The 4 I’s of Oppression

DAY 1

1. Facilitate a short wellness activity. Explain that the purpose of the wellness activity is to help students ground themselves for potentially difficult discussions about discrimination.   
2. Invite students to brainstorm responses to the prompt “What’s unfair?” Begin by having students write their answers on the “What’s unfair?” hand-out. Then, ask for a few volunteers to share their ideas.  Jot students’ ideas on the board so that you can refer to them later. 
3. Wrap up the activity by sharing a definition of oppression: “Oppression is when a group of people make it difficult or even impossible for other groups of people to reach their human potential… This could mean treating oppressed social groups in a degrading or undignified manner… or denying them equal rights, privileges, protections, and opportunities that groups in power have, enjoy, and benefit from” (David & Derthick, 2017).  Next, pick 2 – 3 student examples from the board, and briefly explain how these examples fit the definition of oppression.  Finally, point out that oppression is so widespread in our world that it is likely that all of us have witnessed oppression, inflicted oppression, felt the negative consequences of oppression, or all of the above.
4. Direct students to the purpose of the lesson by asking a rhetorical question: why have the problems they identified not been remedied, even though many people recognize them as harmful and unfair? Tell students that today’s class will help answer this question.
5. Show a 12-minute excerpt from the 1985 PBS documentary, A Class Divided (time stamp 2:36 – 14:21). Before pressing play, give a brief introduction to the documentary. You might say “If we don’t understand the mechanisms that produce and sustain oppression, we risk acting – purposefully or not – in ways that reinforce the marginalisation and exploitation of certain groups of people.  To explore how oppression works and what needs to be done to dismantle it, we’re going to watch an excerpt of the 1985 documentary, A Class Divided.   The film features Jane Elliott, a third-grade teacher at an all-white school in rural Iowa.  In the aftermath of Martin Luther King Jr.’s death, she took a rather daring approach to teaching students about discrimination.”
6. Invite students to process what they saw in the film clip. Give students a few minutes to jot down their responses to the following prompts, then invite a few students to share their responses with the class.
   • One surprising fact or idea from the film
   • One interesting fact or idea from the film
   • One troubling fact or idea from the film
7. Introduce the 4 I’s of oppression. Tell students that Jane Elliott’s Brown Eyes/Blue Eyes experiment reveals how multiple levels of oppression – ideological, institutional, interpersonal, and internalized – work together to create a vicious and seemingly unescapable system of inequality.  Then, show the video Legos and the 4 I’s of Oppression.  This 1-minute video defines and gives examples of ideological, institutional, interpersonal, and internalized oppression. After the video, tell students that understanding these different levels of oppression work puts us in a better position to tackle injustices in our lives and in our communities.
8. Check students’ understanding of the 4 I’s of oppression by giving them the 4 I’s of Oppression quiz. This quiz asks students to classify events featured in A Class Divided as ideological, institutional, interpersonal, or internalized oppression.
9. Help students consolidate their learning by returning to the examples of unfairness students shared at the beginning of class and classifying them as ideological, institutional, interpersonal, and/or internalized oppression.
   • Think aloud: Pick one example, and model how you would go about classifying this example as ideological, institutional, interpersonal, or internalized oppression. For example, you might say “Maria pointed out that women are more likely to be sexually assaulted than men.  Sexual assault could be considered interpersonal oppression because it is an act of violence done by one person, to another.  But the fact that women are more likely than men to be sexually assaulted suggests there is something else going on.  On the internet, in sports media, in advertising, song lyrics, and more, women are sexualized - that is, portrayed an object for others’ sexual use, rather than seen as people with the capacity for independent action and decision making.  The sexualization of women is an example of ideological oppression.”
   • Invite students to think aloud: Move to the next example of the board, and ask students to classify it as ideological, institutional, interpersonal, or internalized oppression. Prompt them to explain their thinking, and then ask the class if there are any alternative interpretations (e.g. can the example be read as both institutional AND interpersonal oppression?)  Continue in this way for 1-2 more examples.
   • Identify patterns: Point out any patterns you noticed in the examples students shared. For example, it is likely that none of the examples students brainstormed at the start of class are examples of internalized oppression.  Invite students to think about these patterns.  Why are we better at identifying examples of interpersonal oppression than internalized oppression?  Is this a problem?  For whom?
10. Create space for students to reflect on what they learned. In the last few minutes of class, have students complete a 3-2-1 exit ticket in response. Students should write three things they learned from the class, two questions they still have, and one aspect of the class that really helped them learn.  Students’ responses may spark ideas for how to make future learning activities more relevant and engaging for students.  For example, you might say, “At the end of last class, I asked everyone to share two questions.  The most common question was _________________, and this is the question we will explore today.”  Referring to student responses is a good way of communicating to students that you care about them and their ideas.

