By May 10, 2018, I was hoping to turn the corner in the 8th grade Shen-Gang conversation enrichment class of thirty students; from relationship/animal abuse, to oppressive child labor, and unionism with a viewing of "Newsies" and then into an introduction of direct democracy and activism. We would boldly go where few Taiwanese students had gone before, in Chinese or English. Read "'Newsies' For Taiwan Solidarity" here.
I brought in People Power, a comic book about tenants that organize a rent strike and the three ways groups (pyramid, crowd, team) and individuals (unequal, ignoring, equals) relate to each other for brainstorming pair-work. With a list of social "Problems” from The Kids Guide to Social Action by B. Lewis, I helped the students choose one for a final presentation. The groups were to prepare summaries and give oral reports.
On May 24, from seven categories, each group chose one aspect to collectively work on for their final project, "Solving Social Problems." Each group member would have a task (report writer, reader, form creator, grammar-spelling checker) of that category and the reporter would explain the course of action
they had chosen to complete the direct action.
The first half of class I spent playing and explaining, "Twentieth
Century Man" by the Kinks, Listen to the song, with lyrics,here. going over the vocabulary; it served to show the disillusionment of modern
society, but not to be left to sulk, activism, as in "Newsies," was the solution. We finished watching "Newsies" and we contrasted
the optimism and pessimism. Before class ended, I handed out the cover page of People Power and outlined the schedule for the last four classes of the term. 
This topic is relevant to Taiwanese students at the high-intermediate EFL level. It is a call for action that
many expat EFL instructors may not want to hear and even fewer will be able to carry through because of restrictions in their schools and bushibans, in Taiwan or
elsewhere. With curricula full of consumer-related topics, activism is bad for business though it is good for society.
On May 30, every child in each group was given a copy of “Brainstorming
I: Come Up With Ideas” and “Brainstorming II: Choose Your Main Idea.” We started that day and by the end of the two-hour class, the groups had a “Plan
of Action” to proceed within their chosen topic. The next few classes students would work on a particular aspect of activism: “How
to Write a Letter to the Editor”, “Power Petitions,” “Survey Form
I,” “Survey Form II,” “Power
Proposals,” or “How to Write a News Release.” Meanwhile, we read, brainstormed, discussed, and had board competitions with the first part of the People Power comic before watching the cartoon version of Animal Farm, by G. Orwell, up to Snowball's banishment, to demonstrate why collective decision making was better for society. The students loved it! Watch "Animal Farm" here.
Meanwhile, the 8th graders had a hands-on experience with direct
democracy thanks to an annual list of student grades that was distributed to them before class. What could have been a distraction was turned into a teaching opportunity. I explained that
such a public list comparing students’ grades was unthinkable in NYC; it was a potential source for bragging rights or embarrassment and, as such, was kept
private. I called for an anonymous vote to see how these students felt about it, and we took a secret vote:
“Check if you agree the list remain public and write 'x' if you think it should be
private.” I handed out little strips of paper and asked the students not to sign
them but to keep their responses secret and fold the paper. I then collected
the votes in a shopping bag and publicly tabulated the results on the board. The result was even; checks winning by one vote, but four votes were disqualified votes
("I don't care.") and there was one too many (!) but I had made a point. We segued
into the "Solving Problems" section of the curriculum.
Each group, reminded that they should try to use English, choose a sub-topic
from their concern, and were shown a brainstorming technique on the
board; each group had to copy and fill out with two problems resulting from their
specific concern and two ways each could be addressed.
After the break I
asked a few groups to report on their process but they were shy and unsure; they had never done such an activity before in the Taiwanese classroom. We went straight to People Power and did a choral reading. I described the first type of relationship, unequal-pyramid, and solicited examples
of such relationships in the children's lives; parent-child, teacher-student,
etc. They were surprised when I told them how many American parents, including
myself, tried to have equal relationships with our children discussing decisions. Most agreed it was impossible to do with their parents. Ultimately, the American child was told by the parent what to do if a debate was fruitless and the child couldn't be convinced.
On June 6, each group was randomly handed one of seven methods for solving problems and asked to organize collectively. The students started creating action
plans to solve a local problem such as increasing the size of their school library or building a park. I went from group to group making suggestions and encouraging them to use Chinese, if necessary, to work things out with an English outcome. For the two hour class, the children tried to make sense of it all. Some had difficulties and I gave suggestions to illustrate. The way each group organized was unique, some more thoroughly than others, but it was all a great practice in real language usage. The proof would be in the pizza party at the last class when the children would give their reports and explain the steps they would take and responsibilities they would share.
June 13 was the last class before the day of reckoning at Shen-gang for the 8th
graders activism projects, and pizza. Each group had to have a course of action and each member had to describe what their function in
the campaign would.be; they didn't have to actually go through with the mailing
of letters to the editor, press release, survey, questionnaire, but they had to be ready to go. 
June 20 we enjoyed the pizza as the first group prepared to report, getting first dibs on slices. A few groups chickened out and ate last, ha-ha. Many of the students were tentative and uncertain, but that was natural; no pain, go gain. In all, five of the seven groups reported, and quite comprehensively. The students were amazed with each others' results and proud of themselves. Each report was about three minutes long.
In hindsight, I wish I had had more time with the students to converse; after all, two hours a week is not enough and there is regression without reinforcement by their regular EFL teachers who are compelled to use antiquated pedagogy of memorization of grammatical structures for constant testing without giving a chance for the fledglings to use their skills to attain fluency. All we can do as conversation enrichment facilitators is motivate students to learn by supplying meaningful challenges in a non-threatening environment. The students at Shen-Gang had completed complicated tasks with their intermediate English pushed to the max, and succeeded.
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