Malala: One Girl Among Many

HISTORICAL CONTEXT: Students will develop an analytical understanding of the education movement for girls and women.
HEROIC CONTEXT: Students will research the different regions that the Malala Fund works directly in and understand how this work lowers barriers that exist in girls’ education.
HISTORICAL/POLITICAL AWARENESS: Students will develop a better understanding of how challenging the norms can lead to change so girls are able to receive an education.
SOCIAL MOVEMENT: Students will develop a better understanding of how they can support girls’ education and become advocates for the education movement for girls and women.

Guiding Ideas

Historical Context:

What factors contributed to young girls not having access to receiving an education?
How is Malala instrumental in being a change agent for education for young women across the world?
How could the lack of education for girls and women affect their lives, the community in which they live, and the world?

Heroic Context:

Why is Malala considered a hero in the movement to improve access to education for girls and women?
Who are some other activists serving as catalysts for change in the education movement for girls and women?
- This short list is by no means complete but serves as a starting point for research: Camilla Croso, Rasheda K. Choudhury, Monique Fouilhoux, K. Zehra Arshad.

Historical Awareness

How has this movement affected girls and women in different regions of the world?
How does the history of the right to education for girls and women differ in our country versus other countries around the world?

Social Movement

Why is it important for girls to have access to education?
How can the right to girls’ education change a community?
How does the lack of girls’ education affect their health?

Teacher Preparation for Lesson:

Select the video that is appropriate for the grade level that you teach. Preview videos to check for appropriate content as needed for your student’s age and grade.
Create a Flipgrid Topic for the Whole Class Activity that includes the following questions:
- How do you feel about what happened to Malala?
- Would you consider Malala to be a hero? Why or why not?
- Do you feel that boys and girls should have equal access to education all across the world? Why or why not?
Review the Iron Chef Protocol located at: https://www.eduprotocols.com/iron-chef and prepare the Iron Chef PPT that the class will contribute to. A copy of the template can be made here: tinyurl.com/MSIronTech.
Review six word memoirs at: https://www.sixwordmemoirs.com/teens/
Create a class Padlet that students will contribute to and answer the following question: “If you were not stopped by society to do what you dreamed of doing to change the world, what would you do?”

Whole-Class Discussion: (~5 minutes)

Introductory Questions: Students will participate in a class discussion about Malala Yousafzai and education as it pertains to girls and women. Within that discussion include the following questions:

Who is Malala Yousafzai?
How do you think education varies across the world?
Do you think boys and girls should have equal access to education?
What is gender bias?

Student Activities

Whole-Class Activity: (15 minutes)

1. The teacher will open the lesson by sharing one of the grade-level appropriate videos:

Elementary:

Brainpop (Subscription required): https://www.brainpop.com/socialstudies/famoushistoricalfigures/malala/

Interview with Ellen Degeneres: https://youtu.be/A6Pz9V6LzcU

Upper grades: (Please review the 2 videos below prior to sharing with students as they may contain graphic parts):

CNN Video

ABC Video

2. After watching the grade-appropriate video, the teacher will share a Flipgrid Topic (previously created) with their students. (See full lesson plan for more details)

Student Activities: (~30 minutes)

1. The teacher will divide the class into 8 groups. Student groups should select or be assigned one of the eight regions that the Malala Fund works directly with where most girls miss out on secondary education: Afghanistan, Ethiopia, Brazil, India, Lebanon, Nigeria, Pakistan, and Turkey. In their groups, students will participate in/contribute to the Iron Chef Protocol. Student groups will have 10 minutes to:

Claim ONE slide in the Iron Chef PPT template provided by the teacher.
- Using the information/research on their assigned/selected region found on the Malala Fund website, students will have 10 minutes to create their PPT slide.
- Their slide must include facts, images, and one “secret ingredient” (something interesting that the rest of the class may not know).
- At the end of 10 minutes, student groups will have 2 minutes each to present their slides.

2. Minecraft EE: Malala: One Girl Among Many (~30 minutes)

Good Trouble - Minecraft World file
Have students enter the Good Trouble world and from the lobby, right-click Malala’s NPC to fast travel to Pakistan. Here they will join NPCs of Congressman John Lewis and the Founder of the Malala Fund, Malala Yousafzai who serves as a catalyst for change in the fight for access to equitable education for all.
Students will explore Pakistan and bear witness to the demolishment of schools by the Taliban in an attempt to keep young girls from receiving an education.
Students will work with Malala and the United Nations to rebuild a school that students will return to now that the Taliban has been removed from the village.
Students will record their thoughts using the Book and Quill, including snapping a selfie in front of their new school.

Writing Prompt (~10 minutes)

Malala’s father often shares this quote, “Ask me what I did, but ask me what I didn’t do, and I did not clip her (Malala’s) wings.” Malala responds that it’s not that children don’t have the skill or talent to make change happen, but they are often stopped in society. Students respond to the following prompt: “If you were not stopped by society to do what you dreamed of doing to change the world, what would you do?” (use text, images, video, etc.)

See full lesson for optional reflection and extension activities

Performance Expectations

At the end of this lesson:

Students will understand their role as activists in matters of social justice.
Students will understand the importance of equitable education for all.
Students will understand the effects not having access to education has on a community and the world as a whole.
Students will understand how girls having access to education can change their future.
Students will understand the inequality of access to education around the world.