ACTIVITY:

ACTIVITY:	YOU CAN'T DO THAT! EXPLORING SCENARIOS OF WORKPLACE GENDER CONFLICT AND RESOLUTION THROUGH ROLE-PLAYING
GRADES:	10-12
TIME:	2-3 CLASS PERIODS
SUBJECTS:	ANY SHOP, 9th GRADE EXPLORATORY, CAREER AWARENESS, CO-OP, HEALTH

DESCRIPTION:

"You Can't Do That" is an attempt to dramatize, through student role playing, the conflicts that arise in the trades when nontraditional employees are part of the workplace. Students will try to find logical, equitable solutions to these conflicts. Students may use scenarios provided by instructor or create their own. Discussion should follow each role-playing event.

***This lesson might work well after a discussion of the realities of nontraditional workers in the trades. Also, the lessons "Guest Speaker" and "Tasks, Tools and Gender" would work well as preceding activities.

***Shops might develop scenarios specific to their trade for reality. Tools from the shop could be used as props. Techniques learned in shop could be part of the play.

OBJECTIVES:
Short Term--

To recognize gender stereotypes in the workplace.
To create characters and situations that demonstrate gender related conflict.
To analyze personal relationships in terms of gender, power, work skills, etc.
To present in front of an audience.
To acquire conflict resolution skills.

Long Term--

To understand all aspects of a trade as applied to the modern workplace.
To support nontraditional career choices.

MATERIALS:

Tools may be used as props.

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PROCEDURE:

Students should be prepared for this activity, either through discussions with instructor or guest speaker, or by lessons that demonstrate gender issues caused by the presence of nontrad workers in the trades. [See "Guest Speaker" & "Tasks, Tools, and Gender" in this publication.]
NOTE: These scenarios assume that your shop has both male and female students. It is possible, however, to create relevant role-playing with one-gender situations; topical skits could still be enacted and issues discussed, although conflicts might lose some of their power and relevancy.
There are many ways to form groups and ask students to prepare skits. Here are two ideas:

Instructor divides class into groups.
Different scenarios are handed out to each group.
Each group prepares, figuring roles, props, lines, etc.

Read a scenario to the class.
Ask students to volunteer.
Volunteers prepare outside of shop area, while remaining students discuss possible resolutions to the conflict described.

Scenarios are enacted. Audience might be asked by instructor to take notes for discussion. Some things to watch for: logic of story line; believability of the characters; credibility of the resolution.
After each performance, discuss as a group. Focus on the resolution of the gender issues raised by the scenario, and the effectiveness of the proposed resolution(s).
Students may write responses to the role-playing. Some interesting prompts might be:

Have you ever been in a nontrad role at school or in sports?
What would you do if a co-worker was harassing someone because of gender?
Did the conflicts have anything in common?
Did the resolutions in the skits have anything in common?

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EVALUATION:

Assessment may be based on written components of lesson, note-taking completion, and listening and speaking skills. Using a rubric would help evaluate the more subjective aspects of the project.

SAMPLE SCENARIOS

AUTOMOBILE REPAIR SHOP
Mary is a new employee at Art's Foreign Car Repair. She is 28 years old with 12 years experience in the trade, including Tech School. Her co-workers include Mike and Steve who have worked at Art's for more than 10 years. Even though it's obvious that Mary knows her stuff, Mike can't help but offer her suggestions and help, especially when some physical task is involved. She understands his perspective, but it annoys her nonetheless. Steve assumes Mary knows nothing, avoids working with her, and directs comments at her that question her skill level. His behavior angers her. Art, the owner, is sympathetic to Mary, but he doesn't want to alienate Mike or Steve. How is this situation resolved?
THE HAIR SALON
Mike has just been hired by a busy urban hair salon, Hair Today, Gone Tomorrow. At first he gets along fine with his co-workers, Jill, Annie, and Beth. But as the weeks pass, Mike notices that many of their comments are suggesting that he is gay. Jill and Annie often point out "cute" guys to Mike, while Beth seems to be a little nervous around him. Most recently she confronted him about his "dangerous" lifestyle and offered him advice about AIDS testing. On every occasion Mike has protested, saying that he is straight and their comments are hurtful. They laugh in a knowing way and respond that he is just nervous about coming "out," and why doesn't he trust them. How does the situation get resolved?
THE BUILDING SITE
Kyle and Pete have been partners in a construction business for several years. They are building a house in Hadley, which is a fairly long drive for both of them, but the house should be profitable and it will be interesting to build. Carol is a young building inspector for the town of Hadley. Kyle and Pete decide to backfill the foundation before it has been signed off by the building inspector, feeling that they can plead innocence because of their relative newness to the trade. Plus, to be safe, Pete took Polaroids of the foundation to show its completion. The next day Carol, the inspector, shows up. Kyle is relieved; he feels that he has a way with women and Carol should be an easy touch. Carol feels she needs to be strong in a male-dominated profession, so she carries out her duties to the letter. Kyle tries to sweet-talk Carol into letting the backfilling go. Carol demands that they dig it out again or face daily fines. Pete tries to intervene between the two to save the job--after all, they will be working with her throughout the project. How do they resolve the situation?

Western Massachusetts Gender Equity Center