Christian Moya

Fulbright-Hays Tanzania
Statement of Purpose
This curricular unit derived from both misery and inspiration. Over my time here as a
member of the Fulbright-Hays Project in Tanzania, I have met many wonderful organizations
that put an abundant amount of time and effort to improve their community by helping those
around them. I have also heard many devastating stories that I wish I could do something about
upon my arrival back to America. With such heartfelt experiences at hand, I thought about my
role as a student and as an educator, and the ways in which I can contribute to both the Tanzania
community and my own. I found the dissemination of knowledge to be of crucial importance in
order to expose the lived realities of many oppressed groups, such as individuals with
disabilities, LGBTQ community, and indigenous tribes.
As a preservice teacher of inclusive classrooms, I felt the discussion of difference, such
as disability, sexual orientation, and culture, to be of crucial importance. My hope is that this
discussion leads students to go beyond tolerance by embracing their own difference and the
difference of others. Part of this comes from finding value in themselves and their own identities.
I want students to know and feel that my classroom is a safe space where they are free to be
themselves and to explore their own identity.
A common thread of lost rights lingers throughout each of the groups, but the experiences
of each individual vary in many ways. My purpose of teaching on oppression and social action is
to create a space for students to think through their own lived realities and seek to consciously
criticize the power dynamics at play in their own communities, while also recognizing the
oppression faced by others. My goal is to create critically conscious students that authentically
and anthropologically aim to improve the lives of others and themselves. My hope is to empower

students to find a medium to voice their own concerns about issues arising globally, but most
especially in their own community.
The curricular unit will look into ways that organizations and/or individuals demonstrate
social activism in an effort to protect the rights and provide equitable opportunities for
disadvantaged groups in Tanzania. Students will begin by internalizing their own identity and the
roles it plays out in society. What follows is looking into the origins of those roles in
understanding how groups of power suppressed those considered less worthy in an effort to
establish a social hierarchy in which they remain on top. Through this, students should
rationalize the origins of this mentality, deem it unfair, concluding that everyone, despite gender,
race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, etc. deserves equal opportunities. With this, students should
think about the power their own thoughts and perceptions have and its resulting consequences.
Lastly, we will then look into the ways that organizations and/or individuals have recognized the
power dynamics and the various ways they have navigated around these situations in an effort to
gain equal rights. As a final project, my hope is to have students create a project that touches on
an issue that they find close to heart.

Curricular Outline
Themes/ Essential Questions
Development of Social Structures
How does identity play into inequalities within society?
Power, Authority and Governance
How do groups in power maintain their authority over others?
Civic Ideals and Practices/ Transformation of Social Structures
How have groups overcome oppression?
Enduring Understandings
Individuals face social and political inequalities based on gender, race, ethnicity, education,
class, age, and religion.
Inequalities derive from false perceptions of others put into action.
Certain social groups deny others of their rights in order to maintain power.
Individuals and/or organizations have effectively struggled for human rights and equality
through different mediums.
Learning Goals
Students will be able to:
Define stereotypes, oppression, social activism, and change
Understand negative implications and the false construction of stereotyping
Recognize the interplay between stereotypes and oppression
Understand that power dynamics are socially constructed
State Standards
Reading
RH.6-8.2. Determine the central ideas or information of a primary or secondary source; provide
an accurate summary of the source distinct from prior knowledge or opinions.
RH.6-8.4. Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, including
vocabulary specific to domains related to history/social studies.
RH.6-8.8. Distinguish among fact, opinion, and reasoned judgment in a text.
Writing
WHST.6-8.2. Write informative/explanatory texts, including the narration of historical events,
scientific procedures/ experiments, or technical processes.
WHST.6-8.8. Gather relevant information from multiple print and digital sources, using search
terms effectively; assess the credibility and accuracy of each source; and quote or paraphrase the
data and conclusions of others while avoiding plagiarism and following a standard format for
citation.
Speaking and Listening
SL.5.1. Engage effectively in a range of collaborative discussions (one-on-one, in groups, and
teacher-led) with diverse partners on grade 5 topics and texts, building on others ideas and
expressing their own clearly.
SL.5.4. Report on a topic or text or present an opinion, sequencing ideas logically and using
appropriate facts and relevant, descriptive details to support main ideas or themes; speak clearly
at an understandable pace.

