How Strategy Can Foster Youth Participation in the Electoral System

That political strategy and tactics make a significant contribution to politics and political science has been argued at length elsewhere. The present article discusses three ways in which political strategy and strategic analysis can foster greater youth participation in the electoral system. First strategy allows young people themselves to become politically mobilized. Second, strategy can help young people be more effective in their participation in the electoral system. Third, strategy can be used to assess, change or design policies regarding youth participation in elections.

The goal is to give the reader an idea of the potential, rather than include enough detail for strategy to be used immediately, on the basis of this article alone. The rudiments of strategy and strategic analysis at their most applied are discussed in three parts. The first discusses how to develop a strategy. The second examines how to analyze a strategy already put in place. The third discusses a series of exercises, whose role is to develop the capacity to strategize and conduct strategic analysis. Table 1, Objectives and Tools, relates these three parts to the possible applications mentioned above. These are only three components of a more detailed step-by-step method which, applied to elections only, includes over 40 exercises and 50 worksheets. The last section provides some sample strategies.


Objectives and Tools

Goals Tools
Mobilization Exercises
Effectiveness Worksheet I
Policy Analysis Worksheets II and III


Some discussion of strategy, however, is in order. A strategy is an imaginative idea, which orchestrates and/or inspires sets of actions (tactics, policies, programs or plans) in response to a given problem. The essential characteristic of strategy is the core idea, because the core idea directs all the subsequent actions or tactics of the strategy when it is implemented. There are three major components to strategy, in addition to the core idea: goals, tactics, and style. Goals are aims or ends to which efforts are directed. The tactics are the means or steps useful or helpful to a desired goal. Finally, the style is the particular manner of taking steps for a particular purpose.




Political mobilization of Youth

This section provides the description of strategic exercises for greater mobilization.

Exercise 1, Identifying Issues. Hand out disposable, development included cameras and ask people to take pictures of what improves their lives, what makes their lives good, what enriches their lives; the following meeting, have the people display and explain their pictures to the group, and from that discussion build a consensus on what the issue they want to act on is.

Exercise 2, Discovering Strategy and your Strategic Potential. Individuals play chess or checkers but are required to think two moves ahead; facilitators interrupts games to turn the tables, change opponents, ask about moves anticipated, etc. Facilitator provides feedback on strategic thinking throughout workshop. Exercise ends with a discussion about what the chessboard represents in a real strategy, what the pieces are, what the rules mean, how the opponent was dealt with.

Exercise 3, Whose Line Is It Anyway? Participants are given brief outline of the situation that they are in and have to improvise. Select different participants for each role-play; after each role play discuss the strength and weaknesses. Observers and participants have to say one good thing for every criticism. Criticism should take the form of Ahow would I do it differently?@ The facilitator stops the role play when the participants are out of ideas.

Exercise 4, Drafting Letters, Faxes, E-mails. Divide participants into three groups and have one team draft a letter, one team draft a fax and one team draft an email. Each communication would be trying to be doing one or more of the following: get an appointment; be put on the agenda of the next meeting; be put on a committee; ask for money for your cause; ask to vote in a certain way for your cause. Each team would have half an hour to write its communication, then they would share it with the group and get some feedback.

Exercise 5, Going for the Jugular. Watch AA Bridge Too Far@ to learn about tactical failure; discuss the various strategic nodes as they occur in the film. Divide participants into groups of three. Have each identify the decision-making process of their issue step by step; once that is done, have each group identify the moments where an activist must be successful or the whole strategy will fail. Bring the group back together and construct the decision-making chart, step by step, to the best of the group=s ability; reconcile the various formats and make a list of the do-or-die moments. Those are the jugulars, the strategic nodes. Assign each jugular to a group or participant, and devise 4 tactics to make sure the strategy is successful at that particular point. Bring the group together again and rank order the solutions for each node. Then assign the additional research or other tasks associated with each node.

Exercise 6, In the Decision-Maker=s Shoes. Preparatory session I: identify all players in the decision making process, including everyone who has some influence. Chart out the decision-making process for issue at hand; assign role-plays of each player to each participant. For example, if the decision-making body is a board of directors, there will be a chair, a secretary, some staff, each director; there will be blocs and alliances within the board, some members more influential than others, some members with strong views and others with undecided points, etc.

Exercise 7,Advocacy Styles. Watch the film ATwelve Angry Men@, available at most videos stores= participants must stop the movie every time they identify an advocacy style; participants discuss that style, its components, its effectiveness, and how to counter it; at the end of the film, they must explain which style is closest to their own.

Exercise 8, Strategy to Take Out. Form teams to work on various levels of government. Once teams are formed, they work together to fill out the various sections of the proposal. Print off the form, and inside the boxes, where there are questions to help you focus on what to write there. There are three major parts: setting the goal, developing steps to goal, and developing a way to assess progress and change the plan.

Exercise 9, Multiple Scenarios of Hostility/Good Will. Assign scenario developing work in writing: ask students to write dialogues between themselves and their contacts for each of the following: absolutely unreceptive; very unreceptive; mildly unreceptive; neutral; mildly receptive; very receptive; completely unreceptive.

Exercise 10, Talking Points. The fact sheet must provide necessary background information on the policy issue in question; must illustrate strategy and tactics for passing (or defeating) a decision in an organization. The memo must identify key members of the decision-making process, jurisdiction and leadership, and suggest ways to influence those members.

Exercise 11, Actual versus Formal Power Structure. Make organizational chart of factual, as opposed to formal organizational chart for power or for decision making; chart of informal influence patterns as discoverable; helps identifying unknown areas, so that narrows down the research agenda.

Exercise 12, Principles of Strategy. Workshop is divided into groups, whose task it is to come up with a basic strategy that can be realized immediately involving the other groups. Past examples of small-scale strategies have been: getting everyone in the room to sit on the floor; getting everyone in the room to applaud or to laugh. As each group carries out its strategy, the facilitator points out components of strategy and principles of sound strategy that are used by participants. Participants also identify components and principles for themselves.

The foregoing exercises can be offered in two programs, the first for fourteen weeks with a regular, weekly meeting time (see Table 2, A 14-Week Program), and the second for a series of intensive workshops which can be scheduled as needed (see Table 3, Program of Ad Hoc, Intensive workshops). A more detailed explanation of each exercises, along with planning notes, and several other worksheets have, again, been discussed elsewhere.



A 14-Week Program

Week Themes Exercises

1 Form teams, identify issue, identify values,
identify organizational culture of team and
dominant culture 1
2-3 Strategy 2 or 8 or 12
4-5 Case studies of activism on youth issues
6 Teams present strategy, get feedback
7-8 Lobbying techniques 3, 4
9 Teams present report and plan
10 Advocacy styles 7
11-12 Decision making; participation; levels of government 6
13 Research 5, 9, 11
14 Presenting strategy 10


Program of Ad Hoc, Intensive Workshops

Time Required Goal Exercises

4.5 hours Introduction to basics of strategy 2, 12, 5
8 hours Developing a complete strategy in a day 8
8 hours Make your existing strategy fool-proof 5, 6, 9
5.5 hours Introduction to tactics 3, 4, 7
4 hours Intensive tactical development 9, 11



Greater Political Effectiveness of Youth

By filling out worksheet I, using the questions included in italics right on the form, and following the instructions below, youth may design their own political strategies.





This worksheet can also be used to develop a policy for fostering great youth participation, within a political party or on the part of the government or a government agency.

Analyzing and Amending Existing Policies

For maximum effectiveness in achieving greater youth participation in the electoral system, it may be necessary to analyze an existing policy. Worksheet II, which is self-explanatory, supports that task.





The pattern of actions may not be immediately obvious – in that case, turn to Worksheet III to help list events. Divide your observations into periods.




Since the development of a core idea is both crucial to a strategy and the component novice strategists find most difficult to identify, some examples can be found below.

Some Sample Core Ideas

We will attack their underbelly.
We will think well of you if you do ......................................
You will think well of yourself if you do ................................
Public opinion will think well of you if you do this......................
The public will think badly of your company if you do.....................
......................... is the morally superior thing to do.
I'm going to embarrass them into it
To do ......................would be unethical.
If you do..........................., the country will think it is unethical.
The economy will be better if you do .........................
Science has shown that .................................is the better course of action.
It will be very difficult for you socially if you announce ..................................
You doing ........................... will be bad for your political future.
We will use our opponents= momentum against them by doing ...............................
We will knock our opponents of their pace by saying .............................
I will defy the government=s expectations of me by...................................
We will take back the lead by .................................
We will change people=s mind about us by ..........................
We will take back control of the agenda by ..................................
We will cut them off at the pass by ...........................
I will cut them off at the knees by.................................
I will get other players to use their power against other players by.................

Conclusion

The foregoing article was the most recent installment in a series of books and articles introducing a new general theory of strategy and its applications to an audience primarily composed of non-strategists. It is also a part of a broader oeuvre, integrated along three axes. The first axis focuses on the methodological and theoretical development of this new theory of strategy. The second axis presents several structured sets of case studies focusing on the various types of actors in political systems, broadly defined. The third axis presents a series of exercises and worksheets which pertain either to particular applications of strategy or which spans the intellectual development of a good strategist. These exercises are intended to offer training for strategy, limbering and strengthening exercises that lead to the gymnastic performance of strategy. The goal of the present article is to propose that strategy can be a suitable foundation for the analysis and development of greater youth participation in the electoral system. Strategy provides a useful forecasting tool for relations between all the actors who may be involved (individuals, groups, political parties, factions within those parties, governments at various levels, pressure groups and even election officials), which are fraught or otherwise difficult.

Active Learning Through the Worksheet System

Abstract

This paper introduces the reader to a polyvalent knowledge transfer system called the worksheet system. A pedagogical innovation developed by the author, it has been in use in a variety of settings for over 10 years. The paper also covers two worksheets of the broadest possible application: the first is to promote active listening in lectures and explanations. The second is to make the user aware of how s/he integrates new knowledge.

I. Introduction

Although there is much informal discussion of teaching critical thinking in the social sciences, there are surprisingly few studies about it in the published literature. There have been various studies of how much it is being taught at the university level, and whether it is related to problem solving skills. Even more rare are references to critical thinking and strategic thought, whose weaknesses are linked. However, the conclusions are clear : that critical thinking can be developed by exercises, and that these exercises are more effective when they include representation. Factors that influence the learning of critical thinking are numerous and complex. Critical thinking clearly applies extensively to several skills critical to social science in general, and to political science in particular. Those skills are : distilling a theory or argument into its cogent points; using the scientific method or logical procedure when analyzing information; assessing a theory or argument’s validity; employing conceptual clarity when analyzing theories or arguments; constructing definitions/concepts to use elsewhere; applying a theory or argument to other situations; comparing and contrasting systems; identifying assumptions, biases, viewpoints; assessing credibility of sources; and making and assessing value judgments.

This paper introduces the reader to a polyvalent knowledge transfer system called the worksheet system. A pedagogical innovation developed by the author, it has been in use in a variety of settings for over 10 years. The paper covers two worksheets of the broadest possible application: the first is to promote active listening in lectures and explanations, and for structuring group discussions. The second is to introduce the user to the pedagogical device of the core idea, to give his own thinking the characteristics of underdog strategy. There are three parts to this article: the first describes the worksheets; the second explains their possible uses, and the third discusses a worksheet with the potential to help students or trainees integrate their new knowledge.

