changes and challenges and where these can come from. • internal and ... be
excited about starting afresh at a new school with a bunch of new people to meet.
Changes and Challenges
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Changes and Challenges
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Sample School, Stage 4
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Changes and Challenges
Things I would like to learn in this topic include…
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For details on the required outcomes for this unit, go to the website: www.boardofstudies.nsw.edu.au
UNIT OUTCOMES: 4.1, 4.2, 4.8, 4.11, 4.13, 4.15, 4.16
We thank the following for their contributions to this unit: Alamy Limited iStockphoto Kids Helpline Shutterstock Every effort has been made to trace and acknowledge copyright. However, should any infringement have occurred, the publishers tender their apologies and invite copyright owners to contact them.
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© Pearson Australia, a division of Pearson Australia Group
Changes and Challenges
In this unit, you will… learn about: • changes and challenges and where these can come from • internal and external influences on our daily decisions and behaviour • creating connections and the changes that come in adolescence • identifying stresses or challenges and how to cope with each • making rules for a supportive classroom • trust games • coping with loss • identifying and accessing support networks.
learn how to: • prepare yourself to cope with future changes and challenges • manage stress by knowing how to find support
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• explain the way that internal and external influences can affect our behaviour and actions • explain the importance of making rules in feeling safe and supported • work cooperatively with your peers to achieve team goals
• set and take steps towards achieving short-term and long-term goals
• understand how to cope with grief and loss, and ways to support others who experience this
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• understand the reasons why people choose to bully others
• recognise what it means to be a respectful and caring friend • trust others to support you.
Unit vocabulary list approach
personal
adolescence
development
expectation
overwhelmed
bullying
barrier
goal
strategy
support
challenge
achievement
internal influence
cope
external influence
belonging
connectedness
For a full list of relevant websites, navigate to the web destinations for NSW PDHPE via the Student Lounge at www.pearsonplaces.com.au.
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Sample School, Stage 4
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Changes and Challenges
Changes and challenges Welcome to secondary school! This year will be full of changes, challenges and achievement.You may have mixed feelings now about what to expect this year, and how you will get through it without your old mates from primary school.You may also be excited about starting afresh at a new school with a bunch of new people to meet. Let’s begin this unit with YOU. Take some time to reflect on the following questions about what makes you the interesting and unique person you are! Name:
The people in my family are…
My birthday is on…
The places I have lived are…
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The other schools I have attended are…
When I was younger, I enjoyed…
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My greatest achievements at primary school were…
My sporting interests and achievements are…
My hobbies are…
My favourite food is…
My greatest likes are…
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Sample School, Stage 4
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Changes and Challenges
What I don’t like is…
What I’m good at is…
I have always wanted to try…
Places I have visited are…
Places I would like to visit are…
Pets I have had are…
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My favourite way to spend my spare time is…
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My favourite singers and bands are…
I feel happiest when…
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I feel angry when…
One interesting thing that most people don’t know about me is…
Other things about me…
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Sample School, Stage 4
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Changes and Challenges
LITERACY ACTIVITY An acrostic about me
1 Let’s take this one step further and use the information from the previous activity to create an acrostic using the letters of your own name.
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2 Swap your book with a partner. Have your partner complete an acrostic using your name.
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Changes and Challenges
DISCUSSION ACTIVITY In pairs, discuss and take notes about each others’ interests and strengths.You have three minutes each to complete this task (six minutes in total). Using this information, design an interest article about your partner for the back page of a local newspaper. Notes:
Introducing…
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Sample School, Stage 4
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Changes and Challenges
Internal and external influences Influence is the power to control, affect or manipulate our decisions and behaviour in either a positive or negative way. The influences in our lives are the people and information we come across every day, such as family members, friends, teachers, the media, newspapers, radio stations, magazines, and the list goes on. These are all external influences, as they are outside of us. An internal influence is how we see ourselves and what we say to ourselves—what is going on inside us.
language tip... internal = inside us external = outside us (e.g. the media, our friends, family, teachers, community)
We may not even realise that we are being influenced by others in our behaviour and actions (and in the way we feel about ourselves). For example, Vivek may say to himself that he is no good, worthless, and unable to succeed in anything, even though his family and friends think that he’s a cool, smart guy. The way that he speaks to himself is having a negative influence on his life because it stops him from trying new things, succeeding, and feeling a sense of achievement, which would make him happier. This is an example of negative internal influences.
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Sample School, Stage 4
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© Pearson Australia, a division of Pearson Australia Group
Changes and Challenges
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PERSONAL REFLECTION
List what influences your decisions and behaviour every day. Place them in the positive or negative side of the table below. Briefly write next to each influence why it is negative, positive or both.
positive influence
negative influence
negative or positive
e.g. family—they encourage me to do my best
e.g. magazines that have muscular men/slender women in them—they make me feel self-conscious about my body
e.g. friends—encourage me but can also distract me from doing the right thing sometimes
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Changes and Challenges
An example of external influences is when Charmaine believes that she would make a brilliant captain of the debating team (a positive internal influence), and so begins telling her friends and family that she is going to nominate herself for the role. If her sister tells her that she has got to be joking as she is nowhere near popular enough to get the role, then Charmaine could be overpowered by the negative external influence of her sister. She might then drop out of the running for debating captain. However, when her teacher finds out that she has decided not to run for the role, he may bring a new positive external influence to the table. He could say that he strongly recommends that she does apply for the leadership role, because he believes that she would be a super leader. This may persuade Charmaine to disregard what her sister said, and go for the role anyway!
