Hello Everyone and happy Pride,
This is a lesson I created to help celebrate Pride and start an introduction to LGBTQ+ issues and terminology for Japanese students. Overall Japan does support LGBTQ+ people and legislation but there is an overall lack of exposure and education of such issues. This lesson is intended as a very basic introduction to such topics and issues for people just learning English. I am proud of this lesson and have experienced very positive results. Students have responded in an extremely positive way to this lesson with them even talking about the material outside of class in an excited manner. Teachers at my school have also been extremely curious about this lesson and have been extremely supportive of this material. I hope this lesson can encourage that type of discussion in your schools as well.
Main Goals: Students learn basic terminology to describe both themselves or other LGBTQ+ people in their lives. The material itself isn't the main focus, exposure is the most important part of a lesson like this. This lesson does introduce some higher level concepts for 2nd and 3rd year students but in a reduced manner. Feel free to adjust the difficulty of material to fit your students' level.
Prep: The lesson requires the use of a projector/TV so students can see the PowerPoint, a computer for the teacher to present/check answers, and to print out notes and quizzes for each lesson. I also recommend the teacher doing some basic prep before the lesson to learn more about LGBTQ+ history in America and LGBTQ+ history/rights in Japan, wikipedia works well here. Students should not need to do any prep.
During the lesson: This is intended as a lecture style class. There are some small breaks during the lesson for students to do some ordering of events and matching should only take about 3-5 min per small activity. Be as honest as possible about the information, students will have stronger reactions to the honesty and be more willing to learn more. Especially when describing how LGBTQ+ people have been treated in the past and the counties where LGBTQ+ acts are currently illegal. Also when describing LGBTQ+ people, keep the focus on Japan, make sure students understand that LGBTQ+ people exist here in Japan as well as overseas. Before the lesson starts I recommend asking the JTE to help set the mood for the class by explaining in Japanese the importance of this lesson and asking them to try to focus as much as possible. Aside from that, this lesson is a general lecture so add whatever you can to keep students from falling asleep.
Considerations: This lesson in its current state may not be appropriate for all students. This lesson was initially made for an all boys high school in Tochigi prefecture that expects a high level of English. Due to the sensitivity of this class, please use your best judgment if this lesson will work for your students. We want our classrooms to be a safe space for all students and as a safety measure it is recommended that this lesson has as minimal talking from students as possible, to avoid any accidental inflammatory statements that make other students feel unsafe. Due to the subject matter, please consult with your school before presenting this material.
Please feel free to add or change whatever you'd like to fit your students and teaching style
Nice powerpoint. You did a good job covering the topic. On slide 38 of the 3rd yr pwpt, there is a misspelling of masculine.
Also since you talk later about gender expression, I would use the full term of 'transgender' rather than just trans.
It wont fit my elementary, but I hope that others schools can try this lesson!