Single Stories (UK)

In the previous lesson, students began the first stage of the Facing History & Ourselves scope and sequence, ‘Individual and Society’, by considering the complexity of answering the question ‘Who am I?’ In this lesson, students will continue to explore the relationship between individual and society by examining how we so often believe ‘single stories’ and stereotypes about groups of people. The activities that follow ask students to reflect on the basic human behaviour of applying categories to the people and things we meet, and to think about the circumstances in which ‘single stories’ about others can be harmful or even dangerous.

Before you teach this lesson, please review the following guidance to tailor this lesson to your students’ contexts and needs.

Activity 1 Journal Response: Responding to Assumptions

Begin the lesson by giving students a few minutes to write in their journals in response to the following questions:

• Has someone else ever made an assumption about you because of some aspect of your identity? 
• Was it a positive assumption or a negative one? 
• How did you find out about the assumption? 
• How did you respond?

As this is quite a personal reflection, it is important that students do not need to share it.

Activity 2 Understanding Stereotype

Tell students that the assumptions we make about each other are sometimes based on stereotypes. Define stereotype and explain the relationship between stereotype, prejudice, and discrimination.

Activity 3 Watch a Video that Explains the Danger of ‘Single Stories’

• Tell students that next they will be exploring the relationship between storytelling and stereotyping, as well as what it means to have a ‘single story’ of a person or group of people.
• Show the video of Adichie’s TED Talk The Danger of a Single Story (from the start to 6:34).
• Alternatively, you can pass out and read aloud the corresponding section from the reading The Danger of a Single Story.

Activity 4 Discuss ‘Single Stories’ in Concentric Circles

To debrief Adichie’s TED Talk, have students stand in two concentric circles, facing a partner in the opposite circle, and use the prompts below to begin the discussion. Ask students to rotate to a new partner for each new prompt.

• What does Adichie mean by a ‘single story’? What examples does she give?
• How did Adichie learn single stories about others? How did these stories impact her understanding of herself and of others? 
• According to Adichie, why can ‘single stories’ be dangerous? What is the relationship between ‘single stories’ and stereotypes?

Activity 5 Write about the Connection between ‘Single Stories’ and Stereotypes

• After the concentric circle discussion, use the quotation below or one or more of the subsequent questions as a prompt to allow for individual student reflections in their journals. Encourage students to use resources, such as their notes from today’s lesson, and identity charts, to help them make connections between ‘single stories’ and stereotyping.
  ‘The single story creates stereotypes, and the problem with stereotypes is not that they are untrue, but that they are incomplete. They make one story become the only story.’ (Adichie)

  • What single stories have you noticed that others have about you? 

    • What dilemmas have you experienced when others view you differently than you view yourself?

  • What single stories have you noticed that you hold about others? 

    • What dilemmas have you seen arise when we view others differently than they view themselves?

  • What steps can you take, or have you taken, to challenge these single stories? 

• Lead the class in a discussion that allows students to share their ideas about the concentric circle questions and journal responses with the whole group.

Activity 6 Close the Discussion with a Wraparound Activity

If time allows, tell the class that they will be sharing a concluding idea in a Wraparound activity. As you go around the room, students can share a memorable word or short phrase from the lesson. It could be something they wrote or something they heard from a classmate (or from ‘The Danger of a Single Story’).

Extension Activity Explore Why ‘Little Things Are Big’

The reading Little Things Are Big provides students with the opportunity to examine how the stereotypes we believe about each other can affect our choices. The author of this piece describes a dilemma he faced over whether or not to help a woman late at night on the New York City subway. The dilemma he describes, and his own evaluation of the choice he made, can provide the basis for a meaningful and engaging class discussion. Consider sharing the reading with students and using the connection questions that follow for discussion and reflection.