II. Description of the worksheet system

The worksheet system is a set of individual forms that leads the student through the process of analysis using a structured set of open-ended questions. It is therefore a structured and organized version of the Socratic method, also similar to that developed by Blake and Mouton. It is also used in the classroom in a variety of disciplines.

The worksheet system makes a number of requirements of the teacher or trainer and the student or trainee. First, the teacher or trainer must understand and be able to articulate the structure of the analytical framework and be able to break it down into a step-by-step process. The teacher must also be able to increase or decrease the level of his or her own abstract thinking, and to do so transparently before the class. The teacher should also fill out the worksheet during the time of the class. If the worksheets are being used in more than one application, the teacher must be able to adapt them as necessary. The worksheets must be varied and they also must be varied in level of difficulty and complexity. Students must have the capacity and the willingness to ask questions before the group; they must also not be convinced that they already know everything they need to know.

There are also structural requirements. First, the learning that is expected of students must be structured, and the worksheet system must reflect that structure. There must be successive levels of learning, and successive levels of awareness of that learning: i.e. it means that students may start with information provided to the, but that must be followed with an immediate application, then the context of the learning can be broader, and so is the application. Ultimately, there must be an awareness of learning about learning, or a reflection of learning as a reflection on one’s practice.

The range of application in military teaching and straining is fairly broad. It includes providing personnel with step by step analysis for active listening in large lecture courses, structuring discussion in small groups, for the analysis of case studies. It is possible there are other applications, such as scientific problem solving for such areas as simulations or war fighting laboratories, although I have yet to explore those applications. In effect, worksheets can help integrate learning as well as for training in analysis or any analytical process. It structures the analysis of just about any situation.

Worksheets are 8.5 by 11 sheets of paper, with questions and boxes in which to answer the questions. The questions are clear and each individual worksheet is deceptively simple. It is the intellectual process through which the user goes through which is the key. Worksheets should be graded, and should always be tied to an immediate task.

II. Two Sample Worksheets

Worksheet 1: Active Listening

This first example is a worksheet designed to have students practice active listening during a lecture on different models of public policy-making. As the lecture progresses, the students are expected to fill in the boxes with the information provided. An active listening worksheet has to be customized to each lecture.




The second example is the Integration Diary. The integration diary’s goal is to help the participant become aware of how s/he learns, so that s/he eventually will be able to become a better learner regarding counterinsurgency. The report is structure to bring the participant to increasing levels of abstraction, i.e. it provides an additional chance to experience telescoping. The form is supposed to be completed in point form only, so that the participant works with individual ideas and concepts, rather than having the chance to be descriptive. The diary must be completed in the space provided to force the participant to choose among various possibilities, and therefore learn what priorities on which to focus. There are no right or wrong answers for this, or any other, worksheet. The point is to make explicit the processes of the participant’s learning.







The instructions to students as to how to fill out are (by column and row):

• Topic of report this is the specific aspect that the participant wishes to analyze in greater detail. There should be only one topic, for example: counterinsurgency, not ‘counterinsurgency and planning.’ The topic should be specific rather than vague. The topic should also be at the same level of generality as the rest of the content of the worksheet.

• In my view, the important components are: here, the participant should break down the topic of his/her choice into components. This process should continue until it is no longer possible to break the topic down any further. The participant then selects the components which will be discussed in the worksheet. Not all components will be analyzed.

• Because: Here the participants gives the reasons why the components selected are important enough to continue to work with. Here the participant must select priorities once again, explicitly. This process occurs in everyday life, but it is not explicit.

• Links with previous learning in strategic thinking: here, the participant must think over what s/he has learned about strategic thinking in the past, and identify where the topic under consideration connects with what s/he already knows.

• My thoughts about this topic are: the reason for this box is that the participant will have a wide range of reactions to the learning that has just occurred. This box allows him/her to make those thoughts explicit, and also to provide him/her with the opportunity to set them aside for future consideration, if necessary. The participant is now less encumbered with other thoughts to continue the analysis.
• I have a better understanding of: for the learning to be genuine, there has to be a greater comprehension of some, possibly several, phenomena. In this box, the participant is expected to provide at least one of these.

• I am more effective at: for the learning to be genuine, there has to be a change in behavior. That change can be either an improvement in an existing behavior, or a change in the probability that a particular action or course of action will be chosen. In this box, the participant is expected to list at least one such improvement.

• I am more likely to: for the learning to be genuine, there has to be a change in behavior. Sometimes that behavior is mental or psychological. That change can ebe either an improvement in an existing behavior, or a change in the probability that a particular action or course of action will be chosen. In this box, the participant is expected to list at least one such change in probability.
In the last three boxes, the participant must become very specific and concrete about what the learning has done for him/her.

• I want to learn more about: learning is a chain, and in an earlier box the participant was required to identify what previous learning on this topic s/he had done. Here, the participant must identify what s/he would most want to study next.

• What I can use: of the learning that has occurred and has been identified, the participant must now select what has practical or immediate applications in his/her responsibilities or life. In this box, the participant must identify the elements of learning that he can actually apply.

• Where? Of the learning that has occurred and has been identified, the participant must now specify what applications exist for the elements of learning that s/he has identified. It is important for participants to be as specific as possible.


III. Conclusion

The greatest obstacle to the acceptance of this knowledge and the employment of it is what Pierre Bourdieu has called the habitus. Habitus is the system of durable, transferable dispositions produced by the conditioning associated with a particular class of conditions of existence. The conditions of existence produce generating, organizing principles of practice and of mental representation of situations, which can be objectively adapted in their aim, but without the awareness of those aims and the mastery explicit of the operations necessary to attain them. The facilitator or leader must judge for him/herself whether participants or readers are capable of this evolution, the scope of which is beyond this book. The reader’s ally in using these new definitions of strategy will be what has been called thin-slicing, or the ability of the unconscious to find patters in situations and behavior based on very narrow slices of experience. The adaptive unconscious (not to be confused with the Freudian concept of the unconscious) is thought of as a giant data processing plant that quickly and quietly processes a lot of the data we need in order to keep functioning. There are times, particularly in times of stress, where the adaptive unconscious is critical. The adaptive unconscious is certainly fallible, but it can also be trained.

The Skills Grid

A Cross-Disciplinary Alternative to Examinations



The idea for this assignment came about during a talk with a former student who was trying to decide in which direction to take his job search. At the time, both instructor and student thought that using a skills grid, as is used in job searches, might be a good starting point. It then occurred to the instructor that it would help students to use such a grid throughout their undergraduate degree. The instructor then tried it out in a first year class of about 60 students, as an optional or bonus assignment. The experiment was a great success, and the instructor then introduced this assignment in upper year courses, also as an optional or bonus assignment.

The structure of this article on the skills grid assignment is as follows:
It discusses pedagogical reasons in favor of the assignment; it presents instructions for both instructor and students; it discusses how to grade the assignment; it lists some of the challenges to be expected in its use; and it closes on applications of this assignment to various courses.

Pedagogical reasons for using the skills grid

The traditional method of providing students with an overview is the examination. There are, however courses where examinations are not well-suited to the subject matter, particularly in interdisciplinary courses, or in the method of delivery, for example in competitive cooperative multi-class role play situations. In these situations, it is still important to ensure that students know that they know. Indeed, that was commented on by students the first time I used the skills grid: they didn’t realize how much they knew until they wrote the assignment. Like examinations, however, it can be used across the spectrum of disciplines, including exact sciences and courses found in professional schools. It also makes for a more satisfied customer, and prepares the students for their entry into a tough job market. Finally, it provides the instructor with feedback on teaching and learning: in other words, the skills grid is a win-win assignment.

Preparatory Notes for the Instructor

The instructor needs to settle a number of questions before introducing the skills grid into a course. S/he must decide:

• Whether this should be a mandatory assignment;
• On what deadline works best for the course;
• How far in advance you want to deliver instructions;
• Whether students should complete it at the end of the course or as they go;
• Include it the course outline or introduce it separately, and in what format.

The instructor should also review the student instructions before explaining them, and may also wish to allocate class time so that students can start, and the instructor check that they are on the right track by filling out two or three rows.

Notes for Verbal Instructions to Students

The goal of the assignment is to help students develop an overview of what they have learned in the course. The grid can be retained and filled out for every course, job and volunteer experience added, and provides students having to start them on their job search.

What follows are column by column instructions in filling out the grid.

Under column 1, Simulation/Exercise/Course/Experience:
o List your job and volunteer experience, course, course component, exercise or simulation.
o For each entry, use a new or separate line.
o See the sample grid for an idea of how to complete the form.

Under Column 2, Content/Role,

o List the aspect of the course, course component or experience that led you to develop new skills or expand on your existing experience.
o For each entry, use a new or separate line.

Under Column 3, Skill,

o List the skill or skills than you used for the first time or on which you expanded during the course or courses component.
o For each entry, use a new or separate line.

Under column 4, Application in workplace,

o Give a list of all the uses you can think of for each of the skills identified in column 3.

In the next section is a sample skills grid assignment filled out for a fictional political science major.





How to Grade the Skills Grid

This assignment should be detailed, specific, exhaustive and thoroughly analyzed. The detail required can be illustrated by the content of column 1. If it only gives the course number, then column 2 should have several entries, changing lines with each entry. A sufficiently specific assignment would list in column 4 enough entries to be useful. The entire course or components of the course should be broken down and listed. Although to some extent this depends on the extent of the course analyzed, it should be exhaustive. Finally, every possibility needs to have been explored, identified and considered. The instructor is usually well informed on these topics: every possibility has been explored, every aspect to course or course component has been identified and considered.

Challenges

Such an assignment presents a number of challenges for the instructor. The first of these is that the instructor must know or figure out the real world applications for material covered in the classroom. A second, more esoteric challenge is whether the instructor wishes to give in to the already overwhelming pressures of the job market’s intrusion into the academic environment, or for that matter any other strictures which may require more conformity than the dictates of excellence allows. A third challenge is one of time: what will the instructor sacrifice in order to give students the opportunity to hear the explanations or fill out the assignment itself. A fourth challenge is how to ensure that the students really do write in enough detail to make the assignment meaningful. Another challenge is that, if the assignment is done properly, it will be come clear how much of the course content or component will be of use in the job market, and this can give rise to discussion about the content of the course itself. Another challenge is that you may have to give that feedback consideration in future, and the current generation of students may ask you to justify your pedagogical decisions. If by any chance you have not given much thought to the reasons for your pedagogical decisions, you may have to do so now. It will be easier for instructors to being with the more practical courses in their repertoire. The skills grid assignment is harder to complete for the students, but more significant and, of course, with much wide applications, the more theoretical and abstract the course is.

Outcome

The grid below incorporates information produced by students in the summative assignment into a skills grid for a job search.

Design your Own Role Play Simulations!

Role play simulation is experiential learning for disciplines that cannot ethically or practically have practicum: simulated elections in political science, simulated radio broadcasts in communications.

It is possible to cover the same sort of topics as a lecture course -- political parties, election systems, leadership, major issues, say – yet have student learn actively. Teams of students represent political parties, and choose among themselves a candidate, a campaign manager, a speechwriter. Over several classes, the set pieces of elections, like campaign speeches or leaders debates, can occur. In other words, the multi-layer role play simulation mimics the computer games that are now so popular, with students generating the content.

