1 Condition Analysis

This learning area plan is designed for the 9th or 10th grade of a grammar school or high school.. The concept is conceivable as a stand-alone plan or as a sub-area plan for the topic of love, friendship, sexuality.

For a successful discussion of the topic, openness and tolerance on the part of the young people and the teacher is an important prerequisite. The students should be able to argue their opinions and to take a factual position on social problems. The planned series of lessons does not intend to educate the students to political correctness but attaches great importance to the fact that the topic of sexual diversity is treated controversially.

The learners are in the middle or at the end of their puberty and not everyone has to be aware of their own sexual orientation already, so that a sensitive handling and mutual consideration are indispensable elements of the learning area. Initially, no explicit knowledge about sexual diversity or terminology from this subject area is necessary for the implementation. However, it can be assumed that the learners have already come into contact with at least some terms or prejudices. The teaching sequence initially builds on and reflects this prior knowledge. In addition, Butler’s gender construction as a theory is introduced, applied and assessed. For this purpose, it can be advantageous if the young people have already dealt with the basic features of speech act theory in English or German lessons, for example. Furthermore, a previous historical knowledge of discrimination phenomena can contribute to a better understanding and recognition of contexts.

The methodical competence of the adolescents is more essential for the learning area than their previous subject knowledge. The independent and concentrated work on texts, the elaboration of information, whether individually or in partner work, as well as the ability to recognise and assess argumentation structures is assumed. Differentiation of reading tasks and texts for young people with reading difficulties is possible. The learners are practiced in small group work, discussions, presenting results and giving lectures. For them, it is also part of everyday school life to come into contact with projects and their leaders. In the present learning area planning, the school education project of “Gerede e. V. Dresden” is cooperated with. For the implementation in other federal states, regional school education projects can be used without any problems, as their approach is usually similar.

From previous grades, the young people are familiar with methods such as portfolio, writing discussion, discussion rounds and have the competence to take a stand on an issue. The black box method is introduced for the first time in this learning area.

The teaching sequence requires a spatial environment in which group work and projects can be implemented without problems. If the classroom is not completely available for the project day, another possibly larger room, possibly the school auditorium, must be used. In addition, internet access, presentation possibilities, devices that can play videos and display pictures as well as space to hang up pictures and diagrams are necessary for the smooth running of the learning area.

2 Didactic-Methodical Analysis

The (partial) learning area planning on the topic of sexuality begins after the topics of love and friendship have been dealt with in the previous lessons. Within the previous topics, the learners have created a portfolio in which they collect all their work and results. The portfolio serves as an additional indicator of the individual learning and philosophical education process at the end of the learning area. Since it reflects the continuous achievements of the learners, it is quite conceivable to grade the finished product in order to offset it against the other grades or to let it stand separately. Furthermore, the portfolio represents a method in which learners can share their personal thoughts without having to confront classmates. It therefore represents a place of retreat, which is an advantage in terms of the sensitivity of the subject. The young people are aware of the marking of the portfolio at the end of the sequence, so that the students decide on their own responsibility what they want to entrust to the portfolio and thus to a certain extent to the teacher.

2.1 Double Lesson – Introducing the Topic of Sexuality

The teaching sequence begins with an inductive introduction, in which the students can pin any materials or objects they have brought with them on the board or lay them out on a table. A wide range of these brought-in things is quite conceivable, one should expect that both representations of lovers in magazines, song lyrics, advertisements but also condoms and pill packets or even sex toys could be brought along.

The learners’ task is to explain why they have brought this material with them. In addition, they have to justify the significance of the respective material for them or for society. The introduction to the (final) part of the learning area is deliberately kept open so that learners can decide for themselves to what extent they want to go into detail on such a personal topic as sexuality. Presentational materials make it possible to pick up the students within their individual perspective, the living environment, and to interest them in a socially relevant topic.

In the class discussion, the teacher’s guidance then introduces the problem opening. The learners are asked to describe how the materials they have brought with them are similar. It is highly likely that most of the materials symbolise or address heterosexuality. If the problem has been named, a short teacher lecture follows, which clearly points out the central role of heterosexuality in our society. This is followed by a goal orientation, in which the learners are outlined which topics will be dealt with in the coming lessons. This provides transparency so that the young people can engage with the topic more easily. In addition, the grading for the (last) part of the learning area is also made transparent, if this has not already been done in the previous lessons.