DAY 2

1. Facilitate a short wellness activity. Explain that the purpose of the wellness activity is to help students ground themselves for potentially difficult discussions about oppression that students may have witnessed, experienced, and/or been harmed by.   
2. Jog students’ memories about the 4 I’s of Oppression. You might give them a short quiz or have them work in groups to write their own definitions of ideological, institutional, interpersonal, and internalized oppression.
3. Explain that today’s class will challenge them to identify examples of oppression within a social structure they know very well: the school system.
4. Model the activity by sharing examples of ideological, institutional, interpersonal, and/or internalized oppression that you witnessed or experienced as a student. Acknowledge that some of the experiences you had as a student may sound familiar, while others may not resonate. That’s OK – the goal is to reflect on personal experiences, not to come up with examples that are universally familiar.
5. Invite students to fill out the 4 I’s of Oppression at School worksheet. Students may work alone or in pairs.  As they work, circulate to review definitions and correct misunderstandings.  You might also note patterns in student responses.  For example, do students have lots of examples of institutional oppression, and no examples of ideological oppression?
6. Prime students to participate in the Web of Oppression. Tell students that you will be asking them to share examples of oppression they have witnessed or experienced at school.  Acknowledge that this topic is sensitive, and that the discussion may awaken painful memories for some students in the class.   Consequently, the conversation will require courage and trust.  It will be easier to have this conversation if everyone knows each other by name.  For this reason, the activity begins with a name game.
7. Facilitate the name game: Have students stand in a circle. The first person begins the circle rotation by loudly saying their name while at the same time doing a movement.  The whole group repeats the name and movement. The next student says their name and does a movement of their own. Again, the whole group repeats their name and movement. This call and response continues around the circle until everyone has had a turn.
8. Facilitate the web of oppression exercise: Students are still standing in a circle.  Student 1 names a level of oppression (ideological, institutional, interpersonal, or internalized) and tosses a ball of yarn to Student 2.  Student 2 gives an example of how that level of oppression plays out in the school system (e.g. Sex. Ed. Curriculum focuses on heterosexual relationships, which means it's harder for 2SLGBTQ+ students to get the information they need for healthy and joyful sexual relationships).  Student 2 then names a level of oppression and throws the ball of yarn to a third student.  The exercise continues in this way until everyone has had a chance to catch the ball of yarn. You may wish to begin the activity by having a student toss the ball of yarn to you. In this way, you will model the activity while also creating an opportunity for a very shy student to participate.  You might also tell students that they are welcome to “call a lifeline” and ask their peers for ideas if they are stuck.
9. Explain the “Web of Oppression” exercise. With students still standing in a circle, invite students to imagine standing in the middle of the web and then make the following observations:
   • The web serves as a metaphor for the way the school system can feel when someone is marginalized based on their race, class, gender, or other aspect of their social identity. Oppression is a system that can make someone caught up in the system feel trapped, like they have no choices. 
   • A system of oppression exists regardless of the individuals involved. Even if everyone in the room were to drop the yarn and walk away, the web of oppression would still exist.  Oppression is not just a problem of a few “bad apples.”  Being passive in the face of oppression is not enough to create a more just world; we must actively untangle the web of oppression.
10. Invite students to share what they learned. Tell students that, on the count of 3, they should all drop the yarn. Invite students to take three deep breaths and then facilitate a sharing circle, where each student can share their reactions and/or express gratitude to someone in the class.  Give students the opportunity to pass.
11. Challenge students to brainstorm ways of untangling the web of oppression. Record students’ ideas on the board, sorting responses into two columns: individual resistance and collective resistance (see example below). When there are two or more ideas in each column, explain that there are different ways of fighting oppression.  Individual resistance involves an individual acting alone; collective resistance involves people working together to challenge injustice. 