Certain principles should be kept in mind when designing a role play simulation. First, it is important to break down into tasks the situation you want to simulate. Second it is important to provide students with written descriptions of tasks and responsabilities that are as detailed as possible, as well as with a schedule. It is important to structure the tasks so that the content you want is covered, as close to reality as possible. The cooperative-competitive model usually produces the most learning in students, and it is really useful to provide students with examples of work produced by students in previous courses. Whatever rules are built into the simulation must be enforced for it to work. And give students a second chance: this way of working may be foreign to them, and knowing they can try again will ease a lot of their anxiety.

The main advantage is the in-depth long-term learning that occurs in a simulation, as well as a much wider range of generally applicable skills (writing for a range of uses, leadership, coordination, targeted research) than can be the case otherwise. An important second advantage is how inclusive these exercises are, for the disabled, for the minorities, for people working in English as a second language.

I have some tips for successful implementation.
(1) This method of teaching is much more work than lecturing, so introduce it gradually, starting with the area in which you have the most background.
(2) Learn to say you don’t know and will get back to them, because even if you don’t admit it, the students will know. You need to accept this in advance.
(3) Start with a small class and move up to more students once you are experienced.
(4) Make sure the teams are small enough that everyone participates and spot check to see that everyone actually does what they are supposed to.
(5) Take into account that some types of personalities or some cultures of origin may not allow for participation.
(6) Start with a role play simulation that imitates a well-known situation, allow some class time for teamwork, allow for students to talk to each other online without the competitors able to see what they’re thinking.
(7) Build in spare classes for easing workload and check with students where to put those classes.

And there’s another advantage – it’s always fun, it’s always different, it’s always gratifying to see students work very hard without even noticing it.

Active Learning Through Classroom Role-Play

How to Use Simulation of National Elections for Upper-Year Comparative and International Politics Courses



Role play simulations have been extensively established in the literature for several decades (Woodworth and Gump, 1982; Walcott, 1976; Gould, 1979). In recent years, classroom role-play simulations have been used for Cabinet and budget processes in courses on Canadian Politics at University of Toronto, for determining foreign policy at Dalhousie University, for determination of future Canadian policy in Afghanistan by the Senlis Council, and in single class simulations in Comparative Politics at University of Delaware. The goal of this article is to propose a classroom exercise for an upper year university course in the Comparative Politics of industrialized states: the role-play simulation of a national election in a liberal democratic state. A simulation like this is extremely effective in teaching students about the domestic politics of foreign countries.

The theory and practice of comparative politics is often covered by a combination of lectures delivery and long form written work – essays, examinations, etc. A simulation exercise, on the other hand, presents all the advantages of active pedagogy, as well as covering some of the basic themes typically present in upper year courses in Comparative Politics. This article describes the simulation itself, outlines the content and concepts covered, explains how the simulation can be integrated into a twelve- or fourteen-week course, and specifies requirements to maximize student learning.

Example 1: Comparative Politics

General Requirements

In the format proposed, the instructor can select countries to be studied, or students can choose based on certain geographical restrictions. Most industrialized countries have ample news and scholarly coverage, especially since the explosion of electronic resources. While the students do not need to speak the language of the country chosen, information about the politics of that country needs to be available in a language that students understand.

To establish a threshold of basic knowledge, at the start of the simulation, students should be able to write a take home test covering the basics such as the main parties, their main platforms, the structure of the electoral system, and current and recurring political issues in the country. It is useful to have a professional librarian conduct a research workshop tailored to the assignment or test about two weeks before the deadline.

Teams of students are formed at random or on their own choices to represent the parties which hold seats in the legislature of the country, with individual students role-playing different party officials, including candidate, campaign manager, director of communications/media relations, director of finance/fundraiser, research cell member (including development of attacks on other parties, as well as tracking of attacks by other parties), and speechwriter.

During the simulation, students are encouraged to be as realistic as possible. If the class is large enough, it is possible to have students appointed as journalists, whose job is to write news reports using the tone and editorial bias of a media outlet of their choice for each class. Media or other role-players cannot invent incidents. The mock journalists would also be expected to produce other material as required from other students.

Simulation Details

The students are required to prepare for, and conduct, the major events of an election campaign such as has occurred or is occurring in the country under study, with each student playing the role of a different actor in the process: leader of a party, campaign manager, fundraiser, speechwriter, etc. The simulation includes the following tasks, which can be covered in eight classes over four weeks, assuming 1.5 hour classes:

• a campaign managers’ meeting to set timetables and parameters;
• an election call or campaign launch;
• one campaign speech;
• writing and/or production of two television/internet commercials, one less than one minute and one less than two minutes;
• one news conference;
• a one-on-one media interview; and
• an all-candidates’ debate.

Each of these tasks is designed to cover themes common in upper-year courses in Comparative (industrialized) courses. Team formation and selection of the party to represent familiarizes students with political parties. The campaign launch by the parties familiarizes students with the party platform. The planning of the mock election campaign familiarizes students with electoral systems, the legislative and executive branches of government, and any election laws or regulations. Media reports or interviews, if they occur, familiarize students with the role of the media in the politics of the country under study, as well as journalist, media consumer and voter behavior. Campaign speeches will ensure students are familiar with the most important political issues in the given election campaign or cycle. The leaders’ debate, which occurs in almost all liberal democratic countries, will show the brand of leadership for that country, as well as confirming students’ understanding of platform elements and extemporaneous speaking skills. Finally, the holding of the mock election itself reveals how the social cleavages and stratification will occur as represent by voting behavior. The instructor may devote entire classes to teamwork if required or possible, or the instructor may choose to intersperse lectures with the mock-election classes, providing information that the students can use in the next scheduled event. Another option is to use the simulation for that part of term where students are usually the least motivated, say in the latter half of a term.

Students can choose their roles within the political party apparatus of each party, or they can be assigned. The election campaign is usually a national one, so there has to be a party leader, as well as a campaign manager, someone responsible for election fundraising, spending and reporting, at least one speechwriter, a researcher who may be researching other parties’ flaws or embarrassing moments, a strategist, and a media relations specialist if there are media.

If there is media, then each class during the campaign starts with media reports. These take the form of brief written articles written in the style and tone of newspapers of the country under study. Next are the campaign events scheduled for that class, followed by some time for the professor to give feedback to students on the accuracy and realism of their performance, to highlight any particular characteristic of the politics of the particular country, and to assign tasks to particular teams to improve their performance. The teams are assessed either on their performance in class, evaluated in the same way a participation grade would be assessed. They can also be assigned analytical assignments that helps them put their learning into context, which would be marked like more traditional short-answer or longer form written assignments.

A sample campaign/classroom work schedule follows. Class 1 is Campaign Launch Day and consists of a short presentation by each group to introduce their party to the class. Class 2 is devoted to campaign speeches: the parties outline their positions on major issues and unveil their election platform. During class 3, students present a short (less than one minute long) political commercial. They may introduce themselves to the public or make pitch for a particular group of voters’ support. Each party leader faces the press during class 4. If there are no reporters appointed, the instructor asks the questions. Each party also has five minutes at the start to make a speech, show a commercial or otherwise add information to their platform. Class 5 is dedicated to one on one interviews between each of the party leaders and a member of the media. If there are no students acting as journalists, the instructor prepares and asks the questions. Class 6 is the time when the parties show their second, longer commercial. The leaders’ debate takes place during class 7, with the format being negotiated in advance by the campaign managers and the media or instructor. Finally, the vote is held on class 8, with the victory speech from the winning party. The instructor is free to remove an event or to change the order to suit the class schedule or to more closely follow events in the country being studied.




For each of these events, some rules of behavior to direct students’ behavior toward better learning, are provided. An alternative would be for the professor to assign the task of developing such rules to the campaign managers, or the class as a whole, depending on the class’ experience with active pedagogy. Rules for an all-party debate could also be developed this way. For example, here are some rules worked out by campaign managers for a simulated election in Germany. The instructor needs to approve all the rules outlined above, since students may reach agreements that take the pressure off their candidates.

Themes and Concepts Covered

The content of the simulation familiarizes the students with the domestic political systems of two liberal democratic countries with industrialized economies, while the simulation itself provides an active pedagogy increasing the odds of students learning in a way that allows better retention of material. Themes covered by the classroom simulation described below include elections, political culture, economic, social, and other domestic policies, political issues, political parties, media, electoral law and reform, some legislative and administrative processes, political structure, voting behaviour, and political cleavages. The role play simulation has the advantage of also expecting leadership roles from students in specific areas; of requiring reflection on students’ part for their classroom participation; of fostering independent critical thinking through the analytical assignments that accompany the simulation. It also presents the advantage of making fraud using the internet much more difficult. Not covered by the role play are theories and models, methodology, or debates in the field. These need to be covered in the classes not taken up with the role play simulation.

Example 2: The United Nations Security Council

The students are required to prepare for, and conduct, presentation of foreign policy issues for decision by the various organs. some procedures for presidency include: the member state introduces the resolution; other members ask questions of clarification or facts; member states state why they support or do not support the resolution; member states propose amendments; amendments can be accepted by the proposing member or voted on by all members; amendments are discussed; a vote is taken; votes may be taken repeatedly on a resolution after discussion; the member states options are: support, propose amendment, abstain, vote against. The member states who are permanent members veto the resolution if they vote against. France, the UK, the US, China and Russia have the right of veto.

All member states must post their resolutions 48 hours preceding their presentation. All member states must bring copies of their resolution to the day of the meeting. A Security Council resolution has three parts: a list of previous relevant resolutions; an explanation of the principles or reasons why the resolution is desirable; and an outline of the solution to the particular situation with numbered proposals. It is usually no more than two pages long. Student resolutions should include the relevant facts and the details of the situation. Student resolutions also need to include what students need to know to determine whether to support the resolution, propose amendments, abstain, or vote against the resolution. Resolutions for the last years can be found at http://www.un.org/Docs/sc/, double-clicking on 'Resolutions' at the far left of the top of the screen.

The role-play simulation follows as much as possible the rules of the UN Security Council itself. With respect to the agenda, for example, the procedures are as follows. The Secretary-General shall immediately bring to the attention of all representatives on the Security Council all communications from States, organs of the United Nations, or the Secretary-General concerning any matter for the consideration of the Security Council in accordance with the provisions of the Charter. The provisional agenda for each meeting of the Security Council shall be drawn up by the Secretary-General and approved by the President of the Security Council. Only items which have been brought to the attention of the representatives on the Security Council in accordance with rule 6, items covered by rule 10, or matters which the Security Council had previously decided to defer, may be included in the provisional agenda. The provisional agenda for a meeting shall be communicated by the Secretary-General to the representatives on the Security Council at least three days before the meeting, but in urgent circumstances it may be communicated simultaneously with the notice of the meeting. The first item of the provisional agenda for each meeting of the Security Council shall be the adoption of the agenda. Any item of the agenda of a meeting of the Security Council, consideration of which has not been completed at that meeting, shall, unless the Security Council otherwise decides, automatically be included in the agenda of the next meeting. The Secretary-General shall communicate each week to the representatives on the Security Council a summary statement of matters of which the Security Council is seized and of the stage reached in their consideration. The Security Council may, however, in urgent circumstances, make additions to the agenda at any time during a periodic meeting.

With respect to representation and credentials, the procedures of the UN Security Council are as follows. Each member of the Security Council shall be represented at the meetings of the Security Council by an accredited representative. The credentials of a representative on the Security Council shall be communicated to the Secretary-General not less than twenty-four hours before he takes his seat on the Security Council. The credentials shall be issued either by the Head of the State or of the Government concerned or by its Minister of Foreign Affairs. The Head of Government or Minister of Foreign Affairs of each member of the Security Council shall be entitled to sit on the Security Council without submitting credentials. Any Member of the United Nations not a member of the Security Council and any State not a Member of the United Nations, if invited to participate in a meeting or meetings of the Security Council, shall submit credentials for the representative appointed by it for this purpose. The credentials of such a representative shall be communicated to the Secretary-General not less than twenty-four hours before the first meeting which he is invited to attend. The credentials of representatives on the Security Council and of any representative appointed in accordance with rule 14 shall he examined by the Secretary-General who shall submit a report to the Security Council for approval. Pending the approval of the credentials of a representative on the Security Council, such representative shall be seated provisionally with the same rights as other representatives. Any representative on the Security Council, to whose credentials objection has been made within the Security Council, shall continue to sit with the same rights as other representatives until the Security Council has decided the matter.

With respect to the presidency of the Security Council, the procedures are as follows. The presidency of the Security Council shall be held in turn by the members of the Security Council in the English alphabetical order of their names. Each President shall hold office for one calendar month. The President shall preside over the meetings of the Security Council and, under the authority of the Security Council, shall represent it in its capacity as an organ of the United Nations. Whenever the President of the Security Council deems that for the proper fulfillment of the responsibilities of the presidency he should not preside over the Council during the consideration of a particular question with which the member he represents is directly connected, he shall indicate his decision to the Council. The presidential chair shall then devolve, for the purpose of the consideration of that question, on the representative of the member next in English alphabetical order, it being understood that the provisions of this rule shall apply to the representatives on the Security Council called upon successively to preside.

With respect to the secretariat and the Secretary General, the procedures of the Security Council are as follows. The Secretary-General shall act in that capacity in all meetings of the Security Council. The Secretary-General may authorize a deputy to act in his place at meetings of the Security Council. Each member shall act in that capacity in all meetings of the Security Council. The Secretary-General, or his deputy acting on his behalf, may make either oral or written statements to the Security Council concerning any question under consideration by it. The Secretary-General may be appointed by the Security Council, as rapporteur for a specified question. The Secretary-General shall give to representatives on the Security Council notice of meetings of the Security Council and of its commissions and committees. The Secretary-General shall be responsible for the preparation of documents required by the Security Council and shall, except in urgent circumstances, distribute them in advance of the meeting at which they are to be considered.

With respect to the conduct of meetings, the procedures of the Security Council are as follows. The President shall call upon representatives in the order in which they signify their desire to speak. The Security Council may appoint a commission or committee or a rapporteur for a specified question. The President may accord precedence to any rapporteur appointed by the Security Council. The Chairman of a commission or committee, or the rapporteur appointed by the commission or committee to present its report, may be accorded precedence for the purpose of explaining the report. If a representative raises a point of order, the President shall immediately state his ruling. If it is challenged, the President shall submit his ruling to the Security Council for immediate decision and it shall stand unless overruled. Proposed resolutions, amendments and substantive motions shall normally be placed before the representatives in writing. Principal motions and draft resolutions shall have precedence in the order of their submission. Parts of a motion or of a draft resolution shall be voted on separately at the request of any representative, unless the original mover objects.

The following motions shall have precedence in the order named over all principal motions and draft resolutions relative to the subject before the meeting: 1. To suspend the meeting; 2. To adjourn the meeting; 3. To adjourn the meeting to a certain day or hour; 4. To refer any matter to a committee, to the Secretary-General or to a rapporteur; 5. To postpone discussion of the question to a certain day or indefinitely; or 6. To introduce an amendment. Any motion for the suspension or for the simple adjournment of the meeting shall be decided without debate. It shall not be necessary for any motion or draft resolution proposed by a representative on the Security Council to be seconded before being put to a vote. A motion or draft resolution can at any time be withdrawn so long as no vote has been taken with respect to it. If the motion or draft resolution has been seconded. The representative on the Security Council who has seconded it may require that it be put to the vote as his motion or draft resolution with the same right of precedence as if the original mover had not withdrawn it. If two or more amendments to a motion or draft resolution are proposed, the President shall rule on the order in which they are to be voted upon. Ordinarily, the Security Council shall first vote on the amendment furthest removed in substance from the original proposal and then on the amendment next furthest removed until all amendments have been put to the vote, but when an amendment adds to or deletes from the text of a motion or draft resolution, that amendment shall be voted on first. Any Member of the United Nations which is not a member of the Security Council may be invited, as the result of a decision of the Security Council, to participate, without vote, in the discussion of any question brought before the Security Council when the Security Council considers that the interests of that Member are specially affected, or when a Member brings a matter to the attention of the Security Council in accordance with Article 35 (1) of the Charter. Any Member of the United Nations invited in accordance with the preceding rule, or in application of Article 32 of the Charter, to participate in the discussions of the Security Council may submit proposals and draft resolutions. These proposals and draft resolutions may be put to a vote only at the request of a representative on the Security Council. The Security Council may invite members of the Secretariat or other persons, whom it considers competent for the purpose, to supply it with information or to give other assistance in examining matters within its competence. Voting in the Security Council shall be in accordance with the relevant Articles of the Charter and of the Statute of the International Court of Justice.

Unless it decides otherwise, the Security Council shall meet in public. Any recommendation to the General Assembly regarding the appointment of the Secretary-General shall be discussed and decided at a private meeting. Subject to the provisions of rule 51, the verbatim record of each meeting of the Security Council shall be made available to the representatives on the Security Council and to the representatives of any other States which have participated in the meeting not later than 10 a.m. of the first working day following the meeting. The representatives of the States which have participated in the meeting shall, within two working days after the time indicated in rule 49, inform the Secretary-General of any corrections they wish to have made in the verbatim record. The Security Council may decide that for a private meeting the record shall be made in a single copy alone. This record shall be kept by the Secretary-General. The representatives of the States which have participated in the meeting shall, within a period of ten days, inform the Secretary-General of any corrections they wish to have made in this record. Corrections that have been requested shall be considered approved unless the President is of the opinion that they are sufficiently important to be submitted to the representatives on the Security Council. In the latter case, the representatives on the Security Council shall submit within two working days any comments they may wish to make. In the absence of objections in this period of time, the record shall be corrected as requested. The verbatim record referred to in rule 49 or the record referred to in rule 51, in which no corrections have been requested in the period of time required by rules 50 and 51, respectively, or which has been corrected in accordance with the provisions of rule 52, shall be considered as approved. It shall be signed by the President and shall become the official record of the Security Council. The official record of public meetings of the Security Council, as well as the documents annexed thereto, shall be published in the official languages as soon as possible. At the close of each private meeting the Security Council shall issue a communiqué through the Secretary-General. The representatives of the Members of the United Nations which have taken part in a private meeting shall at all times have the right to consult the record of that meeting in the office of the Secretary-General. The Security Council may at any time grant access to this record to authorized representatives of other Members of the United Nations. The Secretary-General shall, once each year, submit to the Security Council a list of the records and documents which up to that time have been considered confidential. The Security Council shall decide which of these shall be made available to other Members of the United Nations, which shall be made public, and which shall continue to remain confidential.

When it comes to the admission of new members, the procedures of the Security Council are as follows. The Secretary-General shall immediately place the application for membership before the representatives on the Security Council. Unless the Security Council decides otherwise, the application shall be referred by the President to a committee of the Security Council upon which each member of the Security Council shall be represented. The committee shall examine any application referred to it and report its conclusions thereon to the Council not less than thirty-five days in advance of a regular session of the General Assembly or, if a special session of the General Assembly is called, not less than fourteen days in advance of such session. The Security Council shall decide whether in its judgment the applicant is a peace-loving State and is able and willing to carry out the obligations contained in the Charter and, accordingly, whether to recommend the applicant State for membership. If the Security Council recommends the applicant State for membership, it shall forward to the General Assembly the recommendation with a complete record of the discussion. If the Security Council does not recommend the applicant State for membership or postpones the consideration of the application, it shall submit a special report to the General Assembly with a complete record of the discussion. In order to ensure the consideration of its recommendation at the next session of the General Assembly following the receipt of the application, the Security Council shall make its recommendation not less than twenty-five days in advance of a regular session of the General Assembly, nor less than four days in advance of a special session. In special circumstances, the Security Council may decide to make a recommendation to the General Assembly concerning an application for membership subsequent to the expiration of the time limits set forth in the preceding paragraph.

Assessment and Facilitation

The main effort is in the design of the simulation and the enforcement of its rules. Once preparatory material is ready and the role play is launched, however, the instructor can focus on the proceedings themselves. While teaching, management and assessment strategies are up to individual instructors, I recommend the instructor use analytical assignments on the content of the simulation on an ongoing basis, and not assign more than 20% of the final grade for participation. I also recommend that students be graded by their performance as a group, so that the peer pressure and solidarity natural in this setting helps improve the performance. Students learn a great deal, driven in part by the desire to perform well in front of their peers, but also to win the election. There is also extensive learning from each other. While simulation is suitable for the classroom, it may be possible to adapt it to distributed learning. That said, the valuable face-to-face interactions that facilitate student understanding and retention would be greatly restricted using distributed or distance learning

My experience over several years of using this approach has been that I too learn a good deal about the domestic politics of foreign countries from the students, because the collective research capacity of the students exceeds my own. I do have to keep up on the most recent political developments in the country under study, since those issues tend to come up in the simulation. That is true if there are no students playing the role of journalists. On the other hand, not only are these simulations fun, students develop skills as well as knowledge, and motivation to work is never a problem. Those, however, are the usual benefits of active pedagogy.

References

Gould, Lawrence V., Jr. Scenario, Canada And The United European Community : A Simulation Exercise. Halifax, NS : Centre For Foreign Policy Studies, Dept. of Political Science, Dalhousie University, 1979.
Walcott, Charles. Simple Simulations : A Guide To The Design And Use Of Simulation/Games In Teaching Political Science. (Washington : American Political Science Association, 1976.;
Woodworth, James R. and W. Robert Gump, Camelot, A Role Playing Simulation For Political Decision Making, Homewood, Ill. : Dorsey Press, 1982.

A New Play: Unforgettable

Inoubliable/Unforgettable


Bilingual Play About Bullying for Grades 7-11
Pièce bilingue sur l’intimidation pour élèves de 7ième-11ième années



By/de Laure Paquette
1-888-265-1922
Laure.Paquette@lakeheadu.ca




lundi, novembre 21, 2011
Monday, November 21, 2011


révisions
 équilibre anglais français
 compréhension, niveau de langue
 étapes
 tension
 show don’t tell
 audience participation
 personality!