After the question of the learning area has been opened, a further life-world-related approach to the topic of sexuality takes place. For this purpose, a line is stuck on the floor of the classroom using masking tape and signs with “Yes” and “No” are attached to both ends of the positioning line. The task of the students for the coming statements is to position themselves on the yes/no spectrum and then to justify their position. The method is used in an activating way to inquire about the learners’ prior knowledge, pre-conceptions and attitudes regarding gender roles, sexualities and heteronormativity. At the same time, the students move during the method and are thus activated for the remaining minutes of the lesson. The positioning of the learners is not commented on by the teacher, as the method only serves to capture the current mood of the class. In the course of the learning area, individual questions from the positioning line are used so that the teacher can observe to what extent the learners’ points of view have changed and possibly prejudices or stereotypes have been reduced. The teacher takes care in the method that no discriminatory statements are tolerated.

The last part of the first lesson ends with the explanation of the black box method, which will accompany the students through the (rest of the) lesson. In this box the learners can put questions about the topic of the current or the upcoming lesson during or at the end of the lesson. In addition, it is possible for the learners to feedback their mood on the current lesson through the black box and thus give the teacher feedback on whether a topic has not yet been fully understood, whether follow-up questions have remained open or how they feel when dealing with the topic. When introducing the method, it is therefore important for the teacher to introduce and establish the black box as a space in which questions and concerns are dealt with sensitively, but in return the learners are expected to adhere to the rules of cooperation and mutual respect.

The lesson finally ends in a preview of the lesson to come. The learners are shown three pictures on the topic of gender marketing. For this, the young people should formulate questions on the topic of the coming lesson and thus become familiar with the functioning of the black box for the first time.

2.2 Double Lesson – Heteronormativity I

In the second double lesson, the first discussion on the topic of heteronormativity takes place. The lesson will deal with the question “Typical boy? Typical girl?”. In order to get into the topic, the lesson will start inductively, with the students working individually around the drawn Lego man on the worksheet to note down the roles they take on in society. Furthermore, they design the picture of the Lego man according to their own example. If learners have problems with the concept of role, this may need to be clarified. After the young people have completed the first task, there is partner work in which the bench neighbours first discuss their respective roles. Then each learner decides on three roles of their own and notes down what society expects of these roles in terms of the gender of the young people. Here it will already become clear to the learners that certain expectations are placed on them as boys or girls. In the second task, the partners discuss to what extent one can actually live up to these roles and the expectations attached to them as an individual.

In the third phase of the development, the results are shared with the plenary. For this purpose, a selection of roles and expectations are collected on the board, which the students have discussed with their bench mates. There are two Lego shapes, one Lego female and one Lego male on the board, whose gender is unknown to the learners. The results of the young people are written down according to the unknown genders of the figures. Afterwards, the students have to assign their genders to the males by means of the role descriptions. In this way, the learners recognise that categorisations simplify contexts and therefore facilitate gender attribution. After the elaboration, a questioning of gender-conform role attributions takes place, as the young people describe the influence that gender roles and expectations have on the behaviour of the individual and to what extent the individual adapts to these expectations. During this phase the teacher notes down the statements of the learners in bullet points, so that during the class discussion a blackboard picture is created, which secures the results of the elaboration and is taken over by the students in their portfolio. The phase of elaboration and securing of results is carried out according to the principle of think-pair-share, which links the different social forms of individual and partner work and class discussion. Since this is an inductive introduction to the lesson, the divided procedure according to the think-pair-share pattern seems to be a good possibility for the learners to first develop their own thoughts and identify problems in individual and partner work, before a link back to the whole class takes place in the securing of results and it is ensured that the goal of the development is achieved.

Finally, at the end of the project, it can be discussed why the actual Lego shape is called Lego male and not Lego female in common usage. Here, the young people reflect on the use of linguistic expressions.

Since the previous lesson focused on writing and producing own thoughts, the second part of the double lesson is dedicated to a receptive-argumentative discussion. In a video of the satirical programme “Extra 3”, the use of gender categories is taken to extremes, especially with regard to gender marketing. The students’ task is to watch the short video. Afterwards, the learners explain what is addressed in the video and how this is done. Finally, the young people position themselves on the opportunities and dangers of such gender marketing in the form of a discussion, which also raises the question of what happens when a person does not live up to society’s gender expectations. The positioning seems relevant in that learners are constantly confronted with gender categories and gender marketing in their everyday lives. The confrontation with these categorisations can lead to a reduction and increased questioning of stereotypical views and prejudices of the students.

The end of the lesson is introduced by the possibility of throwing questions or statements into the black box and finally ends with a concise summary by the teacher, in which she attributes the phenomena that were dealt with in the lesson to the concept of heteronormativity. This can also be understood as an outlook, since in the following lesson, with the help of the school education project “Liebesleben” (“Love Life”) of “Gerede e. V. Dresden”, this and other terms will be dealt with again.

