Yesterday I talked about a lesson that taught about how a young person might perceive themselves – this lesson is about how other people perceive them. Understanding this flip in perception – that someone might see us as other than we are – is not a trivial one. To further it one more step to understanding how someone might respond to us is so important for young people. This lesson from chapter 8 of Changes, Changes, Changes supports that exact skill set.
HOW OTHER PEOPLE RESPOND TO OUR APPEARANCE
Objectives:
By the end of this lesson, students will be able to:
- Create a change in their personal appearance, and observe and record responses other people have to that change.
- Assess how their personal appearance might be influenced by the reactions of others.
Rationale:
Early adolescents experiment with their physical appearance as they adjust to body changes and revise their self-concept. This lesson is intended to help students learn about how others respond to this experimentation and how these responses might affect their self-concept.
Actually, reading through the lesson kinda makes me want to do it myself. Four days of a shift in the way that we present ourselves. What, I wonder, would I change?
The part of my physical appearance that people comment on the most frequently is my dyed hair – it’s purple and has been for seven years. I wonder how people would react if I changed it to some other color or even dyed it brown? Using some short lived hair dye might be interesting. Or what if I were to get a clip-on nose ring? Between the hair dye and the tattoos I already have, I wonder if people would be unsurprised for me to get a face piercing as well? Or what if I started dressing like a professional in my daily life, rather than my uniform t-shirt and jeans (with a variation of hoodie and jeans when it’s cold)?
What about you? What would you change, and how do you think people would react?
Particularly your students?
