WINDOWS AND MIRRORS
A Tapestry of Faith Program for Children
SESSION 12: MAKING VISIBLE THE INVISIBLE
BY BY GABRIELLE FARREL, NATALIE FENIMORE AND JENICE VIEW SUSAN LAWRENCE, MANAGING EDITOR/DEVELOPMENTAL EDITOR AISHA HAUSER, CHILDREN AND FAMILIES PROGRAM DIRECTOR/DEVELOPMENTAL EDITOR
© Copyright 2009 Unitarian Universalist Association.
Published to the Web on 11/8/2014 11:59:09 PM PST.
This program and additional resources are available on the UUA.org web site at
www.uua.org/religiouseducation/curricula/tapestryfaith.
SESSION OVERVIEW
INTRODUCTION
Let him who expects one class of society to prosper in the highest degree, while the other is in distress, try whether one side of the face can smile while the other is pinched. — Thomas Fuller (1608-1661), British clergyman and author
Grade school children begin to ask the big questions that adults do, such as, "What makes me human? Why am I alive? What happens when I die?" Also like adults, they ask, "Where do I fit in?" Children get their answers the same way adults do—by looking around, comparing themselves to others and noticing how others see them.
This session introduces a working definition of class as one's relative status according to wealth, power and position. We guide children to examine themselves in these terms and to discuss what it means to compare people in these ways. We focus participants' attention on people and classes they might be unaware of—the unseen workers who grow and prepare their food, make their clothing, and build and maintain our societal infrastructure. We come full circle to understanding how our first Unitarian Universalist Principle transcends class and guides us to challenge society's systems of comparative human worth.
Facilitate with care. Assume the group includes a range of socio-economic class identities. Children may offer to self-identify their socio-economic class or speculate about others'. Affirm their right to explore class categories. Emphasize that these categories are subjective. They matter to some people, yet they are not fixed and they do not determine the worth of anyone.
GOALS
This session will:
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
Participants will:
SESSION-AT-A-GLANCE
Activity | Minutes |
Opening | 5 |
Activity 1: Some People Think They're Better than Others | 5 |
Activity 2: Balance Challenge — Part I | 5 |
Activity 3: Story — Yammani and the Soji | 10 |
Activity 4: The Clothes on My Back | 10 |
Activity 5: Balance Challenge — Part II | 5 |
Activity 6: Window/Mirror Panel — Making Invisible Hands Visible | 15 |
Faith in Action: Thank You Notes | 15 |
Closing | 5 |
Alternate Activity 1: Journaling — From My Class Perspective | 10 |
SPIRITUAL PREPARATION
Find a place where you can be quiet with your thoughts. Make yourself comfortable; light a candle to mark the time as different from your other activities. Close your eyes and breathe deeply and perhaps repeat a word or phrase to separate yourself from the activities of the day. After opening your eyes, consider:
Review what you know about socio-economic class identities within your congregation, specifically among the families whose children are in the Windows and Mirrors group. The group may include children who feel, or whose parents feel, invisible like the Soji underclass in this session's story. Consider how you can create a safe climate for all the children to expand their awareness of socio-economic class. Resolve to develop children's understanding that people's worth is absolute, no matter their wealth.
SESSION PLAN
OPENING (5 MINUTES)
Materials for Activity
Preparation for Activity
Description of Activity
This ritual welcoming reminds participants of the relational nature of the group experience. Gather the children in a circle around the chalice. Invite them to take a deep breath and release it, and create a deep silence for a moment.
Ask a volunteer to take a reading from the Opening Words Basket and read it aloud. Invite another volunteer to light the chalice. Then, lead a greeting:
Now we will take a moment to greet the people next to us. If you are next to someone who is new to our group, offer a welcome, tell them your first and last name, and learn their name.
Lead the group in singing the hymn you have chosen. Singing a congregational favorite helps children grow in their sense of belonging in congregational life.
If you choose not to sing, use a bell to signal the group to still themselves for another moment of silence.
Ask the child who lit the chalice to extinguish it. Ask the child who read the opening words to return the reading to the Opening Words Basket.
Including All Participants
If you have a non-sighted participant who reads braille, obtain the braille version of Singing the Living Tradition from UUA Bookstore. The bookstore orders from an outside publisher, so order several weeks ahead.
ACTIVITY 1: SOME PEOPLE THINK THEY'RE BETTER THAN OTHERS (5 MINUTES)
Materials for Activity
Preparation for Activity
Description of Activity
Children learn a working definition of class and explore what it means to be perceived as, or perceive others as, rich, middle class, working class or poor.