2.3 Double Lesson – Project Day “Gerede e. V. Dresden”

The third double lesson is a project day, on which the voluntary association “Gerede e. V. Dresden” is invited to the school. The project day can be understood as a kind of insertion into the learning area planning, since it is not organized and carried out by the teacher himself. The advantage of so-called school education projects lies especially in the fact that young people come into contact with other people who are familiar with the topic of sexuality and diversity and are possibly also representatives of other sexual orientations. As a general finding, it has been shown that contact with people from a minority group is essential in order to achieve more positive attitudes and to reduce prejudices.Footnote 1 In addition, it can be motivationally beneficial to be taught by people who are only a few years older, which from experience are most of the project staff in the association.

In general, the planning for a project day is the responsibility of the organisers of the school awareness project. However, the teacher can give details of the topics to be covered in a preliminary discussion.

However, the course of the love life project is always similar. For the planning of the learning area presented here, only the tasks at the beginning and end of the two parts were added, which the students should work on as a statement. The rest of the planning is in the hands of the school education projects and will therefore only be briefly touched upon.

The project day begins with an introduction of the association and the project leaders. After the introduction and the first getting to know each other, the first part takes place, which deals with terminology work on words such as heteronormativity, homo- and bisexuality and phobia. In the entry phase, learners position themselves on the statement, “Bisexuals just can’t decide who to find attractive.” This entry serves to confront the young people with stereotypes and to query their attitudes or potential knowledge. It is not intended to suggest that learners share such stereotypes, nor is it intended to preach political correctness. In everyday life, learners are constantly confronted with different stereotypes (also outside the field of gender and sexual identity) and have to take a stand on them in social discourse.

Once the plenary discussion is over, the actual work of the school awareness project takes place. One way of addressing the terms with the young people is to use the five-corner method, in which posters on the terms mentioned above are hung up in the room. In a kind of gallery walk, the young people write down in bullet points what they already know about the respective term. This is followed by an intensive plenary discussion on the posters, in which prejudices are reduced and questions of understanding answered. Depending on the time constraints, the content part can be followed by methods of empathy training (e.g. scenic play) or illustration (picture game with celebrities and their sexual orientations), which are decided by the organisers and aim to train people to deal with stereotypes and, if necessary, to break down potential stereotypes. The study by Ulrich Klocke, for example, points out that potential preconceptions can be addressed and dismantled through such educational projects.Footnote 2

The second part of the project day deals with the question of whether love and sexuality belong together. In order to get into this part, the teacher starts with another task in which the students position themselves on the statement “Love and sexuality belong together” and on the postcard with the inscription “You can have sex – but you don’t have to”. After the introductory discussion, in which the previous knowledge and attitudes of the learners were again inquired about, the topic of asexuality and the distinction between romantic and sexual attraction is followed by the project leaders in the form of a circle of chairs, in which questions can be asked and space for discussion is guaranteed. Within these discussions it is of course possible and very welcome that the learners represent any kind of position, as controversy arises through different opinions and the learners train their argumentation skills.

The project day ends with an optional task in which the young people position themselves again either on the statement about bisexuality or on the connection between love and sexuality or the statement about asexuality. Since the task was the same at the beginning of the parts, the students reflect on whether or not their own position has changed during the day. The reflection can be included in the portfolio, but since the project day took place without the teacher, this should be discussed with the young people first. The reflection can show a learning progress of the students.

2.4 Double Lesson – Heteronormativity II

Through the project day, the young people have become acquainted with the different terms and can now use them correctly when dealing with the topic. In the fourth double lesson, this basic knowledge is built upon, because at this point the second part on the topic of heteronormativity takes place. For the opening of the perspective of the history of ideas, an examination of Judith Butler’s gender theory takes place in order to address gender as a social construct and to deal with the role of compulsory heterosexuality in society, which she claims. Since in the first lessons of the learning area the conceptual basics were created and the young people were also picked up from their life world in different ways due to the very personal topic, the “philosophical [...] upswing”Footnote 3 takes place at this point in order to move from vividness to abstraction, i.e. to philosophizing.

In order to get started with Butler’s theory, the teacher gives an informative but also motivating lecture at the beginning of the lesson, in which information about the philosopher, already learned contents and the aim of the lesson are briefly outlined. The teacher’s lecture also serves to open the problem of the lesson; here, the teacher should particularly motivate and arouse the students’ interest in the discussion of Butler’s theory.

