Lesson Plan

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GkxaBKd8SwA&feature=related

School

'Remember, boys

we are the school

on top of the hill'

When we practiced the haka

in assembly, one boy couldn't

do it right, he wasn't manly

enough, kept slapping his hands

like a girl, so the leader of

the rugby team pulled him out

front, and made him do it

alone

In later years

one of the teachers

passing a third former

tied to a tree with his tie

asked if the boy was all right

on his way to class

You would think

the first punch

would surprise you

more than hurt you

but that wasn't the case

it hurt so much

i couldn't breathe

'Remember, boys

we are the school

on top of the hill'

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“Kapa o Pango"

Kapa o Pango kia whakawhenua au i ahau!

(All Blacks, let me become one with the land!)

Hī aue, hī!

Ko Aotearoa e ngunguru nei! (This is our land that rumbles)

Au, au, aue hā! (It’s my time! It’s my moment!)

Ko Kapa o Pango e ngunguru nei! (This defines us as the All Blacks)

Au, au, aue hā! (It’s my time! It’s my moment!)

I āhahā!

Ka tū te ihiihi (Our dominance)

Ka tū te wanawana (Our supremacy will triumph)

Ki runga ki te rangi e tū iho nei, tū iho nei, hī! (And be placed on high)

Ponga rā! (Silver fern!)

Kapa o Pango, aue hī! (All Blacks!)

Ponga rā! (Silver fern!)

Kapa o Pango, aue hī, hā! (All Blacks!)

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The "Kapa o Pango" haka created controversy when the gesture of a thumb drawn down the throat was interpreted by many observers as implying throat slitting. The All Blacks and Māori interpreted it as drawing the breath of life into the heart and lungs ("hauora"). This led to calls for it to be banned, although a poll conducted in July 2006 showed 60 percent support in New Zealand.

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Lesson Plan – ‘School’ Poem Reading

The students: Ss are mostly freshmen or sophomore. They are volunteer Ss in a ‘Global Zone Conversation’ class. If Ss complete 32 hours over 1 semester they’re given an automatic A grade. However the number of credits offered is small. Class sizes vary a lot; they can be as small as 2-3 and as large as 10-15.

Some Ss are quite capable of conversation, many fumble and pause a lot and some are rather inept at both understanding and responding.

Materials: There will be two materials available. The first item will be a short video introducing the New Zealand haka and New Zealand rugby, in the form of a traditional Maori dance performed by the New Zealand National Rugby team ‘the All Blacks’ (see link above). The second item will be an A4 sheet for each Ss with a translation of the haka on one side and the poem on the other.

Lesson Goal/Rationale:

The primary goal is to create a ‘critical’ atmosphere in which Ss are encouraged to share their own readings of the poem and the ways in which they might relate to the content and tone of the poem. ‘School’ is oppositional in tone and intent; hopefully it can elicit an emotional response from Ss and a comparison between the poems’ culture and their own. Korea has a long history of protesting to and of responding to education. It's possible Ss have high school experiences of their own they can share/compare. ‘School’ is a poem that criticizes the culture from which it speaks and so one of the goals in using this poem is to share how criticizing one’s own culture is something that people do and that it is ok to do so.

There are no specific target language functions or structures. That would be an undesirable limitation of what Ss may potentially have to say. The ideal lesson is one in which the Ss explore the meanings of the poem with minimal input from the teacher.

Potential problems/obstacles:

Ss inexperience with poetry and an unwillingness to commit to sharing their ideas. Language/cultural/confidence barriers.

Activities:

The class could function as one large group, or perhaps Ss could be separated into smaller groups (if separated, groups of 2, 3, or 4 are suggested).

1)Share the video.

It is recommended that the teacher tell the Ss that while the haka they see is a war dance performed by men, it can also be performed by mixed groups, and women and children. It can be a war dance but it can also be done for amusement, as a way of welcoming guests and a way to celebrate great accomplishments or occasions.

2)Share the translation of the haka. Invite discussion and questions. Perhaps ask Ss if there is anything similar in their culture.

3)Share the poem. Explain that the poem is talking about a traditional single sex high school in New Zealand.