Tell the children there are plenty of ways people sometimes think they are better or worse than someone else. Ask them if they can name any of these ways. List their suggestions on newsprint.
Tell the group:
As we can see, there are many ways people compare themselves to others and decide who is better. Today we are going to talk about only the ones that are particularly about wealth and power.
Winnow the list to include only those ideas that are common markers of socio-economic class; eliminate items that are not clearly and specifically about money or power and position. You may end up with some of these:
Now say:
There are some categories people often use to think about who has more money and power and who has less. I am going to say four categories. Think about if you think you fit into any of these. You will not be asked to share what you are thinking.
Read slowly:
Rich, middle class, working class, poor.
Now lead a discussion to bring out what the children think of when they think of each of the four categories. Go down the list of money- and power-related items (home, car, clothes, etc.) and ask, "What kind of home does a rich person have?" "What kind of home does a middle class person have?" and so on.
After some discussion, ask the group:
Now that we are talking about these categories in more detail, think to yourself for a moment. Do you still have the same idea of which category fits you best?
Give a moment for reflection. Then say:
Of course, no one is better than anyone else. But we do see a lot on television and hear a lot in music about these things. Many people believe that being rich is what everyone wants and what is best. How many of us believe this is true?
For those who raise their hands, affirm that this is what everyone learns. Also affirm that though everyone may wish to be rich it does not mean people who are rich are better. Affirm that all human beings, regardless of their social class, are worthy and valuable.
Including All Participants
Social class identity is sensitive and discussions can cause embarrassment. Affirm that although no one need be embarrassed, if people experience it this way, we need to accept that and be compassionate. Explain that we will practice trusting each other to be kind and assume all participate here with good intentions. It may also help to use a chime during this discussion, as a reminder to be quiet so that we can hear ourselves and each other speak.
ACTIVITY 2: BALANCE CHALLENGE — PART I (5 MINUTES)
Materials for Activity
Preparation for Activity
Description of Activity
Invite everyone to stand. Ask them to close their eyes if they are comfortable doing so. Tell them:
When I say, "Go!" raise one foot off the ground and hold it up as long as you can. I will count out loud and when everyone has stepped down, we'll share how long we each were able to do it.
Say, "Go!" and count seconds until all participants have lowered their raised foot. If you are recording scores, note each participant's time on newsprint. Otherwise, ask them to remember their score.
Repeat the exercise, asking participants to lift the other foot.
Repeat again, this time asking participants to lift either foot and balance a book on their heads.
Now ask everyone to think about which position was the most difficult to hold (the position they held for the shortest time). Tell the group:
This time when I say "Go!" try the position that was hardest for you.
Say, "Go!" and count seconds aloud until everyone has stopped, then ask participants to tell you how long they were able to do it and how this compared to the last time.
Invite the children to keep practicing that position from time to time for the rest of the session to try and hold it longer. Tell them they will be able to try for a better score before the session's end.
Including All Participants
If the group has any children who cannot balance on alternate feet, adapt the activity for a balance challenge all can do. Examples might be balancing a book or a sheet of paper on only three fingers, or holding a pencil or crayon between the nose and the upper lip.
ACTIVITY 3: STORY — YAMMANI AND THE SOJI (10 MINUTES)
Materials for Activity
Preparation for Activity
Description of Activity
Before you begin, ring the chime (or other noisemaker). Make eye contact with each participant.
Read or tell the story. Sound the chime again at the end.
Invite the children to think silently on their own about the story.
Say:
Now we are going to practice listening and discussing skills—both are needed to help us understand the story from multiple perspectives. Let's find out what one another thought about the story.
Remind them not to assume others share their opinions. Ask everyone to use "I think" or "I feel" statements. Encourage the group to listen to each comment and then share some silence. Use the bell or chime to move between speakers.
Begin a discussion by asking participants to recap the story in their own words. What they recall indicates what they found most meaningful or memorable.
Then use these questions to facilitate discussion, making sure everyone who wants to speak has a chance:
Invite the children to think about their answers to the next question quietly, to themselves. If children are comfortable doing so, you may invite them to close their eyes and give a full minute for the group to reflect on this question:
Variation
You may wish to provide paper and pencils and invite the group to write their responses to the last question privately.
Thank everyone for sharing.
ACTIVITY 4: THE CLOTHES ON MY BACK (10 MINUTES)
Materials for Activity
Preparation for Activity
Description of Activity
Tell the children:
Like the society in the story, ours has many people whose work makes other people's lives more comfortable. People we never notice, like the Soji, do some of the hardest, lowest paid jobs that make our lives better. Sometimes these people are invisible to us because they live far away and do their work in farms or factories where we will never go.
Form small groups of three to five children, each with an adult facilitator. Give each group a sheet of paper and a pencil. Tell them:
I will give each group an item of food or clothing. Use any clues you can find on the item (without opening packages or taking any clothing apart) to list all the people who might have worked to bring the item to us.
Give each group at least one garment or item of packaged food. Allow up to five minutes for groups to generate lists. Walk around and affirm groups' work. You may wish to prompt with these questions:
To conclude, reconvene and ask a volunteer from each group to present some of the formerly "invisible" people who helped create the item they analyzed.
Say:
Of course we have never met these people. Most of us eat food and wear clothes without ever meeting anyone who helped make them for us.
What are some ways we can express our gratitude for the people who make things we use—the invisible hands that help us? How can we affirm that the people who do these jobs are as important and valuable as you or I?
Allow some comments. Affirm that by treating every person we encounter with respect, we convey our gratitude for the things we use that others made, and affirm that every person is equally important, no matter where they live or what kind of work they do.
ACTIVITY 5: BALANCE CHALLENGE — PART II (5 MINUTES)
Materials for Activity
Description of Activity
Children re-attempt the balance challenge from Activity 2 and experience their own ability to improve a skill by practice. Help children remember which position they each chose to improve and invite them to remember their best score. Invite everyone to stand and practice that skill for a minute or two.
Then quiet the group. Ask them to close their eyes, if they are comfortable doing so, and try for a new best score at their balance skill when you say, "Go!"
Say, "Go!" Count seconds until all participants have left their balance positions. If you are recording scores, note each participant's time on newsprint. Otherwise, ask volunteers to tell whether they beat their best scores, and by how many seconds.
Point out that in a complicated society where some people seem to have so much more money and power than others, it can be hard to remember that every single person is exactly as important as everyone else; money and power do not give people extra worth or potential. Say, in your own words:
You can improve your ability to see all people as equal by practicing it, just as you can improve your ability to balance.
Including All Participants
If the group has any children who cannot balance on alternate feet, adapt the activity for a balance challenge all can do, as in Activity 2.
ACTIVITY 6: WINDOW/MIRROR PANEL — MAKING INVISIBLE HANDS VISIBLE (15 MINUTES)
Materials for Activity
Preparation for Activity
Description of Activity
Ask the children to bring their Window/Mirror Panels to work tables. Distribute magazines to cut up. Say, in your own words:
Look through the magazines and find an image that represents something you love having or doing. Then, reflect on the image you chose. Think about the place, activity or item in the picture. Who made it? Who owns those unseen hands? Who are the people not in the picture whose work brings enjoyment to you?
Invite the children to cut out a magazine image of an activity, place or item they enjoy, glue it on blank paper or directly on their Window/Mirror Panel, and indicate the invisible contributors by surrounding the image with drawings, additional magazine cutouts, stamps or stickers (if you have brought them), and/or writing.
You might use these questions to help spark participants' thoughts:
Give the group a two-minute warning so they have time to affix their images to their Window/Mirror panels, clean up materials and store their Window/Mirror panels.
CLOSING (5 MINUTES)
Materials for Activity
Preparation for Activity
Description of Activity
Explain that the session is almost over and we now have to work together as community to clean the meeting space. First, everyone should clean up their own personal area, put away materials they were using and store their Window/Mirror Panel. Then they may clean another area or help someone else. No one should sit in the circle until all are done.
Then bring the group back to the circle. Ask them to think about what happened today that was good or what they wish had gone better. If you are running short of time you can ask them for a "thumbs up" or "thumbs down" on the session.
Invite each participant to say, in a word or sentence, why it is important for them to be a part of this faith community. You may go around the circle for responses; allow individuals to speak or pass.
Then ask everyone to hold hands and say together:
Keep alert;
Stand firm in your faith;
Be courageous and strong;
Let all that you do be done in love. — 1 Corinthians 16
If this is the first time the group is using "namaste," briefly explain its origin and meaning. Then, lead the group in the word and bowing gesture. Or, substitute "thank you." Invite each participant to bow their head to the individuals on either side and then bow to the center of the circle and say "thank you" together.
