Mock Trial: Fairytale to Reality
Was the big bad wolf truly bad with all his huffing and puffing or was he simply a misunderstood wolf with a bad case of allergies in need of some sugar? How do you know which story to believe in the case of Pig vs. Wolf? What do you do when you see or experience injustice?
This week learners extended their journey of debate to the courtroom and began their judicial system education with a fairytale mock trial. After reading both story perspectives 1. The three little pigs (pig perspective) 2. The True Story of the 3 little pigs (told from Alexander T. Wolf’s perspective) learners discussed what facts remained the same and which details were different in each story. Then, this Wednesday we combined studios and assigned courtroom roles and dived into the fairytale mock trial experience. Learners used a script and acted out the mock trial play but one important difference between theatre and court is the jury got to decide the ending! Was the wolf guilty or not guilty? After hearing all the case evidence and arguments the two juries deliberated. Moments inside the private jury chambers included “The poor wolf was just trying to get a cup of sugar from his neighbor, of course he is innocent!” “You won’t change my mind, he is guilty, nothing you can say will switch me!” “The wolf was just being kind to his granny and needed to bake a cake.” “I just know he’s guilty, wolf’s are bad.” The final verdicts were in, one jury announced that they could not come to an unanimous vote therefore declaring a mistrial, the other jury sided with the wolf —not guilty.
This scripted fairytale experience set the justice stage and applied the previous week concepts of debate to the courtroom. This experience left learners with a few giggles but most importantly many learners left with ideas. Thursday morning a small cohort of Discovery learners called for justice and decided to accuse and prosecute 4 studio offenders. The accusation was continued distractions, inappropriate use of materials, unsafe bodies during Core Skills and most of all breaking studio promises. A case began, evidence was gathered, and then subpoenas were written. I had the pleasure of “serving” these learners and the shock and quick organization of the four was priceless.
Both the prosecution and defense were given free time, recess, and lunch to develop their cases and speak to witnesses. At 1pm the court room was called to order, opening statements were made, five witnesses were called, and evidence of pictures and videos were shared by the prosecution. They were prepared with not only images but a detailed schedule of offenses from the morning “At 10:17am did you see the accused distract learners?” The entire trial was over an hour long and then the Spark jury deliberated for 3 minutes.
Bias was discussed (siblings struggled) and then one learner argued “I wanted them to be not guilty but then I saw all the evidence, you can’t argue with those photos!” All hands went up with a unanimous vote, the verdict was then read to the court “GUILTY!”. The process of sentencing was announced for Friday morning and applause and handshakes were given to all for a job well done.
One fairytale mock trial inspired an actionable opportunity for justice, a call for change. Regardless of the outcome of this case, the process of learners applying Quest learning to real life is inspiring. They braved the unknown and embraced the journey. It took guts to accuse and prosecute, it took guts to build a case on both sides, and it took guts to be in service and deliver a fair and just verdict. Some learners may have found a calling. They are definitely working to change their world at Acton.