After an introduction that arouses as much interest as possible, the development phase begins, in which a first encounter with Butler’s thoughts takes place. The learners receive a secondary text (SWR text) on Judith Butler’s theory and read it alone at first. While reading, the young people have the task to mark in the text with a colour how, according to Butler, genders are constructed. With another colour they highlight what consequences this has for the individual and society. In addition, learners are encouraged to use smileys in the margins of the text to indicate whether they agree or disagree with ideas, whether they think they are worth discussing, or whether they might have problems understanding them. In this way, the pupils learn in the context of the text work to take different information contents from the medium and to process them visually. The use of smileys should also increase the motivation of the young people, as they are familiar with them from their everyday life with the smartphone. The text is first read by everyone individually in order to train the learners’ text and reading comprehension as a basic competence.

If some young people have difficulties in understanding the text, there is the possibility to provide an additional excerpt of the text (parts of the interview with Butler). However, since Butler’s theory is quite abstract, there is also the option of initiating a question round in plenary after the reading, in which comprehension questions are asked if possible and these are answered by better-performing classmates. This method takes into account the idea of learning by teaching, in which the students explain facts to each other. This is motivating in so far as it is not the teacher who conveys the contents and young people understand contexts better through the explanations of their peers. With this approach, it is nevertheless important that the teacher is involved in the classroom discussion, guides it and, if necessary, questions or corrects misinformation.

After any problems of understanding have been clarified in the question-and-answer session, the class is divided into small groups. This is done using lots in order to work efficiently in terms of time and to gather different positions. In the groups, the young people finally work on tasks related to the text, highlighting how gender is constructed according to Butler, what consequences this gender construction entails, what possible differences there are to the consequences they cited from the previous lesson. Additionally, they explain what is behind Butler’s concept of compulsory heterosexuality, how a person is exposed to this phenomenon, and what effects this has on the individual. The conceptual work of the previous lessons on the term heteronormativity should facilitate the young people’s understanding here and contribute to a broadening of the term. Group work was chosen as the social form in this phase of the lesson so that the young people could support each other in further understanding and working through the text and so that initial discussions about Butler’s theory could take place. Since the high degree of abstraction in Butler’s theory cannot be denied, difficulties may nevertheless arise during the group work phase. The teacher acts as a contact person here and goes around the classroom or can provide the second text excerpt if needed. Due to the complexity and abstraction of Butler’s primary text, it was decided not to deal with it.

At the end of the lesson, the groups present their results on the (interactive) board using slides or diagrams, depending on the media equipment in the classroom. Here, everyone gets the opportunity to clarify last misunderstandings, to formulate open questions and to save the results in their portfolio.

Since the main part of the lesson is characterized by a lot of reading and writing because of the theory development, there is a small final discussion about the effects of compulsory heterosexuality in the plenary at the end of the lesson, in which the young people can apply Butler’s theory. Finally, the space for criticism of Butler’s explanatory model is also opened up here, so that the young people can take a critical stance.

2.5 Double Lesson – Stigmatisation in History and Present – Elaboration

The fact that “other” sexualities, according to Butler’s concept of compulsory heterosexuality, are exposed to various forms of discrimination has been mentioned in the previous lessons. Therefore, in the fifth double lesson, after the opening in the history of ideas of the previous lesson, the social perspective is opened and the discrimination of LGBT*Q people in the past and present is discussed.

In order to get into the topic, the double lesson begins with another positioning line, in which the young people position themselves on a scale from zero to 100% on three questions regarding the situation of discrimination against LGBT*Q people in Germany and worldwide. The method is the same as in the first lesson; it again serves to test prior knowledge and shows how realistically the young people assess the situation of LGBT*Q people in the world. A justification of the positioning is not given at this point, because this introduction is mainly about the visualization, which will be taken up in the following step.