If Ss seem to be having difficulty visualizing what is happening in some of the stanzas, it might be a good idea to ask Ss to cover up the poem with a blank sheet of paper and then uncover a stanza at a time. Before inviting discussion of the second and third stanzas, the teacher could offer a brief description of what is happening:

Stanza 2: an assembly of young boys all of the same age group are practicing their school haka in an auditorium. The seats at the back are higher up than those at the front. The school’s rugby team is angrily leading the haka, facing the younger boys as they demonstrate.

Stanza 3: a boy is trapped next to a tree near the middle of the school grounds. His tie is knotted around his neck and the trunk of the tree.

A way to encourage discussion might be for the teacher to ask questions in an attempt to lead Ss towards asking questions of their own. The more Ss engage in dialogue together the better. Please refer to the next page of the handout in which potential questions and potential readings of lines are offered. Use these at your own discretion.

NB: This poem was written by me. Because of the personal nature of the poem and because I don’t want to inhibit Ss in their responses, I wouldn’t tell them who wrote the poem. Instead I would describe the author as a friend of mine. That would bolster the credibility of my relating of the events of each stanza. If another teacher were to use this poem they should feel free to reference this lesson plan as their source of information and myself as its author.

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'School' Potential Discussion Questions/Line Readings

(the poem should be read with mini pauses between each line)

'Remember, boys

we are the school

on top of the hill'

Who is speaking? From what authority? Who is the (ideal) audience?

A teacher speaking to students? School director/rector? A boy (student speaking to students) or a man (ex- student speaking to ex-students)? Boys = innocence/youth; Is the audience ‘boys now’ or ‘boys then', or society as a whole? Patriarchy? Single sex school: Korean parallel? Is the ‘hill’ literal or figurative?(both). A message about the role of education in society? Hegemony / Where is power coming from? How is it maintained?

When we practiced the haka

in assembly one boy couldn't do it right, he wasn't manly

enough, kept slapping his hands

like a girl, so the leader of

the rugby team pulled him out

front and made him do it

alone

Why practiced? How is culture replicating itself? ‘haka’ juxtaposed with ‘Assembly’? Two cultures mixing? Positive or negative or neither? What is ‘right’? What is ‘manly’?

Girl’s game? ‘like a girl’ shameful? Gender scorn? Pack mentality? Sexual image? Masturbation? An all boys school feminizing some boys? What does that mean about our concept of masculine and feminine, how constructed is the separation? Why is the boy isolated? Failure to be the same as everyone else results in being ostracized. A tragedy: forcing yourself to do something not right for you. A tragedy of not being quite normal enough.

In later years

one of the teachers

passing a third former

tied to a tree with his tie

asked if the boy was alright

on his way to class

The first line builds context: space and time relationship. More than one teacher / a school is a complex/complete system. What age is a third former? (approximately 13 years old). A third former is in their first year of high school. A NZ high school goes for 5 years. What is the stanza's image? Ask Ss to draw it? Who is going to class? What has happened here?

You would think

the first punch

would surprise you

more than hurt you

but that wasn't the case

it hurt so much

i couldn't breathe

‘You’ who is being addressed? Reader? Speaker to himself? No one in particular? Ex-students? Ambiguous audience? ‘think’ irony? A mockery of violent culture? Of humanity? A lack of thought? What is the impact of this line? Violence: a sucker punch to the belly. Why a small i? Deliberate? Boy image?

'Remember, boys

we are the school

on top of the hill'

Why is the stanza repeated? Is this the same speaker as the first stanza? Things don’t change? The student becomes the teacher...‘Remember’: a reminder that it is our memories that help the system self replicate/sustain itself… The poem is an admonition? A cry out for change, or is that a too positive interpretation?

Are all the stanzas about the same boy? Is he the speaker ‘i’ we meet in the 4th stanza? (the 2nd and 3rd stanza are both about different boys) Can we tell from just a reading of the poem?

Who is speaking? From what authority? Who is the (ideal) audience? What kinds of people are described? What feelings is the poem trying to conjure? What is the poems purpose? The individual narrative as part of a larger resistance movement?