I have a special place in my heart for Disney (who doesn’t?). Some people find it difficult to look beyond the princess and prince cheesy love story. I tell them I use it as an educational tool and they laugh. A lesson that I enjoyed over my Teaching Practice was ‘Disney Morality’ with 5th year students (but this can be altered to suit younger years too!)
I split the class into groups of 4 /5 and I gave them 3 of 6 moral dilemmas I had based on Disney films. I did not tell them to begin with that these dilemmas were taking from Disney films. The following are the 6 Disney Dilemmas (see if you can guess the films before I tell ye at the end!)
- You are framed for a crime you did not commit. All evidence is against you and it is your word against the person framing you. What are your options? Which is one would you follow? Is the most moral option?
- You are the top player on the team and have a lot of business sponsorship. A new player comes on the scene that could take all your sponsorship away. Your coach tells you to eliminate the competition in whatever way necessary. What are your options? Which road do you take? Is it the moral option?
- Your best friend is struggling in school and you come across the end of year exam sheet. If you give them the answers it will be obvious cheating was involved. If you don’t give them the answers they face failing the year. What are the options? Which one do you take? Is it the moral option?
- A charity is going bankrupt and unable to keep going. You know where you can get enough money to keep the charity going. It involves stealing from your very rich boss. What are your options? Which one would you do? Is it the moral option?
- The country is at war and people are being forced to join the army. Every member of the family must join the army- but they must be over 18. You are 17 and your sick father is drafted into the army. If he goes he will die if you go you face severe punishment. What are your options? What one do you take? Is it the moral action?
- A crazed lunatic comes to school with a weapon looking for one student in particular. He threatens to hurt anybody around him until he gets who he is looking for. What are your options? Which one do you choose? Why?
I then went around each group asking what they would have done in these given situations. (Some of the answers, for a morality module- from far from anyway moral but funny nonetheless).
Then I left the surprise out of the bag on a PowerPoint I had pictures of the films to use for explanation. Have you guessed the right films? Well here I’ll let you out of your misery.
- The Lion King
Simba did run away but then overcame his past he came back to right his previous wrongs. Moral lesson: you can’t run from the past but you can learn from it.
2. Wreck-It Ralph
While Ralph did ‘get rid of the competition’ so he could win his gold back, he regretted his decision and soon came back to help Penelope. Moral lesson- play fair!
3. Monster University
Out of pity Sully helps his bestie cheat (unknown to Mike) his actions get them thrown out of the University and they must compete to win back their place. Moral lesson- Honesty is the best policy!
4. Robin Hood
He steals from the rich and he gives to the poor. However his good actions get him in a spot of bother. Suppose this one ended rather up in the air when we discussed in class so I ended on a moral question- Does the end justify the means?
5. Mulan
Duty of family is greater then that of duty to country. She saved her father’s life and China so maybe on this one occasion it was ok not to do as you were told. Moral lesson- Honour thy mother and father and do all you can to keep them safe.
6. Pirates of the Caribbean 2
I’m a huge Johnny Depp fan so this franchise had to make it in somewhere (despite being the most grim of dilemmas) however like Elizabeth Swann the class agreed that the loss of one was better then the needless loss or injury of many. Moral lesson- sometimes the best decision is not the easiest one to make.
Besides of sharing my love of Disney, the reason I chose to use Disney films as morality examples was to highlight that sometimes in life we are faced with difficult decisions. Sadly life is not a Disney film and as the students themselves found out we don’t always get the happy Disney ending we’d like. And sometimes the most moral choice is not the choice we easily make.
A tad un-Disney note to end on but a great way of generating discussions!
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Happy Teaching 🙂
EdRe5S 