Depending on the assessment performance of the learning group, the ILGAFootnote 4 map then either confirms or contrasts the positions previously taken. The map shows the current legal situation for LGBT*Q people worldwide. Using the map, the young people describe how the situation looks in Germany, the EU, the USA and in Arab, Asian and African countries. In addition, they are asked to name if anything about the representation surprises them. The map succeeds in vividly depicting the situation of LGBT*Q people worldwide and shows that in most of the world the acceptance of diverse sexualities is not yet given. In combination with the positioning line, it is therefore suitable for the problem opening of the lesson. A short lecture by the teacher, in which the opening of the problem and the goal of the lesson are briefly clarified, leads to the development phase. With the help of lots, the students are again divided into groups of four to five. The task is first of all to find each other on the basis of the lottery tickets and to put together the topic (if necessary by means of a suitable picture) of their own group. This small exercise serves as activation before the young people are supposed to work independently and creatively in the development phase. Once the groups have found each other, the independent work phase begins, in which the young people research the topic (Christianity, GDR/BRD, Alan Turing, Stonewall movement and the situation in Germany – marriage for all).Footnote 5 The aim of the research is a short lecture of about 10 minutes, which will be presented to the class in the next lesson. In this presentation it will be worked out how the group topic had/has an impact on the discrimination of LGBT*Q people or how the person experienced discrimination. Youth will develop a small handout on the talk for their classmates so they can refer back to the information at a later point. In addition, the short talk should be illustrated with pictures. For the rest of the double lesson, the students have time to research on the internet and to structure their presentation. In the next lesson the presentation will take place. However, if the young people need much more time, it is conceivable to use another double lesson for research and preparation of the presentation. It depends here on the speed of the learning group, so that the decision has to be weighed up by the teacher individually for the class. Overall, the task is formulated as openly as possible, because the young people should deal with the topic creatively and work out events and consequences of the topic or the situation of the person. How the exact implementation is planned by the young people is entirely up to them. In addition, the independent research on the computer should train the media competence of the students and the handling of reliable sources.Footnote 6 By means of group work, the students deepen their ability to work in a team, to compromise and to assert themselves, and they train their social competence.

2.6 Double Lesson – Stigmatisation in History and Present – Presentation

The lesson after the research is followed by a final double lesson before the essay, in which the lectures are presented, the legal situation of homosexual couples in Germany is discussed, and a brief reference back to Butler’s theory is made once again before a written exam in the form of an essay is written in the final lesson.

The introduction to the last double lesson before the exam is realized by a timeline, on which the students classify their topic or their person and then give their presentation. Due to the historical course it makes sense to start with the group of Christianity and to end with the group of the current situation in Germany. During the lecture the learners train their presentation skills, whereby the group members have to coordinate with each other. After each presentation there can be time for a short feedback on the presentation and the presenters so that they know what the strengths and weaknesses of their presentation were. Similar to the portfolio, with the presentation there is the possibility to assess the performance as a partial grade, so that at the end of the learning area there is a grade consisting of three parts (portfolio, presentation and essay). Of course, the teacher would have to decide for himself/herself whether all three parts should be given a grade and what weighting should be given to the parts. However, such a procedure would better accompany the learning process of the adolescents and would thus be more in line with an individual reference standard for grading. In addition, a failure, e.g. due to poor form on the day, would not be so serious for the final performance of the young people, as the other parts could compensate for a failure to a certain extent.

After all groups have given their presentations, another social reference takes place on the topic of discrimination against homosexual couples in Germany. First, the young people read the Stern article given in the course planning. In a class discussion, they then describe the problems that the couple from the article faces even after marriage for all. This is followed by a writing discussion with the person sitting next to them, in which the students collect pro and contra arguments regarding social equality for homosexual couples. The method can take place in the portfolio of one of the two learners, but in the portfolio of the other learner it should be noted with whom the writing discussion was held. The writing discussion is a contrast to the lesson, which is mostly oral.

The double lesson ends with a reactivation of the knowledge about Butler’s theory within a final discussion. The learners outline the pro and con arguments they have developed before and highlight what the problem is, according to the philosopher, so that discrimination against LGBT*Q people still takes place. The young people apply Butler’s theory to the present time, as they also try to name what would have to be done to overcome discrimination against LGBT*Q people.

2.7 Double Lesson – Essay as a Conclusion of the Topic Complex

The seventh lesson, writing an essay, concludes the (sub-)learning area on sexuality and the whole learning area on love, friendship, sexuality. It is entirely possible that an elective essay writing task could be set on one of the other areas (love and friendship) and other philosophical viewpoints covered. However, since the focus of this assignment is on sexual diversity in the ethics classroom, and the section planning includes only the topic of sexuality, the two essay questions are designed around this topic. In completing the assignment, learners will decide on one of the statements mentioned and evaluate it. The learners’ perspective should contain and reflect both their own viewpoint but also the social reference. Butler’s conception can support the argumentation or be used as a starting point for criticism. Historical backgrounds can be used to illustrate the problem.

3 Learning Objectives of the Learning Area Planning

  • The pupils gain insights into the fact of sexual diversity in the present and in the past.

  • The pupils gain insight into heteronormative representations in art, music, literature.

  • The pupils know current gender roles, categories and expectations and assess them.

  • The pupils know central terms of sexual diversity, such as heteronormativity, gender marketing, homo- and bisexuality as well as homophobia and asexuality, apply them or position themselves on them.

  • The pupils know Judith Butler’s gender constructivist theory and assess it according to explicit criteria.

  • The students know the current legal situation of LGBT*Q people worldwide as well as the historical and current situation of LGBT*Q people in Germany and assess it.

  • The pupils assess the consequences of performative gender construction.

  • The pupils assess central concepts of Butler’s theory.

4 Learning Area Planning

When

What? Contents, important steps and tasks

How? Methods, social form, materials, media

What for? Learning objectives, phase of the lesson

Introduction topic sexuality

1st double lesson

(in the previous lessons the topics of friendship and love were dealt with; in the previous lesson the pupils were given the task of bringing in quotes/song lyrics/images which they thought had something to do with sexuality).

Portfolio from previous lessons will be carried forward for elaboration.

Collection of the pupils’ work

 

Sexuality in image, music and text

Task: Pin your pictures/quotes/song lyrics on the board and explain why you brought the respective material. What meaning do they have for you? What do you think their significance is in society? Reason.

Presentative materials, plenary, blackboard

Relation to the living world, introduction to the topic

 

Round of talks in the plenum

Plenum, if necessary guidance by the teacher

Students gain an insight into the predominantly heterosexual representations in society.

 

Task: Look at the materials you have collected. Describe how the materials are similar and explain why.

 High likelihood that the majority of materials depict heterosexuality/low likelihood that other sexualities are depicted.

  
 

Short teacher talk outlining central role of heterosexuality in society and providing a goal orientation that upcoming lessons will address the question “man + woman = marriage – what role does sexual diversity play in our society?”

Reference to sensitivity of the subject and mutual trust within the classroom.

Additionally, reference to grading at the end of the learning area in the form of an essay in which a question that has been addressed in this learning area is to be discussed.

Teacher lecture, plenary

Problem opening and goal orientation, transparency of grading at the end of the learning area

 

Positioning line

Task: Position yourselves on the yes/no spectrum to the respective statement. Then give reasons for your opinion.

1. Sexuality and love belong together.

2. There are two biological sexes.

3. Women are always so emotional and sensitive.

4. Heterosexuality is normal.

5. Bisexuals just cannot decide who they find sexually attractive.

6. A real man must love football, eat meat and be into chicks!

7. In lesbians, one always takes the role of the man and the other the role of the woman.

Positioning line, masking tape, plenary, questions

Query prior knowledge and attitudes

Students position themselves on the statements.

 

Black box

Students write open questions or statements on the topics of the learning area on slips of paper and put them anonymously into the black box. Questions can be taken up in the following lesson.

Black box

Explanation of the method

Anonymous place for sensitive questions/statements on the topic

 

Outlook for the coming hour – heteronormativity

Task: Look at the pictures and think about a question you have for the black box for the upcoming lesson.

Black box, questions,

Gender marketing images

(https://www.she-works.de/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/zaunpfahl-2.png;

http://www.spiegel.de/fotostrecke/goldener-zaunpfahl-2017-die-nominierten-fotostrecke-145.552-3.html;

http://www.spiegel.de/fotostrecke/goldener-zaunpfahl-2017-die-nominierten-fotostrecke-145552-5.html)

Goal orientation for the coming lesson, end of lesson

Heteronormativity I

2nd double lesson

Typical boy? Typical girl?

Roles of the pupils within society

Task: Write down the roles you play in your life around the shape of a Lego man on the worksheet. Design the manikin according to your model. Draw objects and clothes that represent you.

AB, shape of a Lego man, EA (think)

Clarify the roles of human beings in society, life-world reference, inductive introduction

 

Task: Afterwards, talk to the person sitting next to you about your roles in society.

1. Decide on three of your roles and write down what society expects of these roles in terms of your gender.

2. Discuss the extent to which you can fulfil these roles/expectations.

AB, shape of a Lego man, PA (pair)

Elaboration, discussion

 

Task:

1. Present one of these roles and its expectations.

Teacher writes roles and expectations separately around the two shapes on the board.

2. Assign the respective gender to the two shapes. Explain what the categories do.

3. Describes the extent to which roles and expectations regarding our gender influence a person’s individual behaviour. Do we adapt to the expectations? Give reasons based on your own experiences!

Plenum (share), two Lego men on the board

The pupils gain an insight into gender role models and their demands on the individual.

 

Teacher writes down influencing factors so that the pupils can write them on the back of the Lego manikin and file them in their portfolio.

