CURRICULUM SAMPLE:

THE FOUR I’s OF OPPRESSION

UNIT 2: SYSTEMS OF POWER | LESSON 2

GRADE LEVEL: HIGH SCHOOL

TIME: 3–5 DAYS

This lesson introduces students to the “The Four ‘I’s’ of Oppression” (Bell, 2013) - Ideological, Interpersonal, Institutional, and Internalized - and their adverse impact on racialized groups (i.e., Native American, Black/African American, Asian American/Pacific Islander, and Chicanx/Latinx . Through identifying, articulating and differentiating the Four I’s of Oppression, students can begin to re-imagine and create ways to dismantle these systems of oppression.

ESSENTIAL QUESTION:

What are the “Four I’s of Oppression” and how do they impact racialized communities (American Indian/Native American, African American/Black, Asian American/Pacific Islander, and Chicanx/Latinx)?

KEY SKILLS & UNDERSTANDINGS:

Identify, articulate and differentiate the Four I’s of Oppression and their impact on racialized communities.
Re-imagine and create ways to dismantle these systems of oppression (ideological, interpersonal, institutional, and internalized).

LEARNING TARGET:

I can identify, articulate, and differentiate ideological, interpersonal, institutional and internalized forms of oppression and their impact on racialized communities.

STANDARDS (Example: WA Social Studies):

SSS1: Uses critical reasoning skills to analyze and evaluate claims

SSS3: Deliberates public issues

H1: Evaluate how historical events and developments were shaped by unique circumstances of time and place as well as historical contexts

H3: Analyze how historical contexts shaped and continue to shape people’s perspectives

TIAHUI ALIGNMENT:

Click here to learn more about XITO’s decolonial framework, TIAHUI.

Teaching Critical Consciousness
Historical Literacy Development
Intersectional Identity Development

VOCABULARY

The very intentional ideological development of the “isms.” The creation and maintenance of belief systems in superiority usually based upon any combination of race, class, gender, immigration status, ability, and sexuality.
The idea that one group is better than another and has the right to control the other, which gets structured into our institutions, gives permission and reinforcement for individual members of the dominant group to personally mistreat individuals in the targeted/oppressed group.
The idea that one group is superior to another gets embedded in the institutions of the society, the laws, the legal system and police practice, the education system, hiring practice, public policy, housing development, media images/representation, political power, etc.
Internalized oppression works with groups of people who suffer from the most mistreatment. Oppressed people internalize the ideology of inferiority, they see it reflected in the institutions, they experience mistreatment personally from members of the dominant group, and they eventually come to internalize the negative about themselves.

RESOURCES & MATERIALS

Use the buttons below to view and download the resources and materials for this lesson. External links and resources are embedded in the slides and lesson plan.

Handouts & Readings: