Can I be a role model?

What qualities make a good role model?

In this film, M8-E the robot is tying to figure out the answer to this question, with help from his classmates Milo, Emma, Josh, Tanvi and Zayn.

To help pupils explore this question too, why not watch the film as a class to see what M8-E learns? You could then explore the activities to help them think about their own strengths and qualities, and what they gain from and bring to their friendships.

The group help M8-E clear up after a recycling crisis. This leads to a discussion about what they have learned from M8-E, as well as what he has learned from them. They realise that we can all learn from one another in different kinds of relationships and that anyone can be a role model in this way.

This guide and the following activities can help pupils explore their own strengths as well as what they can bring to and learn from their own friendships.

Learning objectives:

• I can identify the strengths I bring which make my friendships caring and kind.

• I can describe what I learn from others, and share what others learn from me.

It might be helpful to remind pupils that during the film, Emma says, “We all learn from each other” and M8-E says, “I thought I was programmed just to learn, but it appears I can teach you things as well.”

To help your pupils understand that we can all be role models, you could recap or replay the final scene between Emma and Joshua.

Emma: “You know what I've learned from you Josh?”

Joshua: “Learned from me?!”

Emma: “Always try to think about what someone else is feeling.”

Joshua: “Thank you! And you've taught me to always look on the bright side.”

Suggest that pupils go around their table or group and say one thing to each person that they have learned from or been taught by them. Encourage them to think about ways of behaving or the things people do, as well as aspects of their personality which they admire.

When everyone has finished, consider asking if anyone would like to share what they have heard with the class (for example, “Katie has taught me how to be more patient” or, “Amol told me I have taught him to see things from a different point of view”).

A valuable final task to help your pupils reflect could be to ask them to think about how being told something positive about themselves makes them feel, both about themselves and about their relationship with the person who said it.

This activity can help pupils think critically about the qualities a role model might have and understand that they themselves might be someone’s role model. You might need a bit more space such as a hall or playground for this activity. It can be completed with the whole class or in smaller groups, whichever you think will work best for your pupils.

Provide each group with a ball and ask them to throw it to someone while saying that person’s name. When they catch it, suggest they say a word or phrase that comes into their head when they think ‘role model’. It could be a quality, a value, a person (famous or not) or a behaviour. Then they call someone else’s name and throw the ball to them.

You might want to play the game again, but this time the person catching the ball can say something about themselves that makes them a good role model.

If you’d like to add a bit more challenge, test pupils’ memories by asking them to recite the words or phrases that have been said by the previous players in order, before adding their own to the end. How many can they add to their role model list before forgetting one?

If a hall or large space is not available, or if some pupils are unable to throw and catch, you could run a smaller version of this activity in table groups, rolling a ball or a scrunched-up piece of paper across the table.

Do your pupils know what ingredients are needed to build a good role model?

Use this interactive activity to spark a discussion about key personality traits they can look for in a good role model. Consider discussing them as a class, choosing the six traits your pupils value the most, and tasking them to build their own recipe.