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The lessons for this module include such topics as "Supervisor and Employee Interaction," "Exchanging Information with Supervisors," "Written Communication with Supervisor," "Attitudes and Nonverbal Communication," "Communicating Problems to Supervisors," and "Responding to Feedback." After we do a complete study of the module lessons, I expect my students to know the difference between how to communicate with co-workers and how to communicate with supervisors. We also thoroughly discuss supervisory styles and the characteristics of effective upward and downward communication. The AIT material covers these topics.
In order to make the lessons relevant, I try to case them in the community in which we live. Hampton has one major industrial plant, Westinghouse, which threatens layoffs and plant closings from time to time. We discuss the concept of unions and other organizations, and I ask what benefits and drawbacks these organizations present.
To bring writing into the curriculum, I use a simple exercise based on sentence patterns inspired by Ann Berthoff's Forming, Thinking, Writing. I ask my students to think about unions, especially if a family member belongs to one, and to write sentences about unions using the following patterns:
A finished response might look like the sample below:
What good is organized labor? Unions work. My dad belongs to a union, and his job is secure. He joined his first year of work. He pays his dues and attends meetings regularly.We then share aloud what we have written. The point of this exercise is three-fold. First, it gives me a really good idea of what my students know about organized labor. Secondly, the exercise reinforces sentence variation in writing. And thirdly, it focuses the students' thinking on their future as employees and supervisos.
Next, I present an article from Historic Preservation magazine called "The Fabric of Their Lives." (I have permission to copy the article.) I ask the students to do a double entry draft on the article. They first draw a column down the middle of a sheet of paper. I ask them to read the article silently, focusing on the reasons the mill closing occurred (as opposed to the preservation aspects). They write down phrases from the article that catch their attention in the left column. As they write, they also put their personal comments, including questions, in the right column. Finally, we discuss the article and predict what might happen if such a situation occurred in their own community. Then the students do a free write of three- fourths to one page about what they learned from the article.
After we have finished this discussion, I show the film Norma Rae. It takes almost three class periods to show this film, but it is well worth the time to see what happens in an industry when the union comes. Of course, the industry is a Southern cotton mill just like the one in the magazine article, but more importantly, it is a single industry employing the majority of workers in a community similar to our own community's industrial base. During viewing, I ask the students to reflect on Norma Rae's relationship with her supervisors and how she felt both as a weaver and as an inspector. I ask them to think about the issues of safe working conditions, and how they would approach a supervisor to facilitate discussion of such issues. I ask them to list during viewing the items Norma Rae wants to change, and in a follow up composition or discussion question, I ask them to state why the changes are necessary.
The question that often provokes a great deal of thoughtful discussion concerns supervisory styles. The movie stereotypes the mill bosses as domineering Southern good ol' boys who have little regard for the needs of their workers. Their main objective is to make a profit, and their method is to increase worker productivity. I ask my students to identify ways that the supervisors attempt to get more out of the workers, and they usually remember the incidents of walling up the windows, providing few or limited breaks, and timing the workers in completing a task. I ask them to decide if this kind of constant harassment increases worker productivity enough to warrant the resentment. The movie certainly serves as a visual lesson on what issues industry must address in regard to employee and supervisor relationships, and it brings out another important theme on worker unity.
I follow the movie with a field trip to the Westinghouse plant. Our tour of the entire plant takes a half day. Students get a firsthand view of working conditions and supervisory styles going on in a regular day of operation. At the end of the tour, they may ask questions of a team of workers, and I have them prepare at least one question ahead of time. The trip is successful because these students usually recognize the importance of this industry to their community.
Overall, the module provides a thorough view of the roles of supervisors and how to communicate with "the boss." By including the film and magazine article, application to real life becomes much easier, and the tour of a local industry drives home the point that there is a hierarchy in business. How an employee learns to cope with that hierarchy, especially in communicating with his or her supervisor, is very important to remaining employed and advancing in the particular career field.
Works Cited
Baker, Beth. "The Fabric of Their Lives." Historic Preservation 45 (March/April 1993): 52-59.
Berthoff, Ann E. Forming, Thinking, Writing: The Composing Imagination. Montclair, NJ: Boynton/Cook, 1982.