4. Discuss why it is called Lego male and not Lego female in the first place.

AB shape of a Lego man, portfolio

Plenum, UG

Securing results

Discussion, reflection

 

Gender marketing – working with gender categories

Task: Explain what the video is about and how it does it.

Take a position on the opportunities and dangers of such advertising or the attitudes of the people interviewed.

Video extra 3 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yW1nVizYfhw), plenum, UG

The pupils position themselves on the opportunities and limitations of gender marketing.

 

What happens, in your opinion, when a person does not live up to the expectations of his/her gender?

Appropriate questions from the black box can be posed at this point by the teacher for discussion.

Black box, plenum, UG

Discussion

 

Conclusion/outlook

Phenomena of the hour (“typical man/typical woman”) can be summarized under the concept of heteronormativity.

Short teacher talk

End of lesson

Project day – Gerede e. V. Dresden

3rd double lesson

School awareness project – “love life”

Presentation of the leaders of the project and the work of Gerede e. V. Dresden.

Invitation of members of Gerede e. V. Dresden (duration: approx. 3–4 h in total; http://www.gerede-dresden.de/index.php/liebesleben.html)

Welcome, introduction

 

Part 1 – conceptual work (heteronormativity, homo-, bisexuality/phobia)

Task: Position yourselves to the matching statement that bisexuals just cannot decide who they should find attractive.

Plenum, UG, chair circle

Entry, discussion

 

Conceptual work on the terms heteronormativity, homo-, bisexuality/phobia

Plenary, UG, chair circle, 5-corner method, posters, gallery walkway

Introduction to conceptual work – deepening of known concepts, prior knowledge test, discussion

The pupils know the terms heteronormativity, homo-, bisexuality/phobia and their contextual uses.

 

Part 2 – do sex and love belong together?

Task:

1. Take a position on the general statement that love and sexuality belong together.

Then position yourselves in relation to the postcard on the board.

Plenary, UG, chair circle, picture (https://www.csd-dresden.de/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/0306_Asex_gerede.jpg)

Introduction to the topic of asexuality, discussion

 

Differentiation of romantic and sexual attraction

Thematization of asexuality

Plenum, UG, chair circle

Elaboration, discussion

The pupils know the term asexuality and its facets.

 

Election task

1. Do you agree with the statement that bisexuals just can’t decide who they find attractive? Reposition yourself in your portfolio and justify your opinion.

2. Do you share the same point of view about the relationship between love and sexuality and the statement that you can have sex, but you don’t have to? Position yourself again in your portfolio and give reasons for your opinion.

EA, portfolio

The pupils position themselves on the picture/statement “bisexuals cannot decide who they should find attractive”.

Or

The pupils position themselves on the statements “love and sexuality belong together”, “you can have sex – but you don’t have to”.

Heteronormativity II

4th double lesson

Gender as a social construct and compulsory heterosexuality (Judith Butler)

Transition and introduction Judith Butler

(information from last lesson, goals of this lesson, and information about Butler’s work).

Informing/motivating teacher lecture

Entry, goal orientation, problem opening

 

While reading:

Task: Read the texts and mark with different colours a) to what extent gender is constructed according to Butler and b) what consequences arise from this construction for the individual and society.

Use smileys to indicate your agreement, disagreement or difficulty in understanding.

Text work, EA, AB with two texts (https://www.swr.de/swr2/wissen/judith-butler-wird-60/-/id=661224/did=17009720/nid=661224/xlp1pl/index.html;

Excerpt: https://philomag.de/heterosexualitaet-ist-ein-fantasiebild/), highlighter, smileys

Opening up a perspective on the history of ideas

Text and reading comprehension training

 

Clarification of difficulties in understanding by other pupils

Plenum, UG, learning through teaching

Mutual explanation of contents

 

Formation of small groups (3–4 pupils) on the basis of lots

Lots

Group identification, elaboration

 

After reading:

Task:

1. Explain how, according to Butler, genders are constructed.

2. Describe the consequences of the construction of gender. Compare the consequences you mentioned in the last lesson with the consequences Butler mentions. Do you agree with Butler?

3. Butler calls the power of gender discourse compulsory heterosexuality. Explains what the term means according to Butler and discusses why a person is subject to this coercion and how it affects them.

GA, AB or binder, individual groups work on task in the knowledge of later presentation

The students know Butler’s theory of gender construction.

The pupils know and assess the consequences of heteronormative categories.

The pupils know the concept of compulsory heterosexuality/heteronormativity and position themselves in relation to it.

