Counter-Narratives:
Dominant Narratives in Our Everyday Lives: Band-Aids
This lesson in action:
Lesson Objectives
Students will be able to:
- Identify the ways in which dominant narratives are present in our everyday lives
- Recognize the ways in which the United States often centers whiteness as a default
- Consider approaches to challenging these taken-for-granted narratives
Learning Standards
- LfJ 5. Students will recognize traits of the dominant culture, their home culture and other cultures and understand how they negotiate their own identity in multiple spaces.
- LfJ 8. Students will respectfully express curiosity about the history and lived experiences of others and will exchange ideas and beliefs in an open-minded way.
- LfJ 13. Students will analyze the harmful impact of bias and injustice on the world, historically and today.
- LfJ 14. Students will recognize that power and privilege influence relationships on interpersonal, intergroup and institutional levels and consider how they have been affected by those dynamics.
Learning Activities: If you have 15 minutes
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Greeting:
If you were headed to a deserted island, what three things would you bring to occupy your time?
Reading:
“We delight in the beauty of the butterfly, but rarely admit the changes it has gone through to achieve that beauty.” –Maya Angelou
Ask Students:
- What does this quotation get you thinking about?
Initiative:
Define dominant narrative for students.
"Well-known, taken-for-granted stories from the perspective of a dominant group that seeks to justify the status quo and that group’s dominance" --Dr. Lee Anne Bell
Could use ‘Columbus discovered America’ as an example of a dominant narrative.
Ask Students:
- Have you ever seen a product in a store, on television, or online that seemed like its inventor had one of your identities in mind?
- Have you ever seen a product in a store, on television, or online that seemed like its inventor did NOT have one of your identities in mind?
Initiative:
Introduce paper cut scenario to students.
Ask Students:
- Which Band-Aids did you imagine?
- Why do you think that is?
Help students connect their own response back to the idea of a dominant narrative. (In this case, the dominant narrative is that White skin is the default skin color.)
Learning Activities (continued): If you have 45 minutes
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Ask Students:
- Have you seen these band-aids before?
- Why do you think Band-aid decided to create this product?
- Are they a good idea? Why or why not?
Ask Students:
Band-Aid originally introduced “Perfect Blend” Band-Aids in 2005, but discontinued them due to lack of interest.
- Why do you think Band-Aid brought this product back in 2020?
Learning Activities (continued): If you have 2 hours
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Initiative:
Let’s read BandAid’s Instagram Post introducing the Our Tone Band Aids.
Ask Students:
- What do you think of BandAid’s message?
- What do you think of the 234,000 ‘likes’?
Initiative:
BandAid Scholarships for Black Nurses.
Ask Students:
- Does BandAid’s support for Black nursing students influence your opinion of their Our Tone campaign?
Ask Students:
- Can you think of other examples of whiteness being used as the default color?
- Should these types of dominant narratives be challenged? How?
Debrief:
- What did you like about today’s lesson?
- Did you learn anything new about yourself or anyone else?
- What could make it better?