What's your worldview?

A Lesson Plan by Kieran Donaghy

 What's your worldview?

Language level: Upper Intermediate (B2) – Advanced (C1)

Learner type: Mature teens and adults
Time: 90 minutes
Activity: Learning vocabulary related to worldviews, watching a short video,
answering comprehension questions, analysing a short video, talking about
worldviews, writing a composition about worldviews and reflecting on the
lesson
Topic: Vocabulary related to worldviews
Language: Vocabulary related to worldviews

Overview
This ESL lesson plan is designed around a short video titled Nobody Stands Nowhere and the
theme of worldviews. Students learn vocabulary related to worldviews, watch a short video,
answer comprehension questions, analyse a short video, talk about their worldviews, write a
composition about their worldviews and reflect on the lesson.

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Step 1
Write ‘worldview’ on the board. Put your students into pairs and ask them to discuss what
they think ‘worldview’ means.

Step 2
Get feedback from the whole class on what they think ‘worldview’ means but do not indicate
if they right or not.

Step 3
Tell your students they are going to watch a short video about worldviews. The first time they
watch, they should notice how ‘worldview’ is defined in the video.

Watch the short video.

Video: https://bit.ly/3XhQ9Xt

Step 4
Get feedback from the whole class on how ‘worldview’ is defined in the video, and how it
compares with what they thought it meant.

Answer
A person's world view is the way they see and understand the world, especially regarding
issues such as politics, philosophy and religion.

Step 5
Give your students the Glossary. Go through the meaning and pronunciation of each word.

belief /bɪˈliːf/ (n) an idea that you are certain is true

blend /blend/ (n) a pleasant or useful combination of different things
cocktail /ˈkɒkteɪl/ (n) a mixture of different substances or elements
higher power /ˈhaɪər ˈpaʊər/ (n) a spirit or being (such as God) that has great power,
strength, etc., and that can affect nature and the lives of people
lens /lenz/ (n) something that facilitates and influences perception, comprehension, or
evaluation
meaning /ˈmiːnɪŋ/ (n) purpose or emotional importance
multiple /ˈmʌltɪpl/ (adj) many in number

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neutral /ˈnjuːtrəl/ (adj) deliberately not expressing any strong feeling
perspective /pəˈspektɪv/ (n) a particular attitude towards something
pluralistic /ˈplʊərəlɪst/ (adj) (of a society) having many different groups of people and
different political parties in it
surroundings /səˈraʊndɪŋz/ (n) the place where someone lives and the conditions they live in
treasure /ˈtreʒə(r)/ (v) to have something that is extremely valuable to you
upbringing /ˈʌpbrɪŋɪŋ/ (n) the way in which a child is cared for and taught how to behave
while it is growing up
vital /ˈvaɪtl/ (adj) extremely important
vulnerable /ˈvʌlnərəbl/ (adj) weak and easily hurt physically or emotionally

Step 6
Give your students the Viewing Questions. Tell them they are going to watch the video again.
As they watch the video, they should answer the questions.

1. What are some questions to ask a person about their worldview?

2. What does each person see the world through?
3. What three factors may shape a person’s worldview?
4. What does our worldview shape?
5. Why is it important to think about the worldviews of other people?
6. What does living in an increasingly pluralistic society mean to our understanding of
the world?

Show the video again.

Step 7
Ask your students to compare their answers in pairs.

Step 8
Tell your students they are going to watch the video again. As they watch they should check
their answers.

Show the video again.

Step 9
Get feedback on the questions from the whole class.

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Answers
1. What are some questions to ask a person about their worldview? Here are all the
questions: What is your view of the world? How do you see things? What makes you
who you are? On what do you base your decisions? Do you believe in God? Do you
believe in a higher power? Do you see the world as a cocktail of chance and accident?
Where do you think truth lies?
2. What does each person see the world through? Each person sees the world through a
certain lens.
3. What three factors may shape a person’s worldview? Upbringing, surroundings or
religion may shape a person’s worldview.
4. What does our worldview shape? Our worldview shapes how we live.
5. Why is it important to think about the worldviews of other people? It is important to
think about the worldviews of other people because they may not be similar to ours.
6. What does living in an increasingly pluralistic society mean to our understanding of
the world? Living in an increasingly pluralistic means there is no such thing as a
neutral perspective.

Step 10
Put your students into small groups. Give them the Post-viewing Questions. Ask them to look
at the questions and make some notes. In their small groups, students compare their notes
and discuss the questions.

1. Did you like the video? Why/Why not?

2. What words would you use to describe the video?
3. How would you summarise the message of the video?
4. What did you find most memorable about the video?
5. Who would you recommend the video to? Why?
6. Who do you think the intended audience of the video is? Why?

