A fresh emphasis can bring new insights, and learners can be helped to engage with that emphasis by a range of activities and examples. To engage with a change in emphasis, learners need to do more than notice it; they need to work with it to see the changes it makes. This might include emphasizing loving a city by looking at people who loved it enough to change it for the better in history, or emphasizing revenge and forgiveness by working with a poem.

  • Learners can create a pyramid diagram in history to demonstrate the dependence of reformers on their communities. This activity puts more emphasis on communities and interdependence in history rather than lone individuals.
  • Learners can use activities that move the emphasis from self to others. Drama evaluations could ask them to think about what may have been difficult or enjoyable for other people in a drama activity in order to shift the emphasis away from self.
  • Learners can participate in activities that celebrate a change of emphasis around tests. They could come to a celebratory breakfast club as part of a change in emphasis from “Do you know it?” to “Wow, look how much you know!”

Examples such as these show how learners can engage with a new emphasis in order to see its implications.