À Randa Hokayem, puisque je n’ai jamais oublié
For Randa Hokayem, since I didn’t forget

Cast of Characters/Personnages

 Sara Ibrahim-Brex, protagoniste, grasseille, brittle bones, habillée chic, parle avec un accent, réfugiée libanaise, enfant battue, excellente mémoire, aime le soccer, aime les produits laitiers, aime l’automne, n’aime pas les aliments fades, n’aime pas attendre, n’aime pas transpirer
 Susan ou Giraffe, the Bully, antagoniste, très grande, très rustre dans ses manières, issue d’un milieu ouvrier, blonde aux yeux bleues, agressive, on s’est beaucoup moqué de sa grande taille, aime la musique country, aime les érables, aime les animaux, n’aime pas les adultes, n’aime pas lire, n’aime pas les routes non-pavées.
 Piggy, Sara’s classmate, very smart, top of the class, doesn’t say much, always hangs around, athlete, l’enfant aîné de sa famille mono-parentale, mère professionnelle; aime lire, recherche les responsabilités, aime poser des questions, n’aime pas la poésie, n’aime pas les sports d’équipes, n’aime pas les étudiants qui trichent
 Jeanne, Sara’s classmate, dont la mère souffre de problèmes de santé mentale, lunette, famille unie, yeux bruns, port wine birthmark, grande et mince, élève moyenne, bonne pour l’écoute, cherche à prendre soin de tout le monde, aime les films de capes et d’épées, aime le chocolat, aime les sports d’équipe, n’aime pas qu’on se moque d’elle, n’aime pas les femmes trop maquillées, n’aime pas les bruits de moteur
 Mme Perry, favorite teacher, a beautiful young woman, athletic, teaches and coaches sports, épaules en bouteille, élèves toujours pendus à ses mains, surtout les garçons, dans la vingtaine avancée, cheveux longs mais coupés récemment, enseigne le français et la culture physique, courte et forte des hanches mais très agile, aime tous les sports, aime les fruits surs, aime l’efficacité et la structure, n’aime pas les enfants qui mentent, n’aime pas les formulaires à compléter, n’aime pas les commérages
 Ecoliers, dont deux parlent.


Stage setting/Scénographie

Le corridor d’une école et le champ de soccer, scènes dépouillées et presque vides. École des années 80, teintes de vert et ocre, mais défraichies. Murs marqués de graffitis délavés. Champs de soccer un peu accidenté, arbres malingres plus ou moins éloignés, pelouse abimée.

Scène 1

Dans un corridor de l’école. Sara est seule en scène, sort son téléphone et vérifie son courriel. Elle sourit, elle change de message. Elle lit, elle efface le message. Elle lit, elle perd son sourire, elle efface le message. Elle lit, elle se met à pleurer.


Scène 2

(Jeanne et Piggy entrent en scène en riant.)

Jeanne Hi Sara! As-tu vu mes nouveaux souliers? Ma mère a enfin dit oui, ils sont super cool. (Jeanne ne remarque pas le visage de Sara.) Regarde, regarde….(Elle remarque le visage de Sara, mais elle ne sait pas quoi faire. Elle change de sujet.) Tu es la seule dans toute l’école à porter des robes. (Sara ne répond pas.) Tu ne boîtes pas aujourd’hui. Çà va mieux, hein? As-tu vu Madame Perry, elle s’est coupé les cheveux, tous les garçons l’achalent.

Piggy Ces souliers-là vont être super pour tous les sports que tu aimes, basket, volley (lui remarque maintenant que Sara est dans tous ses états. Il pousse Jeanne du coude pour la faire taire.)

Jeanne No one is going to catch you playing tema sports…you hate them… Mais qu’est que tu fais? Pourquoi tu me pousses? Ce n’est pas de ma faute si tu n’aimes pas les sports…

Piggy Pas tous les sports, juste les sports d’équipes. Quand je gagne, j’aime gagner seul. (Fais un mouvement de tennis, puis regarde Sara encore.) Voyons, Sara. Qu’est-ce que t’as? Tu pleures?

Sara Non, non, c’est rien. (Elle renifle, puis essaye d’arrêter de pleurer, de ne plus avoir de larmes dans la voix.) Ca va aller.

Piggy (à Jeanne) Say something!

Jeanne (à Piggy) What? I love your dress : you’re the only girl in school who wears dresses every day. (Mal à l’aise, elle dit à Sara) Ben non, qu’est-ce que t’as? (Sara recommence à pleurer. Piggy lui enlève le téléphone des mains.)

Piggy (Lisant) You are ugly. You wear ugly clothes. You are stupid. You’re a gimp. (Levant les yeux.) Encore! C’est qui, çà, Giraffe? (Il lit). Tu parles drôle.

Jeanne It’s not your fault if you talk funny. Vraiment, ce n’est pas de ta faute…Don’t worry about it.

Sara Ce n’est pas de ma faute. There’s no ‘th’ sound in French.

Piggy C’est pas çà, niaiseuse, ce n’est pas juste son accent français de France. C’est parce que Sara parle arabe en plus d’anglais. Listen to this, it’s a recoding : « Thimble, Thought, Th, Th, Th .»

Jeanne Ah.

Piggy Çà fait trop longtemps que çà dure, deux semaines. Il faut le dire à Madame Perry.

Sara Non, non, je ne veux pas, c’est trop gênant. (Reprend son téléphone et commence à répondre aux messages.)

Jeanne Non, non, je ne veux pas que tu répondes. Efface le message…

Sara Laisse-moi.

Piggy No, it’s true. I looked it up yesterday. Delete the message and get another account.

Jeanne Qu’est-ce que tu as cherché sur l’Internet?

Piggy Si quelqu’un t’envoie des messages comme çà, il faut changer de compte.

Sara C’est trop difficile. Je vais être obligée d’avertir tout le monde du changement.

Piggy It’s better than reading this. This is like poison for you. C’est du poison, ces messages. À force de les lire, tu vas finir pas les croire. Everyone talks about « Don’t do drugs. » Well, this is just as bad for you. And it happens a lot.

Jeanne Piggy a raison. C’est comme prendre du poison pour toi!!! Say it with me : Poison! En français : Poison! Let’s say it together : Poison.

Piggy Please, Sara.

Jeanne S’il vous plaît, Sara!

Tous Poison.

Sara OK, OK, Jeanne, it’s enough with looking after me. You always do that. Maintenant laisse-moi décider. (Pause) OK, I’ve made up my mind. je le fais. Je pousse le bouton ‘Delete’. J’efface tout.

Jeanne Et ouvre-toi un nouveau compte, juste pour tes amis.

Piggy Here, I’ll do it for you. I’ll pick a great name for you. Comme….belle fille. Comme Beatrice.

Jeanne C’est quoi encore, Béatrice?

Piggy Béatrice, c’est la bien-aimée de Dante.

Jeanne C’est qui çà, Dante?

Piggy You watch costume movies and you don’t know who Dante is? He is a great poet, and Beatrice was his love.

Jeanne Oh, toi et tes poètes morts depuis longtemps.

Sara (essaye de reprendre son téléphone) Non, non, cela me gêne.

Piggy Alors, ton joueur de soccer favori.

Sara Non, je veux un nom de fille, niaiseux. (Elle rit.)

Piggy OK, Lady Gaga d’abord.

Sara Le nom est-tu déjà pris?

Piggy Non…Çà marche, tu es maintenant Lady Gaga. (Lui rend son téléphone.)

Sara OK.

Jeanne Let’s go to phys ed class, it’s soccer today.

Piggy Shit! We’re doing to be late.

Jeanne Dis pas çà. Dis merde.

Sara C’est pas mieux! Dis ‘flûte.’

Piggy Flûte?

Sara C’est ce que ma mère dit quand elle est surprise.

Piggy Flûte? Like a flute, the musical instrument? Why?

Sara Laisse donc faire! You’re always asking all these questions. Do you want to be a detective?

Piggy Pas un détective, un historien qui remarque tous les détails et qui veux toujours tout comprendre. I want to be better than a detective, I want to be a historian.

Sara (Elle part, mais Piggy ne bouge pas, il est cloué sur place.) Viens-t’en!

Jeanne Let’s go, we’re late!

(Ils partent tous en courant.)


Scène 3 Gymnase

(Beaucoup d’enfants en shorts et en T-Shirts, Mme Perry entre en scène.)

Mme Perry Bon, les gars, les filles, on finit d’apprendre les techniques de soccer aujourd’hui. Today, we finish learning about soccer.

Piggy Madame…j’aime beaucoup… Your new hair…

Mme Perry J’ai bien votre coupe de cheveux.

Piggy J’aime bien votre coupe de cheveux.
Susan Cissy. Tapette.

Mme Perry Susan, qu’est-ce que tu as dit?

Susan Rien, Madame.

Mme Perry Good, because those words hurt. We don’t use those words here. Ces mots font mal, et tu ne veux pas faire mal à quelqu’un, n’est-ce pas, Susan?

Susan Non, Madame. (En aparté) God, I hate grown ups, they’re always on your case. (Susan fait la moue.)

Mme Perry Très bien. Merci d’avoir remarqué ma coupe de cheveux, c’est gentil. J’espère que tu es sincère avec moi, je n’aime pas les enfants qui mentent, tu sais. Allons, choisissez vos équipes. Commence, Susan, pick teams. Ensuite, toi.

Scène 4

(Sara va éteindre son téléphone, mais elle lit un message et son visage change. On entend les écoliers qui forment leurs équipes.)

Susan Bon, toi.

Un écolier Et puis toi.

Susan So you.

Un écolier You.

Scène 5

(Jeanne et Sara en aparté.)

Jeanne As-tu encore reçu un autre message?

Sara Non, non, ce n’est rien.

Piggy Let me see. (Prend le téléphone et lit. ) How did that happen?

Jeanne Des fois, il faut changer plus de détails pour qu’on ne te retrouve pas.

Sara That’s it, I didn’t change enough details.

Piggy (lisant) This is even worse than before.

Scène 6

(Les enfants continuent à se mettre en équipe.)

Susan Piggy…

Mme Perry On dit Michel…Allez, Susan, dis : « Michel. » (Susan fait la moue.)

Piggy My name is Piggy.

Mme Perry Michel. Ton nom est Michel. (Commence à se facher.) Si tout le monde se sert de surnom, on ne s’y retrouvera plus. We can’t have everyone having a name and a nickname. Michel!

Piggy My name is Piggy. Kids laugh at ‘Michel.’ I don’t want anybody to laugh at me. Je n’aime pas çà quand les autres rient de moi.

Mme Perry C’est un très beau non, Michel. C’est comme Michael Jackson. (Les enfants rient.)

Piggy Qui c’est, Michael Jackson?

Mme Perry Qui est Michael Jackson? Répétez tous…

Tous Qui est Michael Jackson?

Mme Perry C’est un chanteur populaire qui était une grande vedette quand j’avais votre âge.

Jeanne Ah. Il doit être plate. (Piggy et Sara la pousse du coude. Mme Perry rit.)

Mme Perry Au train où vont les choses, on ne jouera pas. Susan? (Susan et Piggy choississent rapidement les joueurs. Sara est la dernière qui reste quand le choix revient à Susan.) Allons, Susan, Sara va être dans ton équipe.

Susan Je ne veux pas, Sara boîte des fois. Elle est toujours en robe. (Jeanne et Piggy se regardent.) Elle parle drôle : « Thimble, thought, th, th, th. »

Jeanne (saisit Piggy par le bras.) C’est comme dans le message! Sara’s message! Th, th, th.