SL.5.5. Include multimedia components (e.g., graphics, sound) and visual displays in
presentations when appropriate to enhance the development of main ideas or themes.
Knowledge and Skills
Research, reading and writing, organizing and planning events, artistic expression, analyzing,
critiquing.
Learning Objectives/ Experiences
Week 1: Introduction to Concepts
Essential Question: How does identity play into society?
Enduring Understanding: Students will understand the roles that their own gender, race,
ethnicity, education, age and religion exist within society.
Students will be introduced to new concepts, such as stereotypes, oppression, social activism,
and change.
Identify and recognize new concepts in the media, film and news
Internalize identity and its implications in society
"Cross the Line" Activity
Uncover stereotypes and find counter examples to prove false
Week 2: Development of Social Structures
Essential Question: What are the origins of social and political inequalities?
Enduring Understanding: Inequalities derive from false perceptions of others put into action.
Introduce students to final culminating project
Have students start thinking about a topic in their community they would like to explore
Brainstorm different groups and chart out the ways they are
Week 3: Power, Authority, and Governance
Essential Question: How do certain groups maintain power over others?
Enduring Understandings: Certain social groups deny others of their rights in order to maintain
power.
Week 4: Civic Ideals and Practices/ Transformation of Social Structures
Essential Question: How have groups overcome these challenges?
Enduring Understanding: Students will look into ways individuals and organizations, specifically
within the context of Tanzania, have navigated around oppression in an effort to gain equal
rights.
Students will develop a storybook regarding issues they find in their own community
Assad
Week 5: Final Presentations of Projects
Essential Question: How can you overcome the challenges you face in your community?
Enduring Understanding: Students will understand that they, too, are capable of making a
difference in their community.
Students will finalize their projects and prepare for presentation
Students will present their project to the class

Lesson One
Introduction to Curricular Unit
Objectives
Students will:
Recognize the concepts of identity,
oppression, social activism and
change.
Enduring Understandings
Individuals face social and political
inequalities based on gender, race,
ethnicity, education, class, age, and
religion.
Inequalities derive from false
perceptions of others put into action.
Certain social groups deny others of
their rights in order to maintain power.
Individuals and/or organizations have
effectively struggled for human rights
and equality through different
mediums.
Materials
Toy Story 3
Worksheet and/or Journal
Chart Paper
Markers
Accessibility
The movie will be played with captions and
will be paused to ensure that students are
catching significant moments.
Assessment
Students will be asked to identify situations in
the movie in which the characters experience
identity, stereotypes, oppression, social
activism and change.

Procedures

1. Students will define concepts of identity, oppression and social activism on chart
paper and will respond to each others answers (written conversation).
2. Definitions will be put onto www.wordle.com for students to see what others are
thinking of as well. Definitions will also be provided from Websters dictionary.
3. Students will be asked to recognize cases in which the characters in the movie Toy
Story 3 encounter issues with identity, oppression and social activism.
4. Students will be asked to think of the following questions:
What stereotypes did the old toys at
Sunnyside have of the new toys?
How were the new toys treated when first
arriving to Sunnyside?
How was Lotso able to maintain power?
How were the new toys able to navigate
around oppression?
5. Play the movie and pause during crucial moments where students can jot down
notes.
6. Have students sit in a circle and discuss observations they have made throughout
the movie.

Extension
* Discussion

Lesson Two
Cross the Line
Objectives
Students will:
Understand that oppression runs
across various groups and can be
harmful to ones well-being
Enduring Understandings
Individuals face social and political
inequalities based on gender, race,
ethnicity, education, class, age, and
religion.
Inequalities derive from false
perceptions of others put into action.
Certain social groups deny others of
their rights in order to maintain power.
Individuals and/or organizations have
effectively struggled for human rights
and equality through different
mediums.
Materials
Tape
Journals
Accessibility
Students are free to sit out of the activity as
long as they are consciously thinking of the
answers.
Assessment
Reflection

Procedures
1. Lay down tape from one side of the room to the other, creating a line in the middle
of the classroom.
2. Have students stand on either side of the tape.
3. Introduce the activity and let students know the intensity and the challenges of the
activity, asking them of their sensitivity and respect for others by keeping silent
throughout.
4. Students will be asked to stand on the line of they:

b
Have been teased or called a bad name
Have called someone a bad name
5. Students will be asked to think about the times they have crossed the line and write
down in their journals their feelings and reactions, thinking about how they felt and
what shocked them.
Extension
* Discussion and share out

Resources:
Shanga Shanga website
LGBT Voice Website
LGBT Voice Pictures
Kidude Clips
SUA website
Hip Hop Arusha
Emamasai interview/documentary
Musa interview
Killing'ot's articles
Masasay's music
Emamasai's music
Panther in Africa
Arusha studio CD
Mama C's poetry
Bifatma's newspaper
Noonkudin student stories
Noonkudin student questionnaire
Schooling, young marriages, female circumcision by Ole
Audio recording of Njao on schooling for females
Youth in Action- recording of dance
Student rappers
Creative Solutions product/pictures