 

Comparison of results in plenary – groups present tasks (on foil or on the board)

Plenary, UG, diagram (slide, blackboard, IAT), portfolio

Securing results

 

Discussion of the third task

Task: How does compulsory heterosexuality/heteronormativity affect different sexually oriented lifestyles? What are the differences?

Evaluate Butler’s theory? Are there any criticisms? If so, what are they?

Plenum, UG

Discussion, reflection, end of lesson

The pupils assess Butler’s theory.

Stigmatization in history and present

5th double lesson

Discrimination against LGBT*Q people – elaboration

Positioning line

Task: Position yourself on the spectrum (0–100%).

1. Homo- and biphobia do not exist in Germany.

2. Homosexuals and bisexuals are not persecuted.

3. The situation and acceptance of homosexuals and bisexuals is improving worldwide.

Positioning line, plenary, questions

Getting started, asking for prior knowledge/reactivating knowledge,

Opening social perspective

The pupils position themselves on the statements.

 

Initial legal situation of LGBT*Q people today worldwide.

Task: Describe what the map shows. What is the legal situation for LGBT*Q people in Germany/the EU and the USA? What is the legal situation for LGBT*Q people in African, Asian and Arab countries? What surprises you and why?

Map ILGA (https://ilga.org/downloads/2017/ILGA_WorldMap_ENGLISH_Overview_2017.pdf), Polylux/IAT, plenum, UG

Illustration, introduction problem opening

The students know the legal situation of LGBT*Q people worldwide.

 

Discrimination against LGBT*Q people still current – how this looks today and how it looked in history as a topic of the next hours.

Short teacher talk

Transition, problem opening, goal orientation

 

Lots for grouping

Lots with topic (if necessary also with picture), groups

Group finding

 

Task:

1. Use the snippets to form groups.

The resulting picture from the snippets shows the topic that the groups will deal with for the rest of the lesson. Objective: Short presentation on the topic (10′)

2. Research on the internet. For the presentation, summarize how your topic has had an impact on discrimination against LGBT*Q people or how your person experienced discrimination.

3. Create a short handout (A5) with the most important information for your classmates and make your presentation clear.

GA, research → computer cabinet

Elaboration of the topics:

Persecution/punishment of homosexuals by Christianity, legal situation in GDR and FRG (§ 175), Alan Turing, stonewall movement, situation in Germany – marriage for all

 

Remaining hour research and elaboration + homework if necessary

If necessary, homework (task areas divided up beforehand)

 

6th double lesson

Discrimination against LGBT*Q people – presentation

Timeline

Task: Arrange your topic or your person on the timeline. Present the results of your research to your classmates in a short presentation.

Timeline, free room wall

Presentation skills

 

Presentation of the topics

Presentations, plenary, handout

The pupils know different forms of discrimination that homosexuals and bisexuals were/are exposed to in the past and present.

 

Despite marriage for all further discrimination in Germany

Task:

1. Read the article. Describe the problems and discrimination that homosexual couples face even after marriage for all. Evaluate them.

Article (https://www.stern.de/tv/unerfuellter-kinderwunsch-warum-wird-lesbischen-paaren-eine-samenspende-verwehrt-7974514.html), plenary, UG

Text and reading comprehension training

 

2. Do you think there should be equality? In a writing discussion, develop pro and contra arguments regarding social equality.

PA, writing conversation, portfolio

The pupils find pro and contra arguments concerning social equality.

 

Final discussion

Task: Outline the pros and cons of social equality with regard to the current discrimination against homosexuals and bisexuals. Explain what the problem is according to Butler and what would have to happen to overcome it.

UG, plenum

Reactivation of knowledge, discussion

The pupils transfer Butler’s theory to prevailing examples of discrimination and outline potentials for change.

7th double lesson

Essay as conclusion of the topic

Task: Complete either assignment 1 or 2 and write an essay. Refer to philosophical theories and historical background covered in the course. Outline consequences for those affected/society.

1. Evaluate the statement “heterosexuality is normal” and give reasons for your opinion.

2. Evaluate the statement “A real man has to love football, eat meat and like women!

Essay, EA

The pupils assess the statement, “heterosexuality is normal” or “A real man must love football, eat meat and like chicks!”.

The pupils transfer Judith Butler’s theory to the statements and use it for their argumentation.

  1. Abbreviations: AB worksheet, EA individual work, GA group work, IAT interactive whiteboard, ILGA International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Association (Engl.)/International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Association, LGBT*Q acronym for people who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans* or queer, PA partner work, UG class discussion