Integrative Ecology Education
Understanding the debate of the Feral Horse issue
Within the world of social, ethical and political stakes, there can be issues and problems that are complex and complicated and difficult to solve. In the Victorian Alpine Region, Feral Horses have had devastating effects, inflicting notorious damage and influence on the environment around them.
One of the main issues is the difficulty in finding a viable solution to this problem. The various stakeholders involved have their own perspectives and differing opinions and beliefs about solving this issue. This can make resolution extremely difficult, as often not one single solution is agreed upon.
A brief description of this activity
Within this activity, students will be given the opportunity to learn about the issue of Feral Horses, and the complications experienced within the science and social world. This activity will give students the opportunity to put into practice what they have learnt about stakeholders. The main idea of this activity, aligned to the curriculum point, is for students to be able to communicate and describe the way they see a certain topic, in the form of a debate. The students will be given the opportunity to consider the opposing side, and their perspective. Exposed to the information from both sides, they will be able to discern one opinion and perspective/stakeholder from another. This activity will help introduce the main topic of feral horses, and the different perspectives. Details of activity are presented in the Student Worksheet.
Activity 2
To introduce the topic of Feral Horses within the alpine region, students will watch videos, from 3 different sources. Each source presents a different opinion, or at the very least a variable way of thinking about the issue. This will allow the students to keep an objective perspective on the topic, to encourage them to keep an open mind, suspending their own judgement and simply look at a topic from all positions.Â
The students will also participate in a "Ladder of opinion" activity, to gain an understanding of where each person stands within this particular topic.
Students will work in groups to create a debate for their representative opinion, to challenge other members of other groups.
Once the debate finishes, the students will reassess their position on this issue by participating within the ladder of opinion again, to observe their own or their peers changed views of this issue.
Part 1 of Activity 2
Video links to different stakeholders of the feral horse issue
This first source, as represented by Anthony Hoy, is a representative of the Guy Fawkes Heritage Horse Association in favour of preserving the hertiage of the horses within the wild. Watch from (0:00 - 6:44). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wjRRSQ5yhQ
This second source, as represented by David Paull, is a representative of the Australian Alpine Liaison Committee Stakeholder, in favour of managing feral horse presence within the alpine region. Watch whole video. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_TT2N8nxrPk
This third source, as represented by Alexandra Cameron, is a representative of both sides of the issue, interviewing both for and against within this topic. Watch from (3:07-10:33). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zArrMjNp1Hw
Part 2 of Activity 2
The students will participate in a ladder of opinion, to gain an understanding of how the class is split between opinions. The two ends of the room act as differing opinions, whilst the middle acts as a middle-ground for those who either, can see both sides, or don't have an imposing opinion. It will be a scale rather than objectively one or the other. One side will depict: those who agree that feral horses must be preserved in their current environment, and the other side: those who believe that some management action must be taken to fix the issue. If a student has a particularly strong opinion, they would stand in the corner of the one side, if they still agree but not quite as strongly, they would stand near the middle-ground. The purpose of this would be to eliminate too many possibilities of having too few, or no students in one particular perspective.
Part 3 of Activity 2
The students will be grouped up into teams of 3-5 members of each corresponding opinion.
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a) Once the students have been allocated into their groups, they must work together to write down some reasons as to why they believe their representative opinion and build a small case as to why they believe they are correct.
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b) The students will be given a 3 minute allocation to present their side and perspective. The students share their opinion with the rest of the class, and must listen to others as well.
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c) Once the students have shared all of their opinions, they must return to their groups and provide 1 point that combats 2 other groups, either the directly opposing opinion(s), or the middle ground.
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d) After all opinions have been shared the students will again stand in a ladder of opinion. The teacher will observe the changes, if any, and query the students why they did change sides, or why they did not.