Lesson Plan for the Documentary Film: The Corporation

ACTIVITIES:

The following: Material for the Teacher also includes additional questionnaires to be used with the students to practise vocabulary and ensure their better understanding of the documentary.

A. BEFORE WATCHING THE FILM

1.  Ask students if they know what a corporation is. Providing examples can help them with their reply.  (Brief talk with the class)

What is a Corporation?

It is a very large usually diversified firm that meets certain legal requirements to be recognized as having a legal existence, as an entity, it is separate and distinct from its owners. Corporations are owned by their stockholders (shareholders) who share in profits and losses generated through the firm's operations, and have three distinct characteristics 

(1) Legal existence: a firm can (like a person) buy, sell, own, enter into a contract, and sue other persons and firms, and be sued by them. It can do good and be rewarded, and can commit offence and be punished.

(2) Limited liability: a firm and its owners are limited in their liability to the creditors and other obligors only up to the resources of the firm.

(3) Continuity of existence: a firm can live beyond the life spans and capacity of its owners, because its ownership can be transferred through a sale or gift  of shares.

2.  Divide the students into six teams. Allocate one questionnaire to each group. There are six questionnaires:

1.THE NATURE OF THE CORPORATION
2.BRANDING AND MARKETING TO KIDS
3.ETHICS AND VALUES & SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY
4.CORPORATIONS AND GOVERNMENT. REGULATION & DEMOCRACY
5.LABOUR
6.SELLING THE COMMONS

CLICK HERE to see questionnaires

3.  Tell students to read the questions and write useful notes in order to be able to answer them while they are watching the film.

B. WATCH THE FILM

1.  Give each group some copies of the file “Who is Who” for them to know who the speakers in the documentary are.

CLICK HERE to see "Who is Who"

CLICK HERE to see the Documentary Film

2.  Make pauses to check understanding and to let students write down some notes after each section of the film.

C. AFTER WATCHING THE FILM

1.  Tell students that there are different positions regarding what should be done to solve the grave problems corporations pose for humankind.

Strategies for Change:

a. The REWRITERS: Change the actual legal constitution of every corporation. Eradicate corporate “personhood’. Change the entire DNA of the corporate animal. Self-managed political systems & implement real democracy.    

b. The REGULATERS: More democratic governmental controls. Hold corporations accountable. Make corporations really pay for their planetary misdeeds. Workers’ control. Bigger bars on the corporate cage.

c. The REFORMERS: Make corporations run better. Reward good management. Hold corporate “heroic” leaders up as a testament that better people can run better companies. Make better business practices “good business.”

2.  Allow enough time for students to answer the questionnaires. All the teams should also answer the following question:

What are your thoughts on what should be done with the corporation: should we REFORM, REGULATE, or REWRITE the corporation?

3.  Give them the sheets: “The Corporation-Analysis and Debate” to organise their ideas and present them to the rest of the students for further debate.

CLICK HERE to see "Analysis and Debate Sheets"

4.  Each team presents their conclusions to the rest of the class. Students can write down notes about the other groups and they can open a debate.

* These activities are based on the Teaching Resources from:

   http://www.thecorporation.com/