A project where students learn about Fairtrade producers and then depict their lives through art work.
Fair Trade Journeys
N.B. You could choose to focus on one producer and the class creates pieces of work which depict different stages of their Fairtrade journey.
Curriculum Links: Art & Design 1.1, 1.3 (a), 2.1 (a); Citizenship 1.1 (b), 1.1 (c), 1.3 (c), 2.1 (a), 2.1 (b), 2.2 (b); Geography 1.1 (a), 1.4 (a), 1.4 (b), 1.7 (a), 1.7 (b).
Learning Objective: To create a piece of art work which represents part of an individual’s Fairtrade story.
Learning Outcome: Students develop ideas by working from producer case studies and create a piece of art to communicate feelings, experiences and ideas about Fairtrade.
Resources Needed: Producer Stories: (Agrocel, Apicoop, Anapqui, Green Net, MiFruta, EAC, Kasinthula) country profiles: (Chile, Bolivia, Thailand, India, South Africa, Malawi), art materials, access to research tools.
Preparation: Cut up producer stories: Juan and Marina Inostroza and Ceila Gonzalez (Apicoop); Sansar Chand (Agrocel; Vitaliano Ayaviri Huayllani (Anapqui)
Starter: Cut up the text of the following producer stories: Juan and Marina Inostroza and Ceila Gonzalez (Apicoop); Sansar Chand (Agrocel; Vitaliano Ayaviri Huayllani (Anapqui). In groups students have to put their stories back together again in the correct order. This can also be done as a mingling activity where each student is given a piece of the text and they have to find the correct story and arrange themselves into the correct order before reading it out to the class.
Main Activity: Discuss with the class the difference they think Fairtrade makes to producers' lives. Explore a few examples with students, using the stories they have pieced together e.g. Juan and Marina Inostroza or Ceila Gonzalez from Apicoop; Sansar Chand from Agrocel or Vitaliano Ayaviri Huayllani from Anapqui. Think about their 'journey' – their lives before and after Fairtrade.
Students can either choose one of these producers or identify another. They then follow these steps:
Research
• Research the role of Fairtrade and their producer group in the producer lives. Look at their photos. What do they look like? What kind of people are they? What difference has Fairtrade made?
• Research the country the producer comes from. What’s it like? What’s the landscape like? The climate? What do the farms look like?
• Research famous artists from the country. What type of art is it? What elements do you like/dislike? (optional)
Planning
• What part of the producer's story are you going to depict? Why?
• What type of art work are you going to produce? (e.g. a painting, sketch, mosaic, model etc)
• What materials/style will you use? (e.g. Fairtrade Mark colours or Fairtrade products from the country, perhaps the commodity the producer farms, like rice)
Compare the subjects and designs selected by the students. Are there any similarities in the part of the producer story they have chosen? Can the different pieces of work be fitted together to show the producer’s Fairtrade journey?
Plenary: Provide a template of a suitcase for each student. At the end of the lesson ask students what they are going to take away with them from the lesson. This could be new information, something which they found interesting, or a new skill. They then draw/depict this in their suitcase.
At the beginning of the next lesson students can look at their suitcase again. Can they remember what they took and why they decided it was important?
Click here to download the accompanying resources in Welsh:
Country Profiles, Producer Stories.