11. Invite students to explore different examples of collective resistance. Distribute the Exploring Collective Resistance assignment and invite students to work individually or in pairs.  Students may need help coming up with an organization, group or social movement to research.  Here are some questions you can ask to help students get started:
    • Have you ever signed a petition? If so, what was it about and who organized it?
    • Have you ever participated in a protest? If so, what was it about and who organized it?
    • Have you ever donated to an organization? If so, what cause was the organization fighting for?
    • Does political content ever come up on your social media feed? If so, what issues are discussed and who created that content?

The Exploring Collective Action assignment is intended as a formative evaluation.  Teachers may grade it based on completion and use students’ responses to guide teaching decisions.  Students’ slides should allow you to assess the extent to which students have understood the concepts of ideological, institutional, interpersonal, and internalized oppression.

1. The documentary footage of Jane Elliott’s classroom was shot in 1970, and the some of the terms that Elliott and her students use to describe Black and other racialized people are racist and dehumanising. For example, a third-grader uses the N-word when his teachers asks how member of his community treat Black people. Before you show the video, warn students that the video contains racial slurs and inform students that such terms are not to be spoken aloud during class discussions.  You might say “There are different perspectives on the N-word.  On one hand, it conveys the ugliest sort of hate.  Black historian Elizabeth Stordeur Pryor describes the N-word as ‘a capsule of accumulated hurt.  Every time it is said, it releases into the atmosphere the hateful notion that Black people are less.’  On the other hand, since as far back as the 1770’s, Black people have reappropriated the term and used it to assert their humanity in the face of continuing racism.  Today, the N-word is also used by many young people as a term of endearment.  Given the complexities of this term, I will not police what you say outside the classroom.  However, for our class discussions, I ask that no one say the N-word or other dehumanizing terms out loud.  This is to ensure that everyone feels safe in the classroom, and no one feels targeted or triggered by a word rooted in racism and hate.” 
2. The Web of Oppression exercise asks students to reflect on sensitive topics and may awaken painful memories for some students.  To make this activity safer, remind students that you are only asking them to share what they are comfortable sharing. You might also refer to your classroom guidelines, emphasizing (or adding) any that might be necessary.  For example, here are some guidelines that might make the discussion feel safer for students:

• • Listen when others are speaking. Do not interrupt or engage in private conversations.
  • Recognise that we are all still learning. Be willing to change your perspective and make space for others to do the same.
  • What is said in class stays in class. Do not share other people’s stories without their permission.

The documentary, A Class Divided, was shot in 1970.  To avoid giving the false perception that oppression belongs to the past, teachers may wish to share examples showing how the four I’s of oppression manifest in contemporary society.  Here are some resources that may be useful:

Non-fiction books

• The Care We Dream of: Liberatory and Transformative Approaches to LGBTQ+ Health by Zena Sharman
• Policing Black Lives: State Violence in Canada from Slavery to the Present by Robyn Maynard

Poems and songs

• Citizen: An American Lyric by Claudia Rankine
• Crooked Braid written by Eve Ensler and performed by Tantoo Cardinal
• What’s Going On by Marvin Gaye

Short videos

• Home Ownership Is Rigged against Black People by Amber Ruffin
• The Unforgotten by Ewan Affleck, Christopher Paetkau, Chloe Ross-Rogerson, Adam Gualtieri, and Stephen Gladue

Feature-length documentaries

• Angry Inuk by Alethea Arnaquq-Baril
• Migrant Dreams by Ming Sook-Lee

• Lesson of a Lifetime by Stephen Bloom
• Teaching for Diversity and Social Justice by Maurianne Adams, Lee Anne Bell, Diane J. Goodman, Davey Shlasko, Rachel R. Briggs, and Romina Pacheco
• Teaching the N-Word by Michelle Kenney