Distribute the Taking It Home handout you have prepared. Thank and dismiss participants.
FAITH IN ACTION: THANK YOU NOTES (15 MINUTES)
Materials for Activity
Preparation for Activity
Description of Activity
A very simple way to show respect and appreciation for work done by unseen hands is to thank people who help make our communities run more smoothly. In this activity, the children write thank-you notes to congregational staff and volunteers.
Form small groups of children to write and decorate cards for different people. Brainstorm how they can tailor their cards to the specific tasks performed by each person. Cards could mention how clean the bathrooms are, how comfortable the indoor climate is or how safe the children feel. Direct children to the newsprint for correct spelling of names.
Collect completed cards. Share with the group your plan for distributing the cards. You may wish to engage children in distributing them personally, perhaps during coffee hour. And/or, obtain postal mail addresses of employees or contracted staff from your administration and send cards by postal mail.
Including All Participants
Assist any child who has difficulty writing; some may wish to dictate the text of a card for you to write and then decorate the outside themselves. You may invite some children to pair up with one to write and the other to decorate a card.
LEADER REFLECTION AND PLANNING
Reflect on and discuss with your co-leader(s):
Approach your director of religious education for guidance, as needed.
TAKING IT HOME
Let him who expects one class of society to prosper in the highest degree, while the other is in distress, try whether one side of the face can smile while the other is pinched. — Thomas Fuller (1608-1661), British clergyman and author
IN TODAY’S SESSION…
We reflected on how we view ourselves in terms of socio-economic class, using simple categories of rich, middle class, working class, and poor. We talked about how we learn to compare people in these ways. We reinforced our first Unitarian Universalist Principle, the inherent worth and dignity of every person—no matter how much money or power they have.
We focused participants’ attention on people and classes they might be unaware of—the unseen workers who grow and prepare our food, make our clothing, build our infrastructure and provide our luxuries. The children heard “Yammani and the Soji,” a story by Kenneth Collier about a society where the very reverent, supposedly religious leaders neglect to value workers they consider to be of a low class.
EXPLORE THE TOPIC TOGETHER. Talk about…
How notions of socio-economic class affect your family. How do you perceive yourselves? How does embracing a class identity (e.g., rich, middle class, working class or poor) help your family? How does it hurt you?
EXTEND THE TOPIC TOGETHER. Try…
A FAMILY ADVENTURE
Visit a downtown area, a museum, a library, a grocery store, a park or a shopping mall together. Bring notebooks and pens and take some time to identify and acknowledge the invisible hands that make it possible for you to enjoy your excursion. Identify the behind-the-scenes workers such as plumbers, farmers, bakers, masons, etc.
A FAMILY GAME
Play one of the board games, Monopoly or Life, as a family, paying particular attention to the ways the game confers status and power on players. What message is sent when a player achieves or loses wealth or power by the roll of the dice? In what ways are these games like, and unlike, real life?
ALTERNATE ACTIVITY 1: JOURNALING — FROM MY CLASS PERSPECTIVE (10 MINUTES)
Materials for Activity
Description of Activity
Introduce the idea of journaling as a spiritual practice. A spiritual practice is an activity that helps us be more connected to ourselves and to others and to the divine—to God, if one believes. Journaling offers an opportunity to be reflective in a very attentive way that can help us understand life better. Ask if anyone has kept a journal before. If someone raises their hand, ask if they would be willing to share why and how.
Explain that each person is going to consider their class identity silently. Tell participants that when you sound the chime, they may close their eyes if they are comfortable doing so or focus their gaze away from others.
Sound the chime. Say:
Reflect about your life, in relation to what we did here today. How do you see yourself or your family in terms of wealth and power? Do you have a social class identity? Do you choose it, or have others given it to you? What about your class identity makes you feel proud? Are there things that embarrass you about this identity? Write your reflections, or express them by drawing.
After about five minutes, thank the children for their participation. Tell them their reflections are intended to remain private. Ask them to fold their papers and put them their pockets. Optional: Distribute envelopes and invite participants to seal their reflections inside.
WINDOWS AND MIRRORS: SESSION 12:
STORY: YAMMANI AND THE SOJI
From Our Seven Principles in Story and Verse: A Collection for Children and Adults by Kenneth W. Collier (Boston: Skinner House, 2007). Used with permission.