Piggy Tu as raison. Wow, cela veut dire que…

Jeanne Susan is Giraffe. Une identité secrète, comme dans Les misérables.

Piggy You’re right, Susan is Giraffe. She’s the one sending those awful texts.

Scène 7

(Sara se met à pleurer et va se mettre à l’écart. Mme Perry met les enfants au jeu. Elle dévisage Piggy et Sara, qui se joignent au jeu sans rien dire.)


Scène 8

(Mme Perry vient s’asseoir près de Sara.)

Mme Perry Tu ne boîtes pas aujourd’hui.

Sara No, I’m not limping today. Ma hanche me fait moins mal aujourd’hui.

Mme Perry Je le vois bien. Je suis contente pour toi. Écoute, la prochaine fois, dis simplement « Je suis bien aujourd’hui. » (Sara renifle.)

Sara Everyone tells me what to do.

Mme Perry C’est vrai. Ce n’est pas agréable de se faire dire par tout le monde quoi faire.

Sara Yeah, well, teachers tell us what to do all the time, and we’re supposed to like it.

Mme Perry (interdite pour un instant) Je vois ce que tu veux dire. Il est important de faire ce que les enseignants disent, au moins pour le moment. Later, you’ll get to decide more what you can decide. Sara, merci de m’avoir dit la vérité, hein? (Sara hausse les épaules.) Alors, dis-moi, Sara, what can you say if someone says to you : « I don’t want to play with you, you’re always limping? »


Sara Je pourrais dire que je suis en pleine forme aujourd’hui.

Mme Perry C’est bien. Mais tu connais bien les règles du soccer, n’est-ce pas?

Sara Ben, oui.

Mme Perry Que leur dirais-tu? Sur les règles?

Sara I can help my team win. Je peux aider mon équipe à gagner. Je connais toutes les règles.

Mme Perry Et en plus tu connais bien tous les mots pour le sport.

Sara Yeah?

Mme Perry Come on, you know you know all the French terms for soccer. Oui, oui. Alors, viens-t’en au jeu.

Scène 9

(Sara se joint à l’équipe de Susan.)

Susan Va-t-en, je ne veux pas de toi.

Sara Je connais bien les règles, je peux aider l’équipe à gagner. (Mme Perry entend ce qu’elles se disent entre elles, et fait signe à Sara qu’elle fait bien.)

Susan Je ne veux pas de toi.

Sara Je vais bien aujourd’hui. (Susan la pousse.)

Susan Vas-t-en, je te dis. Personne ne veut de toi. Get lost.

Scène 10

(Mme Perry et Piggy approchent.)

Piggy (à Susan) Leave her alone.

Mme Perry (met sa main sur l’épaule de Susan.) Va t’asseoir un peu, Susan.

Susan Madame, I want to play.

Mme Perry Va t’asseoir un peu. Go sit and stay there for a while. Tu resteras assise jusqu’à la fin de la partie.

Susan Madame!

Mme Perry J’ai dit!

Susan Madame, je ne veux pas m’assoeir là. C’est un banc avec du gravier autour, j’haïs çà.

Mme Perry Tu n’aimes pas le gravier?

Susan Non, non, non!

Mme Perry Mais qu’est-ce que tu as?

Piggy Susan est tombé d’une balançoire et s’est fait mal dans le dos, il y a deux ans. C’était une balançoire avec du gravier autour, elle n’est jamais retournée.

Mme Perry Bon, d’accord Susan, va t’asseoir sur l’autre banc, sous l’arbre, hein? Une autre fois, tu m’expliques, hein?

Susan Oui, madame. (Susan s’assoit. Mme Perry se retourne vers le reste des enfants. Susan montre le poing à Sara quand Mme Perry ne peut pas voir. Les enfants jouent encore. La cloche sonne, et puis tout le monde ramasse ses affaires et quitte le gymnase. Susan sort la première, Sara plus tard.)

Mme Perry Bon, tout le monde au jeu. Come on, play!

(Les écoliers jouent.)


Scène 11

(Le lendemain. La cour d’ école. Sara, Jeanne et Piggy entrent en scène ensemble.)

Jeanne Did you hear bout the big fight this morning? Two girls!

Piggy Really?

Sara Deux filles? Où se sont-elles battues?

Jeanne Au coin de la cour d’école!

Piggy The corner furthest from the principal’s office? Figures!

Sara Il faut surtout ne pas niaiser là, rester là sans rien faire.

Jeanne You’re right, avoid that corner!

Sara C’était qui?

Piggy Yeah, who was it?

Sara Susan et une autre fille, je ne la connais pas. The other girl was much smaller than her.

Piggy Figures, Susan is really chicken, she wouldn’t pick on someone her own size.

Sara Penses-tu vraiment cela, que Susan ne s’en prendrait jamais à quelqu’un de la même grandeur qu’elle? (La cloche sonne.) We better go in.

Piggy Sûr et certain. Elle est trop peureuse.

Sara On se voit à la récréation…

Piggy Yeah, see you at recess.

(Ils sortent tous.)

Scène 12 Le couloir d’école

(Sara entre. Susan attend dans le couloir quand Sara entre. Susan approche et donne un coup de poing sur le bras de Sara. Sara ne dit rien, mais elle se redresse et continue à marcher le long du couloir. Sara la frappe à nouveau.)

Susan Thimble, thought, th, th, th.

Sara Giraffe, pourquoi tu fais çà?

Susan Tu said que c’est moi? Comment l’as-tu su?

Sara Je n’étais pas sûre, but you just told me yourself.

Susan How did you guess?

Sara Ce que tu as dis à Madame Perry, ce que tu viens de me dire, c’est ce que m’envoyais comme texte.

Susan (frappant Sara) Puisque tu sais qui je suis, cela ne changera rien. Why stop just because you know who I am.

Sara Je ne veux pas me battre. (Susan la frappe une deuxième fois) Giraffe, commence pas. (Susan la frappe une troisième fois.) Pourquoi tu fais çà?

Susan Pour te montrer que je suis plus tough que toi. Parce la maîtresse est pas toujours autour.

Piggy (hors scène) Sara, come on, let’s walk home together. (Susan frappe Sara assez pour la faire trébucher.

Scène 13

(Piggy et Jeanne entrent en scène.)

Jeanne On va s’en aller chez nous, tous les trois, Sara. (Ils se rangent à côté d’elle.)

Piggy Yes, we’ll walk home together, Sara…

(Susan les regarde sans rien dire, se frotte le poing, et puis quitte la scène.)

Scène 14

(Les trois écoliers s’embrassent.)

Sara Merci, Piggy, tu es un bon ami. Merci. Merci.

Piggy It’s nothing. I like being friends with a girl like you.

Sara Tu veux dire quelqu’un sans ami, toujours toute seule.

Piggy No, I don’t mean someone without friends!

Jeanne Il veut dire qu’il te trouve fine, et intelligente, et bonne à l’école.

PIggy Whatever Giraffe said to you on email, you can count on it not being true.

Jeanne C’est bien vrai, Giraffe était obligée d’inventer…

Piggy Allons nous-en. Maman est bien aujourd’hui, elle adit qu’elle nous ferait des bran muffins.

Sara Tu veux dire des muffins au son.

Piggy Yeah, yeah, that’s what I meant.

Jeanne Your mother is better?

Sara Ta mère est malade?

Piggy Non, non, elle est bien. C’est dans sa tête…she has a mental health problem.

Sara Ah, ah… un problème de santé mentale…répète après moi….

Piggy (lentement) Un problème de santé mentale.

Sara Is she better?

Piggy Yeah, yeah, she just needed to take it easy for while…

Jeanne Le repos lui a fait du bien, moins de stress…

Piggy Exactly…Oh, I can smell the muffins. (Part en courant.)

Jeanne Last one’s there is the rotten egg….

(Ils partent les trois en courant.)


Scène 15

(Le lendemain. La cour d’école. Piggy est en scène. Sara entre, le genou pansé.)

Piggy Hey Sara, comment çà va? Qu’est-ce que tu t’es fait au genou?

Sara J’ai tombé sur le gravier à côté du banc, hier. I fell in that gravel Giraffe hates so much.

Jeanne Çà fait mal?

Sara Pas trop….

Jeanne If it doesn’t hurt much, then let’s go play soccer with everyone.

Sara OK. Ca va m’aider à oublier.

(Ils vont vers les autres enfants.)

Scene 16

(Le ballon passe d’un écolier à l’autre. Les écoliers rient, crient entre eux pour s’encourager.)

Tous : Go! ….Go! ….Vas-y… Par ici… Go!…. Over here! À moi!

Sara À moi! Fais-moi une passe!

Jeanne Pass to Sara, Piggy! (Susan s’approche de Sara. PIggy lance le ballon vers Sara d’un coup de pied. Susanne s’approche encore plus de Sara.) Attention Sara, regarde…Look out…. (Susan donne un coup de pied au ballon, qui s’en va au loin. Elle se retourne, et puis donne un coup de pied au genou blessé de Sara. Le bandage tombe, et elle se met à saigner abondamment. Les enfants arrêtent de jouer.)

Piggy Sara! Sara! (Sara voit le sang gicler.)

Sara Mon Dieu, regarde çà, je saigne beaucoup. Oh!

Jeanne Come on, let’s get a teacher.

Sara Non, non….

Piggy You have to, you’re bleeding really bad, it’s on the ground.

Jeanne Allons-y ensemble. Le sang coule par terre.

Sara OK. (Les trois partent ensembles. Les autres enfants ne disent rien, regardent.)

Susan Let’s get back to playing. (Les enfants ne bougent pas. Criant très fort) : Au jeu! Au jeu! Let’s play! Now! (Les enfants reprennent le jeu, sans enthousiasme, sans énergie, sans rire ni crier, un peu inquiets maintenant.)


Scène 15

(Le couloir. Mme Perry est en scène. Jeanne, Sara, Piggy entrent.)

Jeanne Madame, Madame, Sara’s hurt….

Mme Perry Laisse-moi voir cela, Sara. Est-ce que cela fait mal?

Sara Oui, oui, Madame.

Mme Perry Je vais aller chercher la trousse de premier soin.

Piggy What?

Jeanne Madame is going to get the first aid kit. (Mme Perry sort.) Tell her what happened. You have to tell her.

Sara Elle ne m’a rien demandé. Why should I?

Piggy How is she supposed to know if you don’t tell her!

Sara Je ne veux pas lui dire, Giraffe va m’attaquer encore plus. (Mme Perry revient avec la trousse. Elle s’agenouille devant Sara.)

Mme Perry Tu es une grande fille, maintenant. Tune pleureras pas, hein. Ça va prendre deux petites minutes, hein? Just two short minutes, be a good girl for me. (Elle sort un onguent.) Avec cet onguent, cela fera moins mal. (Elle sort un bandage, l’applique au genou de Sara pour arrêter le sang. Elle sort un diachylon, ajoute de l’onguent et elle applique le diachylon.)

Sara Madame, Giraffe, je veux dire Susan ne voulait pas me laisser jouer. And when I stayed, she kicked me instead of the ball.

Mme Perry (Expire bruyamment. Puis, distraitement) That's nice!

