. 

Then, if desired, lead a short class discussion using the following questions: 

• How might the concept of a ‘universe of obligation’ help us to understand ‘othering’ in society?
• How might the concept of a ‘universe of obligation’ help us to understand the polarisation* in relation to the recent violence in __________ , or any other outbreaks of violence?
• How can extending our ‘universe of obligation’ to include all humans help us understand our role in challenging violence and injustice perpetrated against all innocent civilians? 

*Polarisation (noun): A situation in which people or opinions are divided into opposing groups.

Activity 4 Consider How to Avoid Fuelling Polarisation When Acting

Explain to students that they will now consider how they can avoid fuelling polarisation if they choose to take action in response to the violence and/or any issues in the news. 

As a class, read the handout Taking Action Without Fuelling Polarisation.

Ask students:

1. Why can types of activism that are rooted in ‘win-lose’ approaches harm people’s mental health? 
2. Why is it important to reflect on the impact that holding anger and contempt towards others can have on individuals? On society?
3. Brooks outlines some types of activism that move people beyond ‘us’ and ‘them’ narratives. 
   • What are these?
   • What are other examples of actions that people can take? 
4. How might the shift ‘from winning to helping’ when taking action help people to expand their ‘universe of obligation’ and avoid fuelling polarisation?
5. What ‘helping’ activities do you think can be used to respond to conflict/violence in general, or to issues in the news that you are currently concerned about?

Then, if there is time, you might also ask students to reflect on the following prompts, adapted from Project Zero’s ‘The 4 Ifs’ thinking routine, ² in their journals.

Before you begin, you might ask them to consider what is meant by ‘centring humanity’.

Be sure that they understand this means avoiding engaging in behaviours and actions that ‘other’ people and contribute to polarisation. 

1. If I take the principle of centring humanity when taking action, what are the day-to-day implications for how I live my life? 
   • What might my personal actions and behaviours look like? 
   • What might I choose to do differently? 
2. If my community takes the principle of centring humanity when taking action, what are the implications for our collective action and behaviour? 
   • What new actions would we take on? 
   • What current actions or behaviours might we need to change?
3. If our world takes the principle of centring humanity when taking action, what are the implications for our world? 
   • What current and future policies, proposals and actions are needed? 
   • What wrongs need to be righted?
4. If we don’t follow the principle of centring humanity when taking action, what could happen?

Activity 5 Reflect on the Content of the Lesson

Invite students to close the lesson by responding to the following questions in their journals: 

• What does the content of this lesson teach us about how we can approach social action and activism? 
• How, if at all, does the content of the lesson help you understand the ‘othering’ and polarisation that exists in society in relation to outbreaks of violence and conflict?
• How, if at all, will the content of this lesson impact how you stand up against violence and injustice?

You might then invite students to share their thoughts on one of the questions in a wraparound.

• 1Helen Fein, Accounting for Genocide (New York: Free Press, 1979), 4.
• 2R. ​​Church, The Power of Making Thinking Visible: Practices to Engage and Empower All Learners (San Francisco, CA: Jossey Bass, 2020).