It was the first day of the Festival of Purification. All the rites and ceremonies had been celebrated and the people purified, the stain of the sins of the old year washed away so that they might approach the coming year with pure hearts and clean minds. All the village had gathered at the Great Hall for feasting and dancing—and especially for the stories. This year the great storyteller Yammani had come to their village for the festival. Everyone had gathered—that is, everyone except the Soji clan, who were fit only for necessary but demeaning work such as burying the dead and disposing waste.
The people owned no slaves, for they believed that all must be free to live the lives that the gods had granted them. But there were still certain, distasteful tasks that had to be done, and few people would voluntarily do these things. And so, from time out of mind, the members of the Soji clan had been forced to do them. No one knew any longer why or how it had come about, but the Soji and no one else buried the dead and collected the garbage and spread manure on the fields and did the other unclean work. And because they did these things, no one in the village had anything to do with them—unless to give orders. Most people would not even touch a Soji, or if they did, by accident or through necessity, they would go to the river immediately and wash thoroughly.
That night the feast went on and on until all in the village were satisfied, even the few wanderers who happened to be there. Then the dancing began, with its music and beguilingly graceful movements. But even the most graceful body tires eventually, and in time the music stilled and the dancers sat to rest. Then all eyes turned to Yammani, who had been strangely silent all evening.
"So, Yammani," said the Chief of the Elders, rising and turning to her. "You have come into our village this year, and the time has come for us to hear your story."
"So it has," Yammani replied. "So it has. What story would you have me tell? Shall it be a story of the gods or a story of the people?"
"Tell us a story of how the people may approach the gods, for this is the Festival of Purification."
All evening Yammani had seemed to be brooding, as though she was trying to decide how to tell these people the story they most needed to hear. At this suggestion, her eyes brightened, for she knew what to do.
"There was once a family who lived on their farm in the mountains. Their life was one of hard work, but it was sweet enough. Once every year they came in from the farm to sell their crops and buy the tools and other goods that they needed for the coming year. This particular year, the crops were harvested and the family set out as usual for the town.
"On the way, they were attacked by bandits. All men were murdered and the women and children were taken to be sold as slaves or worse in some far country. The only one to escape was a small child, about six years old, who was hidden by its mother and overlooked in the confusion.
"As it happened, the attack was near a village much like this one. The child, driven by hunger, afraid and crying, made its way into the center where many people had gathered in the market that afternoon. The Chief of the Elders was there, but he was so deeply involved in village affairs that he did not notice one more crying child, even though he passed right by it. Many parents were there and they all heard the child, for what parent does not hear a child crying? Many thought that someone ought to help this poor, frightened child, but all were too busy, too hurried or harried, or had barely enough for their own.
"Toward the end of the day, a Soji came to clean out the stalls of the donkeys and the cattle. When this Soji heard the child crying, he stopped his work to look for it. He held the child and comforted it and dried its tears. And when he found out what had happened, he who had so little and was constantly worried about food for his own children, brought this child into his home and loved it and cared for it and raised it as his own."
In the silence, Yammani turned to the Chief of the Elders and asked, "In this village, who approached the gods?" The Elder cast his eyes to the floor, but Yammani demanded an answer with her burning eyes. Finally the Chief of the Elders whispered, "The Soji."
"Yes. It was the Soji," said Yammani, holding the stillness around her. "It was the Soji." And so saying, she swept out of the village to spend the rest of her life among the Soji.
WINDOWS AND MIRRORS: SESSION 12:
LEADER RESOURCE 1: CLASS IDENTITY DESCRIPTIONS
Class is relative status according to income, wealth, power, and/or position. In the U.S. , it is a confusing and slippery topic. Definitions that make sense to one person may not make sense to another. These definitions are offered in hopes of starting a discussion with shared language. The U.S. has no hard and fast divisions between class groups. Income and wealth are on a spectrum, and most of us move a little up or down the spectrum during our lifetimes. Some people grow up in one class and live as adults in another. For immigrants, there's another layer of confusion, as their class status in their country of origin is often different from their class status in the U.S.
Class Identity Indicators/Markers/Descriptions
Low Income/Poor
Because some low-income people see "poor" as a negatively loaded term, many activists use "low-income" as a more respectful term.
Working Class
Middle Class
Rich/Owning Class
FIND OUT MORE
The story in this session, "Yammani and the Soji," comes from Our Seven Principles in Story and Verse: A Collection for Children and Adults (at www.uuabookstore.org/contributorinfo.cfm?ContribID=296) by Kenneth W. Collier ( Boston : Skinner House, 2007).