In this lesson the learners will identify several advocacy strategies and draw conclusions as to their effectiveness. They will identify local, state, and/or national concerns for animal welfare that call for advocacy intervention and determine what a successful intervention strategy might look like. They will include these strategies in a plan to address their identified local, state, and/or national concern for animal welfare.

The learner will:

• identify, compare and contrast some types of and styles of advocacies that have been and are being used as a “call to action.”
• examine advocacy efforts and determine their effectiveness.
• identify local, state, and/or national concerns that might call for advocacy interventions.
• determine outcomes for a successful advocacy intervention addressing some of these identified local, state, and/or national concern.
  

Anticipatory Set:
Prior to the start of class have listed on the display board the “Characteristics of all Good Advocates”, Attachment Two: Lesson One- Fact Finders, Individualists, Good Listeners, Perseveres, Reasonable, Credible, and Passionate.  As the learners enter the classroom have Dr. Martin Luther King’s “I Have a Dream Speech” playing in the background. (Full audio and script:
http://www.americanrhetoric.com/
speeches/mlkihaveadream.htm).
Begin the class period by replaying the speech asking the learners to listen for the Characteristics of All Good Advocates displayed and implied in the words of Dr. King.

• After hearing Dr. King’s speech, lead a class discussion that identifies those characteristics found in a good advocate that were displayed and implied in this speech.
  
  
• Encourage the learners to share their “homework” assignment from Lesson One where they were to interview family members and/or friends and ask them if they have ever advocated for something or if they would choose one thing to advocate for, what would it be.
  
  
• Record their responses clustering them into categories i.e. war, environment, animals, health, children, etc.  Keep this information where it can easily be seen and add to it whenever appropriate during the lessons.
  
  
• Distribute copies of Attachment One: Types and Styles of Advocacy and determine the learner’s level of understanding concerning each of these types of advocacies. Learners should have at least a working level of understanding.
  
  
• Assign learners to groups of two or three and distribute copies of Attachment Two: Examples of Advocacy to each learner. Distribute a copy of Attachment Three: Advocacy Worksheet to each group and assign each group one of these ”better known” advocacies in history to research and fill in the information requested on the worksheet. (Add or substitute advocacies that are more appropriate or relevant to this class.)
  
  
• Require each group to report their findings to the rest of the class as well as share their assessment as to why they feel the advocacy strategy used in their particular event was effective or not effective.
  
  
• Facilitate a class discussion about how the learners might use all this information to successfully go about advocating on behalf of a present day social or economic policy? Or a world, community, or school policy?
  
  
• Conclude this lesson by having the learners orally share their reflections based on Elizabeth Doles’ quote as it applies to this lesson: “We have learned that power is a positive force if it is used for positive purposes.”
  

• Dr. Martin Luther King’s “I Have a Dream Speech” (Full audio and script:
  http://www.americanrhetoric.com/
  speeches/mlkihaveadream.htm)
• See also Web Sites found on Resources Sites (Attachment Two)
• Additional Advocacy References:
  Advocacy ‘Know Your Rights’ Toolkit – Advocacy Methods & Materials
  http://www.lboro.ac.uk/departments/dis/
  disresearch/poc/pages/advtoolkit-methods.html
  Effective Advocacy:
  http://www.ciaonet.org/wps/res01/communications.html

For additional related topics and materials see also
ASPCA:
www.aspca.org
Learning to Give
www.learningtogive.org