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Tough Issues, Tough Choices: Resources for Staff and Student Development

By: 

£45.00

Phase: 

  • Secondary

ISBN: 

978-1-906517-86-1

Published: 

Jul 2008

Help young people on their way to becoming socially aware citizens

Tough Issues, Tough Choices is a collection of 24 workshop sessions to help young people learn how to tackle challenging issues by promoting emotional literacy in schools. It is specifically aimed at those children with behavioural problems.

Tough Issues, Tough Choices is designed to encourage students to develop their own voice, to take ownership of their own behaviours, values and responses and to become reflective young adults who are able to effectively identify and challenge social injustice. A key aspect of such a challenge lies in developing the ability to counter the five faces of oppression: victimisation, marginalisation, violence, powerlessness and exploitation.
 

Books and Training Products: If you are in the UK, your order should usually arrive within 7 working days. Please allow up to two weeks for deliveries outside the UK. Please note that some books and training packs are available to pre-order prior to publication; they will not be delivered until they are published.

eBooks: If purchased by credit card, you will be provided with easy download instructions for immediate download. If purchased by invoice you will have to wait until we have confirmed that your email address and contact details match your school’s. This is typically done on the following working day. Please note that sometimes e-books are available to pre-order prior to publication; they will not be available for download until they are published.

Benefits

Tough Issues, Tough Choices will help you to:
  • engage the hard-to-teach and hard-to-reach
  • model a problem-solving approach to teenage dilemmas
  • enable students to develop emotional resilience
  • provide materials to assist SEAL development
  • help your students to resist unhelpful peer pressures
  • mirror young people’s experiences with teaching and learning resources
  • support students in questioning their values and behaviours
  • record your students’ opinions before and after working with them, which can then be used in your school SEF.

Summary of contents

Tough Issues, Tough Choices is an exciting and challenging resource that focuses upon the issues, problems and concerns of teenagers in today’s increasingly diverse and complex society.  Social, emotional and behavioural issues relevant to these young people are presented in a three part programme which was originally developed and trialled within the context of a Pupil Referral Unit and a Mainstream High School. 

Tough Issues, Tough Choices aims to address some of the ‘real’ concerns and agendas of teenagers today.  Whilst it fulfils many of the objectives of the KS3 and KS4 PSHE curriculum, it also promotes the development of emotional literacy, equal opportunities and social justice.  A central objective is to encourage students to develop their own voice, to take ownership of their own behaviours, values and responses and to become reflective young adults able to effectively identify and challenge social injustice.

The programme is presented in three parts, each containing 8 scenarios with accompanying teaching resources and activities.  The issues presented are often extremely challenging and hard hitting and include the following:

  • underage pregnancy
  • graffiti
  • ASBOs
  • date rape
  • homophobia
  • anorexia
  • racism
  • death
  • relationship breakdown
  • peer pressure
  • arson
  • alcohol abuse
  • obesity
  • bullying
  • drug abuse

The structure of the sessions is consistent throughout to allow for ease of delivery and includes evaluation sheets, image cards, question and answer sessions, acting out of the scenario and take home activities to reinforce and build upon the learning undertaken.  A CD-ROM accompanies the programme and this includes all the activites, image cards, take home activities and photographic images.

This is a unique resource and of real relevance to today’s young people.  It certainly challenges our young people to reflect upon their own emotional, behavioural and social needs and the ways in which they can and should develop self-help strategies and appropriate problem solving skills to cope effectively with the issues and challenges of today’s world.  The content is hard-hitting but if we fail to address these issues, due to our own ‘adult’ embarrassments and fears then we also fail the young people we are seeking to support, challenge and develop.

Tough Issues, Tough Choices focuses on the real issues, problems and concerns of today’s teenagers and is suitable for young people aged 13 – 18 years.

Chapter breakdown

Introduction

Background and Rationale
Tough Life Issues
Aims of the Programme
Structure of the Programme
Structure of the Sessions
Notes to Facilitators
Checklist
Looking Forwards
Bibliography
Web-based Resources

Part 1 Social Issues

Ragging Up
Baby Blues
Graffiti Courage
Cow Face
Nicked, No Problem
Taking It
Who Am I?
Go Somewhere Else

Part 2 Emotional Issues

Gay Boy
Eat Up
Two Sides
Dumb Idiot
The Girls’ Way
Missing You
Love Rat
Look At That

Part 3 Behavioural Issues

Drunk and Disorderly
Bullying
Happy Slapping
Peer Pressure
Grassing Up
Out Of It
Burn It Up
Shorty

Details

A4, printable from the CD-ROM or to copy from the A4 page. Includes a hardback binder