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We can all be influenced positively or negatively, internally and externally. The trick is to be aware of which influences are negative.
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PERSONAL REFLECTION
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Write down a time when you were influenced negatively and positively by the way you spoke to yourself.
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Sample School, Stage 4
© Pearson Australia, a division of Pearson Australia Group
Changes and Challenges
Creating connections It is very important for human beings to belong. When we are young, we can feel connected to our family and not rely on peers for this feeling of belonging. When we become adolescents, we rely on our peers for a sense of belonging as we move toward relationships that are more independent of our families.These relationships with peers allow us to discover more about who we are and how to make our own safe decisions.
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PERSONAL REFLECTION
1 List the groups to which you belong that create a feeling of connectedness.
2 Why do you enjoy being a part of these groups?
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3 List the qualities displayed by the group members.
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Changes and Challenges
PRACTICAL ACTIVITY Four things in common
1 Play a variety of games to get to know other class members a little better. 2 Complete the worksheet below by finding four people (try finding some people who you do not know as well as others) that you had things in common with after completing the activities.You may need to ask further questions to complete the boxes.
name: four things in common: 1 name: four things in common: 1
2 3
2
4
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name: four things in common: 1 2 3
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4
4
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name: four things in common: 1 2 3 4
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Sample School, Stage 4
© Pearson Australia, a division of Pearson Australia Group
Changes and Challenges
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PERSONAL REFLECTION
1 What thoughts or feelings occurred when you approached or spoke to a person that you didn’t know very well?
2 When/where else in your life have you encountered these same feelings?
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3 What can people do to make themselves easier to approach in order to start a conversation?
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4 What can you do to make classmates feel included?
5 Complete the unfinished statements below: • I know I am valued when… (hint: how are you treated?)
• A person who nobody talks to would feel…
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Sample School, Stage 4
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Changes and Challenges
ex ci
tem en t
6 Complete the word-wheels below.
feelings I have when I am included
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Sample School, Stage 4
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feelings I have when I am excluded
sadness
© Pearson Australia, a division of Pearson Australia Group
Changes and Challenges
Adolescence and change Our lives are constantly changing in many ways. Adolescence and young adulthood is a time of particularly large change in all aspects of our lives and can involve physical changes, emotional development and greater social interaction. People deal with change in different ways and these coping skills can be learnt and improved. Resilient people are able to ‘bounce back’ quickly after an unexpected or difficult change. Physical illness, such as glandular fever, can affect a student’s performance or capacity to concentrate on their studies. So too can a challenging personal or family situation, relationship problem or mental health problem. Physical problems are not the only ones that affect our health status and wellbeing. The transition from primary school to secondary school (or changing schools) can be a difficult change. However, it can also be seen as a challenge—something to be excited about because of the new experiences involved. How we view a change (our attitude) influences the coping strategies that we use.
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PERSONAL REFLECTION Ten quick questions
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1 A difficult change in your life to date was…
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2 A change that you saw as a challenge was…
language tip... Resilience is the ability to bounce back during challenging times and to cope with change.
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3 One way you cope with change is…
4 Another way you cope with change is…
5 A physical change that happens during adolescence is…
6 A social change that happens during adolescence is...
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Sample School, Stage 4
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Changes and Challenges
7 An emotional change that happens during adolescence is...
8 A difficult change I have seen others undergo was...
9 A change I expect to have to deal with in the next five years is...
10 One way I can turn a change into a challenge is...
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Sample School, Stage 4
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© Pearson Australia, a division of Pearson Australia Group
Changes and Challenges
Stress or challenge Stress can be seen by some as a challenge or an opportunity. To others, the same stress could be viewed as a trap or even a nightmare. People who can imagine or visualise themselves handling their challenges or stresses in a positive way are able to bounce back better after tough times. These people feel they have some power to influence the situation. A ‘challenge’ is anything that calls for a special effort. One way of coping with stress is to turn it into a challenge—something to be worked at and conquered! LITERACY ACTIVITY Think-pair-share
1 Complete the statement,‘Stress is when…’
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2 Join with a partner to compare your definitions.Together, write a new one, ‘Stress is when…’
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3 Join with another pair and again compare definitions.Together, write a new one, ‘Stress is when…’
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4 Discuss with the class what stress means to different people. Develop a class definition,‘Stress is when…’
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Sample School, Stage 4
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Changes and Challenges
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PERSONAL REFLECTION
Think about the last time you were stressed. What did you do to get through it?
Meeting new challenges Starting at a new school can be an exciting time, but may also provide new challenges and fears. Some of the challenges you may face include: • meeting new friends • new teachers • different subjects • greater workload • more responsibility • catching public transport
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• changes in friendships and relationships.
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Brainstorm other challenges you may face this year and in the next three years. Write your ideas in the clouds on the opposite page. When faced with a challenge, it is important that you have somebody you trust to talk to, who can help you work out the best course of action to take. This may be a friend, an older brother or sister, your parents or other trusted adults.
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Sample School, Stage 4
© Pearson Australia, a division of Pearson Australia Group
Changes and Challenges
chal
leng
is ye
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the n n i ges ears n e l chal three y
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Changes and Challenges
LITERACY ACTIVITY Challenges mind map
Using the list of challenges discussed as a group, complete a mind map that shows the challenges and possible solutions. • On the inside rectangles, identify the challenges you may meet. • On the outer circles, list a variety of strategies that you can use to overcome the challenge.
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Sample School, Stage 4
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© Pearson Australia, a division of Pearson Australia Group
