Enhancing interpersonal skills
This interpersonal skills lesson plan for students, focuses on inclusivity and building respect in the relationships in their lives. Students explore ways to celebrate diversity and identify the interpersonal skills that help in forming respectful relationships and what influences inclusivity in relationships.
Year level
9-10
Duration
60 minutes
Type
In class activity
SEL Competencies
Social awareness
Relationship skills
Responsible decision-making
Learning intention
Students explore what constitutes respectful relationships, what influences inclusivity and equality in relationships, and how to seek help if something isn’t right.
Key outcomes
By the end of the lesson, students will be able to:
analyse factors and strategies that enhance inclusivity, equality and respectful relationships
articulate interpersonal skills to build and maintain respectful and inclusive relationships
evaluate factors that shape identities, and analyse how individuals impact the identities of others
articulate support available to themselves and others.
Materials needed
Images sourced from magazines and newspapers, Twitter, Pinterest/Instagram
Coloured pens/pencils/textas
One piece of A4 paper per student (or student workbook/laptop/computer or mobile device)
Mapped to
Australian Curriculum Health and Physical Education
Analyse factors that shape identities and evaluate how individuals influence the identities of others (AC9HP10P01)
Refine, evaluate and adapt strategies for managing changes and transitions (AC9HP10P02)
Evaluate the influence of respect, empathy, power and coercion on establishing and maintaining respectful relationships (AC9HP10P04)
Australian Curriculum: General Capabilities
Personal and Social Capability:
Social awareness
Intercultural Understanding:
Engaging with cultural and linguistic diversity
NSW PDHPE Syllabus
Analyse factors and strategies that enhance inclusivity, equality and respectful relationships (PD5-3)
Critique their ability to enact interpersonal skills to build and maintain respectful and inclusive relationships in a variety of groups or contexts (PD5-10)
Victorian Curriculum: Health and Physical Education
Evaluate factors that shape identities, and analyse how individuals impact the identities of others (VCHPEP142)
Investigate how empathy and ethical decision making contribute to respectful relationships (VCHPEP146)
Activity 1
Picture this! Interpersonal skills: Empathy
10 minutes
Access images sourced from magazines and newspapers, and from Twitter, Pinterest/Instagram.
Students choose an image they see as being representative of showing empathy (acknowledging the feelings of others).
Whole-class discussion: What is empathy, and what does it look like, feel like and sound like in relationships? Students offer answers as to why they chose that particular image.
Activity 2
Mind mapping: My supports
25 minutes
Students complete a mind map (on A4 paper or in student workbooks) detailing their family/friends who provide support.
Students add a description of how each of these people provides support (e.g. what they do or say to provide support).
Other supports (not people) as support structures:
Using a different coloured pen/pencil/texta, students add supports that are not people – e.g. doing meditation, practising mindfulness, playing sport, etc.
Students then add online supports. (See introduction to this resource for a list of suggested supports.)
Whole-class discussion.
Activity 3
Celebrating diversity
25 minutes
General brainstorm on days during the year that celebrate inclusivity, diversity and supporting others (e.g. Wear it Purple Day, International Day Against Homophobia, Biphobia, Intersexism and Transphobia (IDAHOBIT), Multicultural Day, Harmony Day, World Mental Health Day, RUOK? Day, White Ribbon Day).
Why are these days important?
How do we celebrate difference at school?
How can we add to existing days where we celebrate respectful relationships as a whole school?
How do these days support the diversity of our school cohort?
Students select a cause and design what an awareness day could look like. The can do this anyway they choose, for example drawing, brainstorming and listing features.
