Power Flower

Overview

We can define ourselves based on personal identity (the aspects of ourselves that we take special pride in and/or see as unchangeable) and based on social identity (the social groups we belong to). In this activity, students map out their social identities and examine how some identities are normalized and privileged over others. Next, they create an Equity Action Venn Diagram to explore their personal power and how they might use it to build a more just future.

Useful for

Materials

Preparation

Teachers are encouraged to complete the Power Flower activity and the Equity Action Venn Diagram before teaching this lesson, so that they are prepared to model these activities for students.

Procedure

Engage students by giving them 5 minutes to write as many different answers to the prompt “I am…” Students can respond online or complete the “Who Am I?” hand-out
Debrief the activity. Ask for volunteers to give a short presentation sharing their answers. Jot student responses on the board, sorting responses into two columns: social and personal identity. See example below. After about 3 student presentations, explain that there is more than one way to define ourselves. We can define ourselves based on personal identity (the aspects of ourselves that we take special pride in and/or see as unchangeable) and based on social identity (the social groups we belong to).

Personal Identity

Loyal
Basketball player
K-Pop fan
Good cook
Procrastinator
The life of the party
Morning person

Social Identity

18 years old
Sister
Nigerian-Canadian
Non-binary
Anglophone
Muslim

Share the purpose of the activity. Emphasize that today’s class will explore social identity first, and personal identity second.
Model how to fill out the power flower chart. Tell students that filling out this chart should help them learn more about their social identities and their relationship to those in power.

Invite students to fill out the power flower chart. In the outer petals, students should identify the socially dominant (privileged) group AND give one example of a privilege the socially dominant group enjoys. In the inner petals, students should state how THEY identify. There is one blank petal on the Power Flower chart: students are encouraged to use it to highlight an aspect of their social identity that missing from the chart, e.g. weight and body shape; ethnicity; geography (rural/urban); etc.
Invite students to reflect on what they learned from the Power Flower activity. Students might journal their responses to the reflection questions, or they might discuss their responses in small groups.
Facilitate a whole-class discussion about the power flower activity. Once students have had a chance to share, synthesize key ideas and deepen reflections. Here are a few points you may wish to emphasize:
- Social identity – Each of us has a complex social identity made up of different aspects (racial identity, class identity, gender identity, etc.). Because every individual has many identities, individuals can be privileged in one sense and marginalized in another. Our social identities shape the opportunities and challenges we encounter, but our social identities do not define us.
- Self-awareness – Students (especially students who belong to privileged groups) often report feelings of guilt, sadness, and anger upon noticing that they belong to a privileged group. The purpose of this activity is not to make students feel bad, but to help them become aware of their social identities and choose a course of action. Privilege is like the size of our feet: it is unearned. We can’t change the size of our feet – but we can watch where we’re walking. Reflecting on our social identities can alert us to strengths and blind spots as we work to build a fairer world.
- Power and privilege – Power and privilege are necessary components of oppression. As David & Derthick (2017) explain, “simply disliking or disfavouring someone based on their social group membership is problematic but is not automatically oppression; the individual’s biased opinions or behaviours must be backed up, legitimized, protected, and supported by sociopolitical institutions, norms, standards, or assumptions – power and privilege – for the stereotypical beliefs, prejudiced attitudes, and discriminatory behaviours to become oppression.”
- Oppression Olympics – Sometimes, people and groups compete for the title of “most oppressed.” Who has it worst: the boy who was bullied for being Gay? Or the Muslim woman who was prohibited from teaching because she wears a hijab? It is important not to rate or rank oppressions. All forms of oppression are harmful and unjust.
Explain the difference between social and personal power – Emphasize that social power (the power that comes from belonging to a privileged group) is not the only form of power. Everyone also possesses some level of personal power derived from their personal attributes (life experiences, leadership qualities, sense of humour, courage, curiosity, etc.). Social power comes largely from outside ourselves, but personal power can be grown and developed.
Model how to complete the Equity Action Venn Diagram and explain that the purpose of this activity is to help them identify their sources of personal power and explore how they might leverage these strengths to create a more just future.
Invite students to complete their personal Equity Action Venn Diagrams. In the top circle, students list the things that bring them joy. In the second circle, they list their skills, resources, and networks. In the third circle, they list the things that need to be done to build a more equitable world. Finally, students identify the overlap between these three circles: this is their personal power to create a more just world.
Invite students to share their completed Venn diagrams with their peers. They can post their Venn diagrams to a discussion forum on the course LMS, or they can discuss their Venn diagrams orally with their teammates.

Evaluation

If students journaled their responses to the Power Flower activity, invite students to hand in their journals. Because this activity may be emotionally intense for some students, we recommend either not grading this activity at all, or grading it based on completion.

The most important part of “evaluating” student journals is to respond in a personalized, appreciative, and thoughtful manner. Here are some examples of professor comments on student journals:

“Alexis, thank you for this honest and insightful reflection. I really appreciate your suggestion to add a petal for ‘physical attractiveness.’ There is, in fact, lots of research showing that physically attractive workers earn more than workers who don’t meet conventional beauty standards.”
“Felix, you wrote about having to constantly worry about someone making a negative comment when they hear you speaking your language. This is a hard issue to bring up. Thank you for trusting me with your story. I’m here to support you.”

Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging

This activity asks students to reflect on sensitive topics, such as sexuality, citizenship status, social class, and more. To make this activity safer, you can tell students they are free to create a fictional persona for themselves. You might say “This activity is for your eyes only – I won’t be collecting your work. Also, I’m not asking you to divulge any information you’re not ready to share. You can leave parts of the flower blank, or you make up a character. This is one time in your life when you can be whoever you want to be!”
This activity asks students to reflect on sensitive topics, such as sexuality, citizenship status, social class, and more. To make this activity safer, we recommend that teachers do not collect students’ Power Flower charts.

Adaptations and Examples

Teachers might use the Power Flower activity to help students develop their ability to use evidence to make an argument. For example, if a student says “Are anglophones the privileged group for language?” teachers might respond with questions that challenge students to clarify their thinking, such as “Why do you believe that anglophones are advantaged over people who speak other languages?”

Useful Resources