Story-line
By Dorte Foss and Kristian Borg

With the story-line-method the pupil gets practice in taking a stand on a given formulation of a problem, in showing options for actions together, and in coming to an understanding of the fact that the world looks the way it does, because we act the way we do. That may further both the power of identifying oneself and the competence of action.

Forms: It is possible to work with story-line and global problems in all classes, as long as you remember to start in "the close environment". In the youngest classes for example "myself" or "my family", and only in a simplified form draw parallels to other countries or ways of lives.
As a matter of fact story-line is based on the idea of a spiral, which starts with a small diameter in the youngest classes and which is gradually extended in the oldest classes, where you still start in " the close environment", but to a much larger extent add the global dimension.

Materials: The following materials are necessary: glue, scissors, paper, old newspapers and magazines. Furthermore each group must have a display board and possibly a computer at its disposal.

STAGING

The staging may be set in many different ways, according to how the further course is planned. We made a letter to the two 9^th forms, we were working with. The headline was "Human rights". The letter, which was from the Danish Parliament, was read to the class. It is important that the teacher identify herself whole-heartedly with the role when the letter is read. The pupils, however, must know that it is a role, the teacher is playing.
"Dear class! As we experience a lacking tolerance among people, races, and religions in our society, we want to find out what is necessary for people to live in peaceful co-existence with each other. Your class has been chosen to give an idea of what is important for people to live together with respect for each other. Before you give your idea of what you think is important you must "travel" abroad and try to live in another country and see what problems people in other parts of the world are facing.

Kind regards the Danish Parliament."

Level and aim

Now the very course is working, and you start with a brainstorm on the blackboard. Here the teacher finds out what the pupils already know about the subject. This brainstorm must help to determine the academic level of the course and decide which academic aims you are aiming at.
We set the following academic aims for the storyline course " Human rights": The pupils must be able to decide their attitude to the importance of the democratic processes for a society. The pupils must be able to evaluate interaction and conflicts between human beings with starting point in concepts like: states, religions, races, cultures, equality, liberty, power, individual, responsibility, duty, and rights.

Organizing

Before the course is started the class must be divided into groups. Each group chooses a secretary, who must write down what the group finds out. The job as secretary may possibly be done in turns.
Each group must solve a number of tasks / rounds, where the last task is solved in plenum together with the rest of the class.
Here it is important to reach a common understanding of what makes a society "good to live in", and how our attitude must be to violation of human rights.

With each round the group gets one or more tasks, which it must solve. When the task of the round is solved the pupils gather in the class and present to each other. After that the group contacts the teacher to get the tasks of the next round. What is produced in the groups is put on the blackboard/ wall of the group. On the way in the course it is important that the teacher is in contact with the groups to have a sense of how far the groups are in their solving of the different tasks. The teacher may expect that the groups solve the different tasks of each round at different levels. But as storyline as a method gives great possibilities of teaching differentiation there is a rich opportunity to make demands on each single group - in proportion to the ability of the group.
Here are the presentation of the ten steps our course consisted of.

1. Describe a fictitious country: "Write how your country looks as regards geography, climate, the size of the local population, and so on. Give the country a name. Give towns names and so on. Make (draw, paint, tear up paper, collage) a picture of the country with its mountains, lakes, palms, or what is characteristic for the country of the group. When the picture is finished it is hang up on the blackboard of the group."

When the groups must describe a country it is important that the country is fictitious - that it is made-up by the group. The course does not aim at the pupils deciding their attitude on a concrete country and then find technical literature about the country, but on the other hand that the pupils must use their fantasy and visions.
Beforehand the teacher has made the setting of a fictitious landscape on a piece of cardboard of poster size. The groups will often separately describe widely different countries - with different ethnic groups (black, white, yellow, and so on.) In that way it is the meaning to describe a number of countries, which are just as multifarious as the world is incidentally.

2. Describe a family: " Write how old the different family members are, what their belief is, what political conviction they have, what the history of the family is, and where in the country the family lives. Draw your family members and cut them out. There must as a minimum be one family member for each group member."
Again the teacher has beforehand made a model of dolls in child- and grown up sizes. When the pupils themselves must create a person, they will instinctively identify themselves with that person emotionally. In this way the further course will be more concrete and present to the pupils. After that it is through the persons of the pupils the story is told.

3. Describe the everyday life of all the family members: " For example write down when the family during an ordinary day is gathered, how long time the children go to school - if they go to school, and how long time the parents work every day."
When the pupils continuously must write and tell about their country, family, and so on, the fictitious persons will seem more alive and real. At the presentation for the class the groups must be prepared to answer questions concerning their family, for example is the father in a family dead - what is the explanation? The fact that the groups must be able to answer various questions concerning their family and its background, without necessarily having considered it beforehand, again is a way of putting the pupils under the obligation to identify themselves with the life of their persons.

4. Describe some good and bad experiences your family has had: " Write about experiences, which have caused joys and sorrow in the family. Write about experiences, which have changed the everyday life of the family - for example a new home, unemployment, death and so on. The experiences are told to the rest of the class."

Here it is very important that the pupils take a realistic position on what a family may experience and do not wander off into too many lottery prizes.

5. Make a front page to the most read newspaper of the country: " Which stories are front-page news? Make head lines. Describe/draw the photos which are on the front page of the newspaper. Write captions to the photos. Depending on time and form the front page in every detail must look like BT or Aktuelt (two Danish Newspapers). The pupils are not supposed to write the articles themselves, but only decide which stories are the most important this day."

When the groups work with their newspaper front page, the pupils are forced to describe their country through events which characterize the country. As an introduction to the work with the newspaper front page the teacher gives an introductory presentation of how you can read about trends in society through articles in the newspaper, just as you may get a feeling if the country has a free press.

6. Radical changes: The groups must choose two of the "radical changes" below:

1. The country will have a dictatorship.
2. Only one religion will be allowed in the country.
3. There will be great unemployment.
4. There will be political persecution of people who think differently.
5. Crime will increase violently - everyday life will become insecure.
6. The country will experience a natural disaster.
7. It looks like war with the neighbouring country.

Make a new front page to the biggest newspaper of the country.

7. After the radical change: " Describe how everyday life is changed for the members of the family."
After the pupils have spent a lot of time on shaping their persons and family, the pupils should be able to imagine/feel from their own experience some of the consequences: injustice, despair, desperation, and so on, which arise in their family.

8. The family decides to flee from the country: " Describe why the family flees, and describe which considerations the family takes."

9. A new country: " Describe what the ideal country for the family of the group looks like. For example must there be room for all religions and political convictions? Which rights and duties are in force in the country?
As mentioned above it is important here to make room for a discussion about what would help to make a society " good to live in", and how we must decide our attitude to the violation of the human rights.

10. Comparison: " Compare the rights of the new country of the family with another country you know. Are there striking resemblance and differences? If so, why?

Finally you go back to the "letter" from the beginning. The class then must discuss what is important for people to live in peaceful co-existence with each other. The discussion may end in the class passing its own human rights declaration. This part is very important, because here there are considerations which aim to how you as a human being can act to counteract the experienced situations. Furthermore it forces the pupils to decide their attitude to their own values - something which is of vital importance when you work with global understanding.