Step 11
Get feedback on the questions from the whole class.

Step 12
Give your students the Worldview Questions. Ask them to look at the questions and make
some notes about the questions they feel comfortable answering.

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 1. What is your view of the world?
2. How do you see things?
3. What makes you who you are?
4. On what do you base your decisions?
5. Do you believe in God?
6. Do you believe in a higher power?
7. Do you see the world as a cocktail of chance and accident?
8. Where do you think truth lies?

Step 13
In small groups, students compare their notes and discuss the questions.

Step 14
Get feedback on the questions from the whole class. Try to determine if your students have
similar or different worldviews.

Step 15
Ask your students to ask you the Worldview Questions. Answer the questions you feel
comfortable answering.

Step 16
Give your students the Reflect questions. Tell them you would like them to reflect on what
they have learned from the lesson. Ask them to look at the questions and make some notes.
In small groups, students compare their notes and discuss the questions.

1. What did you learn about worldviews from the lesson?

2. What new vocabulary related to worldviews did you use?
3. What did you enjoy about the lesson?
4. What did you find most challenging about the lesson?
5. What did you find most memorable about the lesson?
6. What would you like to share from this lesson with a friend?

Step 17
Get feedback on the questions from the whole class.

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Homework
Ask your students to write a composition titled My Worldview in which they should
summarise how they see and understand the world

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 Glossary

belief /bɪˈliːf/ (n) an idea that you are certain is true

blend /blend/ (n) a pleasant or useful combination of different things

cocktail /ˈkɒkteɪl/ (n) a mixture of different substances or elements

higher power /ˈhaɪər ˈpaʊər/ (n) a spirit or being (such as God) that has great
power, strength, etc., and that can affect nature and the lives of people

lens /lenz/ (n) something that facilitates and influences perception,

comprehension, or evaluation

meaning /ˈmiːnɪŋ/ (n) purpose or emotional importance

multiple /ˈmʌltɪpl/ (adj) many in number

neutral /ˈnjuːtrəl/ (adj) deliberately not expressing any strong feeling

perspective /pəˈspektɪv/ (n) a particular attitude towards something

pluralistic /ˈplʊərəlɪst/ (adj) (of a society) having many different groups of

people and different political parties in it

surroundings /səˈraʊndɪŋz/ (n) the place where someone lives and the
conditions they live in

treasure /ˈtreʒə(r)/ (v) to have something that is extremely valuable to you

upbringing /ˈʌpbrɪŋɪŋ/ (n) the way in which a child is cared for and taught how
to behave while it is growing up

vital /ˈvaɪtl/ (adj) extremely important

vulnerable /ˈvʌlnərəbl/ (adj) weak and easily hurt physically or emotionally

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 Viewing Questions

1. What are some questions to ask a person about their worldview?

2. What does each person see the world through?

3. What three factors may shape a person’s worldview?

4. What does our worldview shape?

5. Why is it important to think about the worldviews of other people?

6. What does living in an increasingly pluralistic society mean to our

understanding of the world?

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 Post-viewing Questions

1. Did you like the video? Why/Why not?

2. What words would you use to describe the video?

3. How would you summarise the message of the video?

4. What did you find most memorable about the video?

5. Who would you recommend the video to? Why?

6. Who do you think the intended audience of the video is? Why?

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 Worldview Questions

1. What is your view of the world?

2. How do you see things?

3. What makes you who you are?

4. On what do you base your decisions?

5. Do you believe in God?

6. Do you believe in a higher power?

7. Do you see the world as a cocktail of chance and accident?

8. Where do you think truth lies?

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 Reflect

1. What did you learn about worldviews from the lesson?

2. What new vocabulary related to worldviews did you use?

3. What did you enjoy about the lesson?

4. What did you find most challenging about the lesson?

5. What did you find most memorable about the lesson?

6. What would you like to share from this lesson with a friend?

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Copyright Information

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About the Author

Kieran Donaghy is a freelance award-winning writer, international conference speaker and

teacher trainer.
He is the author of books for students and teachers of English as a foreign language. His
publications include Film in Action (Delta Publishing), Writing Activities for Film (ELT
Teacher2Writer) and Video, The Image in ELT (ELT Council) and Language Hub (Macmillan).
He trains teachers in Barcelona and online at his specialist teacher development institute,
The School for Training.
He is the founder of the independent publisher Film English which has won a British Council
ELTons Award, an English Speaking Union Award and the MEDEA Award.
He is the founder of The Image Conference and co-founder of the Visual Arts Circle.
Find out more about Film English at: http://kierandonaghy.com/

You can contact Kieran at: kieran@theschoolfortraining.com

 About Film English

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