| LESSON OVERVIEW
The main objectives of this lesson are to:
- identify and talk about the concept of community and gentrification;
- watch an informational video on gentrification and analyse its key points;
- complete opinions on gentrification with correct vocabulary and discuss solutions to tackle gentrification problems.
In this lesson, students brainstorm the meaning of ‘community’, talk about neighbourhood dynamics, watch a short video on gentrification and examine its main aspects. They also develop their critical thinking by talking about gentrification and its impacts. Students explore and practise vocabulary (e.g. urban sprawl, cultural divide, up-and-coming neighbourhood, etc.), analyse opinions, look into possible solutions to tackle the challenges of gentrification and assess their effectiveness.
C1 / Advanced60 minStandard LessonFree / Premium Plan
DISCUSSION AND VIDEO
This lesson focuses on talking about gentrification and starts with a warm-up in which students brainstorm what ‘community’ means and evaluate whether its meaning has changed in their lifetime. Following that, they discuss questions about community and neighbourhood dynamics and share their perspectives. Then, students prepare to watch a short video about gentrification. They read a piece of information about a protest and brainstorm what the issue was. After that, students watch the first part of the video to check their ideas. Then, they watch the second part of the video and discuss what is mentioned about some specific points (foreign investment, ghost towns and loss of community).
TALKING ABOUT GENTRIFICATION
In this part of the lesson, students continue talking about gentrification and discuss questions on recognizing and understanding its effects. Then, they analyse some opinions about gentrification and choose the correct word to complete useful phrases (e.g. displace existing residents, cultural divide, revitalize urban areas, etc.). After that, students choose any four statements from the previous task and explain whether they agree or disagree with them. Afterwards, they examine some solutions to tackle the problems of gentrification and assess their effectiveness, thinking of specific examples and potential challenges. Finally, students complete some statements about tourism with their own ideas. The statements are about challenges and considerations for tourists in experiencing authentic local culture.
HOMEWORK/REVISION
This lesson also includes an additional task that you can use as homework or revision. In the task, students create social media posts for hypothetical scenarios using the vocabulary from the lesson. The task is available in the teacher’s version of the worksheet. You can print it and hand it out to your students. It’s also included in the e-lesson plan.
WORKSHEETS
I hate to be ‘that person’ – slide 11 has a spelling mistake – foreing instead of foreign.
I love this topic for a lesson as it hits close to home. I live in an area of east London that has been gentrified since I moved in and don’t recognise the place I chose to live in. I’m looking forward to doing this lesson with someone!
Hi John! Thanks for spotting that! We’ve just corrected it. I hope you have a great class! Let us know how it went when you do the lesson with some students 🙂
Whenever I run out of deas for the lesson, I turn to you and I’m never disappointed. Thank you
What a lovely thing to hear! Thanks, Agnieszka. We hope your students enjoy the lesson! 🙂
Is it possible to have the subtibles from the video of each lesson in PDF files to my student if I go premium?
Hi there! Thanks for the question. Unfortunately we don’t provide any form of subtitles or transcription to the videos in any of our subscription plans – sorry about that!
Here you are:
[MUSIC PLAYING]
SPEAKER 1:
Cereal.
The humble breakfast staple is hardly something to revolt over, [BREAKING GLASS] or so I thought. Because in September 2015, a group of protesters got really mad over an East London store that sold the innocuous breakfast for around $5 to $7, which to be fair, is a lot when you consider it’s just a bowl of cereal.
The angry mob hurled bottles, smashed windows, and even burned an effigy of a policeman. Now the riot wasn’t because the place had run out of, well, this. The fight was really about a much bigger problem—gentrification.
The protesters are an anti-gentrification group called the [BLEEP] Parade. The group launched their campaign against the store because they felt it symbolized a bigger problem in London, and indeed, in many other metropolises around the world.
Many anti-gentrification protesters aren’t 100% opposed to the idea of urban renewal. But they do have a problem with what it’s doing to local communities. Higher rents and housing prices mean established working-class communities are being forced to move.
The [BLEEP] Parade have even gone as far as describing the problem in London as social cleansing. And people aren’t necessarily moving in to replace those who have left. Urban renewal, gentrification, whatever you want to call it, is making properties in cities like London much more desirable for foreign investors, or those who are wanting to buy a vacation home.
So now, imagine walking down a street at night, in one of the most vibrant cities in the world, only to find it’s eerily quiet. There are no lights on in the houses, because, well, nobody’s home. This is actually happening in London boroughs like Camden and Hammersmith.
To paraphrase a popular British band from the ’70s, pockets of London are looking like a ghost town. And the same exact thing is happening in New York, Melbourne, and San Francisco.
Ghost towns are an extreme manifestation of urban renewal, but it does highlight the real bone of contention surrounding the practice—loss of community. Because the essence of why somewhere is desirable to live can’t be bought or built. It’s true.
Anti-gentrification protesters should not have used violence to get their point across. But there is some truth when they say, “We don’t want luxury flats that no one can afford. We want genuinely affordable housing. We want community.” And this might hit home when, instead of London, it’s echoing through the streets of what used to be your neighbourhood.
There’s another fight over land development happening in America, involving the US Government, Big Oil, and, believe it or not, a prairie chicken. To find out more, check out this episode.
SPEAKER 2:
The energy industry got upset because their land use could be limited. Conservationists got upset because they thought the land use still wouldn’t be limited enough. And it really only got crazier from there.
SPEAKER 1:
Thanks for watching, and don’t forget to subscribe to Seeker Stories.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
Love this lesson!
Thanks for the comment, Rosella! Glad to hear that 🙂
Maybe the introduction should say bowl of cereal? It’s not clear if it $7 for a box or bowl of cereal because the video talks about a bowl of cereal.
Hi Sara! You’re right, it should be more specific, so we’ve just updated the worksheets 🙂 Thanks for the comment!
Thanks for this resource. This is such a timely discussion.
True! You’re most welcome.
I recently used in an advanced class on city planning. This short comedy video goes well with the plan:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eDs8Sy8tJ4o&pp=ygUiZ2VudHJpZmljYXRpb24gZm93bHMgYXJtcyBhbmQgaG9ncw%3D%3D
Great video! Thanks for sharing it so other teachers can use it! 🙂