Quebec Competencies Chart – Pushback: Engaging in Online Activism

Author: Lauren Middlemiss and Matthew Johnson, Director of Education, MediaSmarts. The PushBack Timeline was developed and written by Robert Porter as part of The eQuality Project.
Level: Secondary Cycle One and Two
Duration: 1½ to 2 hours class time
Subject Area: English Language Arts, Visual Arts, Ethics and Religious Culture
Lesson Link: https://mediasmarts.ca/teacher-resources/pushback-engaging-online-activism

Description: This lesson explores how young people can use online media for activism on issues that matter to them. Through the discussion and scenarios that are presented, students will develop their knowledge and ability to respond or “push back” against issues they feel passionate about, such as racism, discrimination, sexism – and make a difference. At the end of the lesson students will use The eQuality Project PushBack Timeline to research examples of online youth activism on topics that appeal to them. The end goal of this lesson is to create an understanding of youth activism that can transition into the lives of students outside of the classroom.

Cross-curricular Competencies

  • To use information
  • To solve problems
  • To exercise critical judgement
  • To use creativity
  • To adopt effective work methods
  • To use information and communication technologies (ICT)
  • To construct his/her identity
  • To cooperate with others
  • To communicate appropriately

Broad Areas of Learning

  • Media Literacy
  • Health and Well-Being
  • Environmental Awareness and Consumer Rights and Responsibilities
  • Citizenship and Community Life

This lesson satisfies the following Competencies from the Quebec Education Program:

English Language Arts

To Read and Listen to Literary, Popular and Information-Based Texts

  • To use a response process when reading and listening to literary, popular, and information-based texts
  • To construct her/his own view of the world through reading and listening to literary, popular and information-based texts
  • To construct meaning by applying appropriate reading strategies

To Write Self-expressive, Narrative and Information-based Texts

  • To integrate her/his knowledge of texts into own writing
  • To follow a process when writing
  • To construct profile of self as writer
  • To use writing as a system for communicating and constructing meaning

To Represent Her/His Literacy in Different Media

  • To apply appropriate strategies for constructing meaning
  • To follow a process to respond to media texts
  • To construct her/his own view of the world through the media
  • To follow a production process in order to communicate for specific purposes to a specified audience

To Use Language to Communicate and Learn

  • To use language (talk) to communicate information, experiences and point of view
  • To self-evaluate her/his language development
  • To use language (talk) for learning and thinking
  • To apply her/his knowledge of linguistic structures and features
  • To interact in collaborative group activities in a variety of roles

Visual Arts

To produce media works in the visual arts

  • To use creative ideas inspired by a stimulus for creation of media works
  • To share his/her experience of media creation
  • To use transforming gestures and elements of visual arts language according to the message and the intended viewer
  • To organize the elements that he/she has chosen, depending on the message and the intended viewer
  • To finalize his/her media creation

Ethics and Religious Culture

Reflects on ethical questions

Identifies a situation from an ethical point of view

  • Describes a situation and puts it into context
  • Reformulates a related ethical question in his/her own words
  • Identifies values and norms in the ethical question
  • Identifies tensions

Evaluates options or possible actions

  • Suggests possible actions
  • Looks for the effects of certain actions on oneself, others or the situation
  • Chooses actions to promote that foster community life
  • Reflects on the factors that influenced these choices

Engages in dialogue

Organizes his/her thinking

  • Identifies the subject of dialogue
  • Makes connections between prior knowledge and new knowledge
  • Takes stock of his/her reflections

Develops a point of view

  • Uses his/her resources and available information
  • Recognizes the existence of different ways of perceiving the subject of dialogue

Interacts with others

  • Expresses his/her preferences, feelings or ideas
  • Participates in developing the rules for engaging in dialogue
  • Expresses his/her point of view and listens to others' views