Sara Giraffe a essayé de me battre hier. And now, others keep coming up and pushing me. I have tried to stay away from them but they keep coming up to me and won't leave me alone.

Mme Perry C’est bon! (La cloche sonne.) La récréation est finie, rentrez en classe, vous autres. Toi aussi, Sara.

Sara Please, to listen to me this is important.

Mme Perry Pas tout de suite, je n’ai pas le temps, je suis en retard. Can't you see I’m busy!? Je n’ai pas le temps, il faut rentrer en classe.

Piggy (à l’oreille de Sara) Lâche pas! Don’t give up.

Sara I don’t feel safe because of those kids pushing me, et puis j’ai peur de Giraffe.

Mme Perry Et puis? Qu’est-ce que ca fait? What’s the big deal, Sara? Il ne faut pas l’appeler Giraffe.

Sara Please I really need your help. S’il-vous-plaît, Mme, essayez de m’écouter.

Mme Perry Fatiguante!

Piggy Vraiment, Madame, c’est important.

Mme Perry Piggy ne parle jamais français s’il a le choix…Cela doit vraiment être important. Sara, dis-moi encore ce qu’il y a. Tell me again.

Sara Giraffe, je veux dire Susan a essayé de me battre hier. I have tried to stay away from her but she keeps coming up to me and won't leave me alone.

Mme Perry Je vais lui parler.

Sara (ensemble) Non!

Mme Perry Pourquoi? Pourquoi dites-vous non? (Les enfants se regardent sans rien dire.)

Sara (avec hésitation) C’est que….

Piggy It’s just that…

Mme Perry Qu’est-ce qu’il y a? Sara, tu peux me le dire, tu peux m’expliquer. Say what’s wrong, Sara….

Sara Quand vous avez parler à Susan, hier, elle m’a montré son poing, comme çà. (Sara forme un poing.)

Piggy It’s true, Mme. I saw Giraffe do it…

Mme Perry Giraffe? What’s this nickname? Susan can’t like it very much! Surement Susan n’aime pas çà. Arrêtez-moi cela tout de suite.

Sara Pardon, Madame. C’est vrai.

Mme Perry Je vais lui parler, à Susan, et je vais aussi lui dire que je vais surveiller ce qui se passe… Bon, Tout le monde en classe maintenant. Sara, peux-tu aller à la maison changer tes bas et tes souliers?

Sara Oui, Mme, j’ai la clé. I can let myself into the house and change socks and shoes.

Mme Perry Good. Tant mieux. You do that. Moi, je dois aller au gymnase.

Piggy (ensemble) Oui, Madame.
Sara
Jeanne

Mme Perry One last thing, Sara.

Sara Oui, Madame?

Mme Perry Assure-toi de toujours pouvoir me voir au gymnase ou dans la cour. If you can see me, I can see you.

Sara D’accord, Madame. (Les enfants sortent. Mme Perry prend la trousse, regarde sa montre.)

Mme Perry Mon Dieu, je suis en retard! (Mme Perry sort rapidement.)


Scène 11

(Plus tard dans la journée. Susan, les autres enfants sur le champs de soccer. Mme Perry entre en scène.)

Mme Perry Susan, je voudrais te parler un instant, s’il te plaît. (Susan hésite.) Just one minute, I won’t keep you.

Susan Oui, Madame. (À soi-même) Je vois bien que je n’ai pas le choix, maudit! Sara is going to pay for this. (Elle approche lentement de Mme Perry.)

Mme Perry Je viens d’aider Sara, son genou saignait très fort. Did you see the blood on Sara’s knee?

Susan Oui, Madame. Eveyrbody saw it. It wasn’t me.

Mme Perry Que s’est-il passé?

Susan I didn’t do it on purpose.

Mme Perry Je n’ai pas dit que tu l’avais fait exprès.

Susan Sara’s knee was already hurt.

Mme Perry C’est bien vrai, j’ai vu son bandage ce matin. It’s just that something happened yesterday. Et encore aujourd’hui il se passe quelque chose…

Susan It was an accident.

Mme Perry Je comprends, Susan. J’accepte ce que tu dis. I didn’t see anything today. Mais je veux te dire que je vois ce que tu fais, que je vais porter attention à ce que tu feras à l’avenir. C’est tout.

Susan Yes, Madame.

Mme Perry Dis-moi, Susan, pourquoi est-ce qu’on t’appelle Giraffe?

Susan (Mal à l’aise) Well….uh…uh…Kids call me Giraffe because I’m so much taller than everyone.

Mme Perry Tu sais, c’est très bien d’être grande. C’est comme les mannequins.

Susan Man- ne- quins?

Mme Perry « Mannequin » en français, en anglais Supermodel. To be a supermodel, you have to be tall. Or a basketball player. Joues-tu au basket?

Susan Yeah, well, you know, I’m too ugly.

Mme Perry Tu te trouves laide, Susan? Mais non, tu es jolie, tu as de beaux yeux…

Susan No I don’t. When they call me Giraffe, I know I’m ugly.

Mme Perry Sais-tu que tu te critiques? Sais-tu comment cela s’appelle?

Susan Non.

Mme Perry It’s called self-bullying, saying mean things to yourself. Self-bullying. It’s like taking poison. It’s like a leech because all your good feelings drain away. Do you know what leech is in French? Sangsue – bloodsucker. Only cirticizing yourself, self-bullying, it’s like sucking your good feelings about yourself, instead of your blood. Se critiquer, c’est pire qu’une sangsue, parce que la sangsue s’enlève toute seule ou avec le sel, mais se critiquer, cela t’enlève tout ton bien-être, tous tes bons sentiments d’être bien. Alors, dis-toi : I am beautifully tall. Je suis grande comme un mannequin. Répète.

Susan (indistinct) Je suis grande comme un mannequin.

Mme Perry Bravo, encore une fois. Je suis grande comme un mannequin.

Susan Je suis grande, j’ai de beaux yeux.

Mme Perry Félicitations. You did well. Souviens-toi de la sangsue. Ne te laisse pas faire. Don’t let a bad feeling leech away a good feeling. Good Girl. Tu peux aller jouer avec les autres, maintenant.

Susan Merci, Madame. (À elle-même) Boy, is she dumb!

(Susan sort.)

Scène 12

(Mme Perry est en scène. Sara entre en scène et se dirige vers Mme Perry.)

Sara Je suis revenue, Madame.

Mme Perry I can see that. Est-ce qu’il y avait quelqu’un à la maison?

Sara Yes, my mum was there.

Mme Perry Et que lui as-tu dit?

Sara I said I had got hurt during soccer. She said she wouldn’t be able to get the shoes clean.

Mme Perry Tu ne lui as rien dit au sujet de Susan?

Sara No, I didn’t mention Susan.

Mme Perry Tu devrais lui en parler.

Sara I know I should talk to her about what going on here, but she has a lot of work to do, and she is worried all the time…

Mme Perry Ce n’est pas facile, mais il faut essayer. C’est vrai que les parents ont des fois de grands soucis. En tout cas, viens jouer avec les autres. (S’approche de Sara et met son bras autour de ses épaules.) Viens, viens. (Les deux s’en vont vers les enfants qui jouent. Quand ils voient Sara, ils voient aussi le bras de Mme Perry autour de ses épaules. Les enfants l’entourent et la tirent par la main pour l’amener dans leurs jeux.)



Scène 12

(Sara, Piggy, les autres enfants sur le terrain de soccer. )

Piggy Are you OK, Sara?

Sara Oui, oui, tout va bien.

Piggy Qu’est-ce que ta mère a dit de ton genou?

Sara Elle m’a dit que le sang avait gaspillé mes bas et mes souliers.

Piggy She only said your shoes and socks would have to be thrown out? (Sara hausse les épaules et ne répond pas. ) Bon, écoute, viens jouer au soccer.

Sara Non, les autres ne voudront pas de moi.

Piggy Mais non, mais non.

Sara I tell you, they don’t want me.

PIggy Sure they will, at least try. Essaye un peu, pour voir.

Sara Je le fais pour toi, OK. (Ils se dirigent vers le champs de soccer.)


Scène 14

(Le champs de soccer, les écoliers jouent. Sara et Piggy entrent.)

Susan Tu as touché au ballon avec tes mains, Sara, tu dois avoir un carton jaune.

Sara I didn’t touch the ball.

Susan (Pousse Sara) I said you did.

Sara I said I didn’t. (Susan pousse Sara à nouveau. Sara chancelle. Les autres enfants commencent à crier.)

Tous Go, go, go.

Scène 15

(Les écoliers, Sara, Susan, Piggy, Jeanne sont en scène. Mme Perry entre.)

Mme Perry Que se passe-t-il? Pourquoi crier vous tous après Sara?

Susan Sara a touché au ballon, et elle ne veut pas de carton jaune.

Sara Ce n’est pas vrai.

Susan Yes, it is. I saw you touch the ball with your hands.

Tous Go, go, go, go.

Mme Perry Assez, assez, tout le monde. I’ve had enough of the problems. From now on, you can only play soccer when you have a referee.

Tous Aw….Madame, non, non.

Mme Perry That’s enough. A partir d’aujourd’hui, il vous faut un arbitre pour que je vous donne le ballon. Give me the soccer ball. Come on, give it to me. (Piggy lui donne le ballon.) Choisissez un arbitre parmi vous. Quand ce sera fait, je vous rend le ballon. And don’t ask. I won’t give the ball back before you have chosen a referee and promised to listen to that referees.

(Mme Perry part avec le ballon.)


Scène 16

(Susan, Sara sont en scène.)

Susan C’est de ta faute, Sara,

Piggy No, it’s your fault for always picking on Sara.

Sara Je m’en vais si on ne peux pas jouer. (Piggy et Sara quitte le champ. Susan regarde les autres écoliers.)


Scène 17

Susan It wasn’t my fault. (Les enfants secouent la tête.) Ce n’est vraiment pas de ma faute.


Scène 18

(Sara et Piggy entrent dans l’école. Mme Perry les attend.)

Mme Perry Sara, je voudrais te dire un mot.

Sara Oui, Madame.

Mme Perry Piggy, je te parle après.

Piggy Oui, Madame.

(Piggy se retire un peu au loin.)

Scène 19

(Sara, Mme Perry se parlent un peu à l’écart dans le corridor.)

Mme Perry Sara, je voudrais que tu sois arbitre pour le soccer.

Sara Madame, les enfants ne veulent pas de moi. None of them want me.

Mme Perry Tu connais parfaitement les règles, tu es très rapide pour la course à pied, tu es très juste dans tout ce que tu fais.

Sara Madame, ils ne veulent pas de moi.

Mme Perry Ils voudront de toi s’il faut que tu sois là pour qu’ils puissent jouer. Va vite voir la secrétaire, elle va te donner ton gilet. The secretary may not have your size for the referee jersey, but it won’t be too bad. OK? Tu fvas porter le jersey au lieu d’une robe, ça va?

Sara Oui, Madame. (Sara sourit.) Je suis toujours en train de demander à maman de m’acheter du linge comme les autres. Merci. (Sara sort en courant.)


Scène 20

(Mme Perry se tourne vers Piggy.)

Mme Perry Quel est ton vrai nom?

Piggy My real name? Michael…

Mme Perry Aimes-tu ton vrai nom?

Piggy Sure, I like my real name.

