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How does worldview affect the decisions people make?
Students will:
Please note that this lesson has been adapted from our earlier lesson based on the film Collateral. STARTER 1. Explain that you are going to do a role play exercise. This activity can be done by breaking the class into groups of six students, or by just having one group carry out the role play with the rest involved as an audience. The latter option protects the activity from being undermined by unwilling participants, but denies most of the class the opportunity to be actively involved. Give out one card to each participant in the role play. Explain that on the card is a sentence that sums up the most dearly held belief of their character. Whatever decisions they face in life, they should seek to tailor their thinking to accommodate what is written on the card. The group will be discussing the subject of the school dress code: should there be a school uniform? If so, what should that uniform consist of? If there is no uniform, what restrictions or guidelines should there be about what students should and shouldn't wear? Remind the group that they are not necessarily putting forward their own views, but are playing a character with a specific point of view. Here is a list of the beliefs on the cards: Red is the best colour in the world Red is the colour of evil and should be avoided Absolute freedom of self-expression is essential The sight of bare flesh in public is deeply offensive Never take seriously anything that is said by a blonde Everybody's ideas are equally valid, so everybody in the discussion should get what they want Make sure that the participants have all understood what their instructions mean, and then start the discussion. After a few minutes, stop the role-play and ask the students to reveal what was on their cards. Explain that they all had radically different views about the subject of school uniform, because of the things that they believed. In this lesson you are going to be thinking about worldview that is, the basic principles that someone believes to explain the way the world is and how worldviews have an influence on the decisions that people make in their lives. MAIN ACTIVITIES 2. Show the first clip from the Doctor Who episode Dalek, which can be found on the DVD Doctor Who Season One, Volume 2 (2005) Click here to buy the DVD online. Explain that the Doctor (Christopher Eccleston) has found himself deep underground in a secret museum of alien objects, where he discovers a living Dalek. The Dalek has escaped and is now running amok in the complex, searching for a way to the outside world. Ask the students to pay particular attention to what is revealed about the respective ways that Henry Van Statten (Corey Johnson) and the Dalek each see the world. Start time: 0.20.48 End time: 0.24.19 Clip length: Three minutes and 31 seconds The clip starts with armed guards running. The first line is the shouted 'Civilians let them through'. The last line is the Doctor saying ' and you, Van Statten, you've let it loose'. Ask the students how they would characterise Van Statten's worldview. If they are unsure how to answer this question, you could try asking them what Van Statten says and does in the clip, and how this reveals his thinking. Draw out the following: Van Statten places more value on his unique Dalek exhibit than on the lives of his employees, telling them to stop firing because he doesn't want even a scratch on it. Van Statten tells the Doctor to reason with the Dalek, arguing that 'there must be something that it wants'. He seems to assume that everyone can be bought, and that enough money will always solve any problem. Now ask the students to summarise the Dalek's worldview, drawing out that the Doctor says the Dalek honestly believes that anything different to Daleks is wrong. 3. Ask the students how the Dalek's worldview affects the way it acts, drawing out that a direct result is its killing spree, exterminating everyone it encounters. Earlier in the episode the Doctor has this to say to Van Statten: Do you know what a Dalek is, Van Statten? A Dalek is honest. It does what it was born to do for the survival of its species. That creature in your dungeon is better than you. Ask the students whether they agree with the Doctor's assertion that the Dalek is better than Van Statten. What reasons might there be for making such a statement? What are the counterarguments? 4. Ask the students how they would expect a Christian worldview to differ from the two worldviews you have looked at so far. Write up the students' suggestions as they are made. Give out Bibles and ask the students to read Psalm 8. Working in pairs or small groups, ask them to identify the worldview that is revealed from this Psalm. Possible factors that they might identify include: God made the world God is in charge of the world Humanity is very insignificant compared to God Yet God put humanity in charge of the world under him Therefore humanity will be accountable before God for how they handle this responsibility Take feedback from the students, then lead a discussion about how the scenario in the underground complex would have been different if this worldview had been shown by some or all of the characters (hint: there probably isn't a lot of discussion about the Dalek adopting a Christian worldview, but there may be interesting ground in discussing the Doctor and Van Statten. If you want, show this additional clip, and ask the students to suggest what a Christian worldview would suggest the Doctor should do: Start time: 0.27.38 End time: 0.31.07 Clip length: Three minutes and 29 seconds Start the clip with Van Statten saying 'Perhaps it's time for a new strategy. Stop the clip with the Doctor hesitating to close the bulkheads, knowing that if he does so he may trap Rose along with the Dalek. The last line is Van Statten's 'Doctor, you've got to seal the bulkheads!' If you are slow in stopping the clip, you will give away what the Doctor decides to do! Discuss with the class how a Christian worldview might influence the decision that the Doctor is faced with. If you like you could continue the clip after the discussion, so that the students can see how this scene finishes (the Doctor presses the button, and Rose doesn't make it out. Stop the clip at either 0.32.00 after Rose says 'Sorry, I was a bit slow' or at 0.32.31 when the Dalek says 'Exterminate' (although in fact, the Dalek spares Rose's life, because when he absorbed her DNA earlier in the episode, he began to mutate and take on human qualities). SUMMARY / ASSESSMENT OF LEARNING 5. As a final exercise, ask the students to write a summary (in bullet points) of each of the two world views from the clips (the Dalek's worldview, and Van Statten's worldview) plus the Christian worldview. Students should then write an official report for the incident, from the perspective of a guard who survived. Students may change events as much as necessary, but should record at least one character acting in a way that is consistent with a Christian worldview, and stating the reasons behind that character's actions.
Cards with role-play instructions, cut out in advance A copy of Doctor Who: Series One, Volume 2 (2005) and the means to play it Bibles
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