Mme Perry Je voudrais à l’avenir que tout le monde t’appelle par ton vrai nom.

Piggy But everyone calls me Piggy.

Mme Perry Mais ce n’est pas très gentil, tu n’es pas si gros que çà…

Piggy No one calls me Piggy because I’m fat. I’m not fat. They call me Piggy because I’m smart.

Mme Perry On t’appelle Piggy parce que tu es intelligent?

Piggy Oui, oui, en classe, on étudiait le roman Lord of the Flies. Whenever we had to read a few pages, I was always ahead of the class. When the teacher asked me why, I said because I couldn’t get enough of that book. So someone said : « He’s piggy for reading! » and everybody laughed. Mais après, quand on parle de lire beaucoup, je disais toujours : « Je suis Piggy pour la lecture. »

Mme Perry Alors c’est un compliment.

Piggy Oui, oui, c’est un compliment. Je suis très fier de me faire appeler Piggy. I like it when people call me Piggy. I really do.

Mme Perry C’est bon, I understand. Sometimes nicknames sound bad, but they are actually a good thing.

Piggy The math teacher wants to start a Piggy prize for whoever likes math the best. (Ils rient.)

Mme Perry Et bien, félicitations. Congratulations on being the reading Piggy. Qu’est-ce qu’on dit quand on reçoit un compliment?

Piggy Merci!

Mme Perry C’est parfait, off to class now.

Piggy Madame?

Mme Perry Oui?

Piggy Merci de m’avoir demandé. Thanks for checking into it. Je comprends mieux maintenant. It isn’t nice for us to call her Giraffe, but we didn’t give her that nickname. C’est elle qui s’est donnée le surnom de Giraffe.

Mme Perry Susan n’aime pas du tout son surnom, elle me l’a dit. Pourquoi m’aurait-elle menti? Pourquoi inventer tout cela?

Piggy Don’t know.

Mme Perry Comment on dit on français?

Piggy Justement.

Mme Perry C’est cela. En français on dit « justement. »

(Piggy court rejoindre Sara. Mme Perry retourne au champ de soccer.)


Scène 21

(Sur le champs de soccer, Susan vient vers Mme Perry.)

Susan Madame, can we have the soccer ball?

Mme Perry Bien sûr, Susan. Qui est votre arbitre?

Susan Nous n’en avons pas.

Mme Perry You need a referee now. Tu sais bien qu’il faut un arbitre maintenant, il y a trop de chicanes autrement. You just fight without a referee.

Susan Who can be referee?

Jeanne I know one. Sara connaît bien les règles du jeu.

Mme Perry Exactly. And here she comes with her whistle and her jersey.

Piggy Je la vois, avec son gilet noir et blanc!



Scène 22

(Sara entre sur le champ de soccer.)

Tous Bravo, Sara. We can play now.

Mme Perry Vous pouvez avoir le ballon. (Elle lance le ballon à Susan.)

Jeanne Come on, Giraffe, au jeu, let’s play.

Mme Perry Attention! Son nom est Susan, I don’t want to hear Giraffe again.

Jeanne Oui, Madame. (Les enfants commencent à jouer. Sara anticipe bien le jeu. Quand elle siffle, tout le monde arrête. Tout à coup Susan et Piggy commencent à se quereller.)

Susan Off-side, Piggy.

Piggy Was not, Jeanne était en avance sur moi.

Susan Hors-jeu, Piggy. Donne-moi le ballon.

Piggy Non, je te dis que Jeanne était déjà en avance……..

Susan Give me the ball, Piggy, or I’ll….(Jeanne siffle. Elle accourt, prend le ballon de PIggy, le donne à Susan, la déplace de deux ou trois mètres, et lui fait signe de reprendre le jeu. Tout le monde la regarde sans rien dire, et puis elle met son sifflet dans sa bouche et siffle la remise au jeu. Susan lance le ballon, et comme le peloton de joueurs s’esquive) Wow, elle n’a même pas dit un mot.

Piggy You’re right, she didn’t even have to say anything. (Ils regardent le jeu un instant de plus.) Let’s play…Susan.

Susan Oui, jouons…(Elle donne une tape amicale sur l’épaule de Piggy.) Let’s go. (Les enfants jouent, puis Susan va trouver Sara dans un coin du terrain. Les enfants continuent a jouer, tandis que Sara continue à observer, siffler, et diriger la partie par des gestes.)


Scène 23

(Sara, Susan en marge de la partie.)

Susan Tu m’as accordé le ballon.

Sara Bien sûr, Piggy était en faute.

Susan Yes, but yesterday I tried to get you thrown out of the game.

Sara Oui, et le jour d’avant, tu m’as bien fait mal avec ton coup de pied.

Susan So why didn’t you pay me back?

Sara Si on faisait toujours çà, on finirait par ne jamais jouer.

Susan Mais non, tu auras pu me faire payer pour ce que je t’ai fait.

Sara You hurt me more with your texts than when you kicked me.

Susan Really?

Sara Really.

Susan I’m..I’m sorry.

Sara Ce que tu me disais, tous les noms dont tu me traitais, le pensais-tu vraiment?

Susan No, no I didn’t believe what I said was true.

Sara Alors, pourquoi?

Susan Toi, tu portais des robes et çà ne te dérangeait pas. Tu parlais avec un accent, et çà ne te dérangeait pas. Moi, j’hais tellement être grande, ça me dérange tout le temps.

Sara Mais c’est beau d’être grande.

Susan Penses-tu.

Sara Yes, it’s great to be tall like you. You should be proud of yourself. C’est très important d’être satisfaite de soi-même.

Susan I don’t know how.

Sara Et bien, commence avec moi. I forgive you. I won’t penalize you because it’s not fair. Et toi, va jouer de ton mieux maintenant, mais quand quelqu’un fera un but, félicites-le.

Susan OK. But what if I forget and yell? Call someone names?

Sara Tu viens après et tu dis : I’m sorry. Et tu montres que tu as l’esprit sportif.

Susan C’est tout? That’s all it takes to show sportsmanship?

Sara C’est tout.

(Susan se lève et retourne au jeu.)


Scène 24

(Sara, Susan, les autres écoliers)

Un écolier Ha, ha, Sara, tu ne peux même pas jouer avec nous. Tu es juste arbitre. Tu parles drôle, tu ne seras pas bonne arbitre. Va-t-en. (Il regarde Susan pour recevoir son approbation.)

Un écolier Go away, Sara, we don’t want you to play with us, you’re just a referee.

Un écolier Go, go, go (tous se mettent à répéter) Go, go, go….

Un écolier Non, nous avons besoin d’elle pour pouvoir jouer.

Un écolier C’est vrai, Madame Perry will take back the soccer bal if she goes…

Un écolier Stay, Sara.

Un écolier Reste avec nous Sara, nous avons besoin de toi.

Un écolier I saw what Giraffe was doing and I didn’t like it, but I didn’t know what to do.

Un écolier Je l’ai vu, moi aussi, faire, et ce n’était pas bien, ce n’était pas juste.

Sara Je ne savais pas… I didn’t think anyone even noticed…

Un écolier No, we all did. (les autres enfants) Nous avons tous vu, we all saw.

Un écolier I didn’t know what to do. What could we do?


Scène 25

(Piggy et Jeanne approchent.)

Piggy You say : Stop, that is not nice.

Jeanne Ou bien : Je vais le dire au principal.

Susan Or you can say : do you like that nickname? What do you want me to call you? (Tous se retournent pour regarder Susan.)

Un écolier What matters is that we stick together, right?

Un écolier Ensemble nous pouvons empêcher les autres d’exclure Sara. Together we can keep Sara with us.

Un écolier Je voudrais jouer avec Sara même si elle n’était pas arbitre. Elle court très vite et elle connaît bien les règles.

Un écolier You’re right, she is fast, and she does know the rules.

Un écolier Well, I saw it, and I didn’t do anything because I was worried that Susan would start picking on me.

Un écolier Moi aussi, je voyais ce qui est arrivé à Sara, et je ne voulais pas que cela m’arrive.

Sara La solution est toujours la même : il faut apprendre à vivre ensemble, just like we need to learn to be on teams together. Everyone has to be part of it for us to be able to play.

Piggy Everyone has to be on the team for us to be able to play.

Sara I run really fast, but Susan here is really tall. So she’s better at basketball than I am.

Susan Why are you being nice to me?

Sara I dunno.

Piggy Susan, why did you hit Sara? Pouquoi as-tu fait touçà, des coups, des courriels?

Susan I was all made inside because everyone called me Giraffe. I was just doing what I saw people do in video games. I kicked her, and then I couldn’t believe the blood.

Jeanne Çà, je comprends ça. Ma mère me dit souvent que l’internet est plein de choses qui ne sont pas vraies.

Piggy Well, of course those things aren’t real.

Jeanne Dans les jeux, on tire sur quelqu’un et il tombe sans saigner. If your mom or dad hunts, they’ll tell you animals bleed when they are shot.

Susan Ok, OK, I get it. Let’s just play.

Sara Seulement, maintenant, tout le monde joue, tout le monde est inclus. We are better if everyone is on the team, OK? And we are all against bullying from now on.

Susan C’est çà. Nous sommes tous contre l’intimidation partout, à l’école, sur Facebook, avec les cellulaires.

Jeanne Boy, I never heard you say so much in French before.

Susan Yeah, I hate it. Mais pour vous tous, ensemble, je fais un effort.

Sara Ensemble tout est possible. Everything becomes possible when you work together.

Susan Sara, fais la mise au jeu.

Piggy Just a minute, there is something I want to say.

Scène 26

(Piggy en avant-scène, seul illuminé avec les autres au fond, dans la noirceur.)


Piggy I remember her like it was yesterday. Sara Ibrahim-Brex. Every time she said her name, everyone said: “What?” When I met her, she were in eighth grade. Elle était toujours un peu différente. Elle était du Liban, elle est venu ici avec sa famille parce qu’il y avait la guerre au là-bas. She spoke French, like me, but spoke it a little funny. Elle s’habillait bien, mais toujours un peu différente des autres. Je me souviens d’elle comme si c’était hier. Sara Ibrahim-Brex. Chaque fois qu’elle disait son nom, tout le monde disait: “Quoi?” Quand je l’ai rencontré, on était en huitième année. She was from Lebanon, she had moved here with her family because there was war in Lebanon. Elle parlait français, mais elle le parlait un peu drôle. She was dressed nice, but, you know, a little bit different. What I remember most is that it made me nervous talking to her. Moi aussi, j’étais mal à l’aise de lui parler.

Scène 27

(Tous avancent lentement pour entourer Piggy.)

Piggy Tout le monde l’évitait, personne ne l’invitait, personne ne voulait l’avoir dans son équipe. Tout le monde adorait le soccer. Soccer was the biggest thing going. But nobody wanted her. I have never forgotten what happened to her. (Simultaneously) Parce qu’elle est devenue arbitre, très bonne bonne arbitre. Et ensuite, quand je suis revenue à l’école, tout le monde était son amie, parce que tout le monde voulait jouer. Je n’ai jamais oublié ce qui lui est arrive.

Tous Nous n’oublierons pas. We won’t forget. Nous n’oublierons pas.

(Piggy relance le ballon, et les écoliers se mettent à jouer.)

Rideau