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Before
Viewing
(For
information on ordering a video copy of the Livelyhood "Carpool
to Nirvana" contact The Working Group at 510-268-WORK or email info@livelyhood.org)
Use
these tips to prepare your students to view the program thoughtfully:
1. Read
the summary of the
show to familiarize yourself with its contents.
2. Ask
these questions to begin a discussion of the ideal workplace,
and how working conditions could change for the better in the
future.
• Which
businesses in our area seem like great places to work? Why?
• Which
ones seem not to be great places to work? Why?
• What
would your ideal workplace be like?
• How
do people get to and from work in our area? What problems
do they experience?
3. Inform
students that as they view the program, they will visit some places
that are candidates for the ideal workplace; they will also visit
some that are not as pleasant but that still offer workers satisfaction.
You might suggest that students keep the following questions in
mind as they view the episode:
• What
factors seem to result in a pleasant working environment?
• What
factors can make a job or workplace unsatisfactory?
• What
could enable workers to feel satisfaction in a difficult work
environment?
• How
can workers and management join together to make a workplace
both pleasant and productive?
While Viewing
"Carpool
to Nirvana" presents the following segments:
00:00—2:07
Show Tease/Sponsors |
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2:08—3:13
Introduction
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Will Durst recalls predictions made in the past about what
the future would be like–a future we are now living in.
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3:14—5:50
Segment 1
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Excite.com - Viewers meet Yolanda
Rivers, one of two million people whose workplace is in cyberspace.
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7:10—11:35
Segment 2
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Los Angeles MTA - Viewers ride along with
Robert Lujan, a driver in the second largest bus system in
the country, and learn how he and his coworkers survive stress
and take pride in helping their fellow Angelenos.
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12:00—16:10
Segment 3
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QMR Plastics - Viewers visit a
manufacturing plant that is the opposite of the dark, crowded
urban factories of yesteryear–a place where workers and
management are only a glass wall away from each other.
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16:47—24:40
Segment 4
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Harley-Davidson - Viewers tour
the plant where some of the world’s most popular motorcycles
are built, and learn that it is a plant with no supervisors:
the workers have the responsibility to decide how they will
do their jobs.
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24:41—26:25
Segment 5
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The Commute - Will tries bicycling
to work and discusses its pros and cons. He then shares the
results of an on-line poll on the top five conditions making
up the ideal workplace, and takes a coffee break to extol
that beverage and comment on its importance in the modern
workplace.
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29:50—32:47
Segment 6
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My New Desk Viewers learn how U
Minnesota office worker Tiffany Simonsen suffered a disabling
injury as the result of repetitive activity on the job, and
see how a redesigned workstation and computer with a voice-activated
word processing program has enabled her to do her job again.
After that, viewers travel to the St. Louis area; there Will
rides along with suburbanite Taulby Roach on a light-rail
commute into the city and finds little to complain about.
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37:00—43:20
Segment 7
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TV Programmers and Producers’
Convention Will takes viewers to the Ritz-Carlton Hotel
to watch him pursue his dream job, that of TV critic, and
see him come to the realization that it’s not as easy
a job as it appears to be. Will then returns to the San Francisco
Bay Area, where he discovers that zipping along the freeway
in a carpool lane is his idea of a good commute.
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45:00—53:00
Segment 8
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SAS Software - Viewers meet Meg
Koc, a woman who, after reading an article about an ideal
workplace, quit her job (and convinced her husband to quit
his), moved to North Carolina, managed to get a job with the
firm she’d read about, and discovered that the article
was right.
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Conclusion
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Pause
once or twice while viewing to have students reflect on what they’ve
seen. Ask:
• What
kinds of work situations has the program shown so far?
• What
attitudes do the workers interviewed have toward these situations?
• These
are positive stories. What other stories might have been told
about work situations?
• What
are some secrets to making a workplace a good place for workers?
Ask
whether students are confused about anything they’ve seen.
Offer them the opportunity to visit the Livelyhood
"Carpool to Nirvana" Web site to skim the summary of "Carpool
to Nirvana." Also on the site, find additional interviews with workers,
lists of resources, and opportunities for students to learn more
about stories, characters, and concepts in the show.
After
Viewing
A
variety of resources are available for linking the content of the
show to particular curriculum areas, and helping students apply
the content to real-world situations relevant to their own lives.
1. Follow-up
Questions. These encourage students to analyze and think
critically about the situations and issues presented in the
show.
You
might begin by having students answer these questions:
• What
factors seem to result in a pleasant working environment?
(Give examples from the program.)
• What
factors can make a job or workplace unsatisfactory?
• What
can enable workers to feel satisfaction in difficult work
environments?
• How
can workers and management join together to make a workplace
both pleasant and productive?
Continue
by asking questions that will lead students to relate the content
of the program to their own lives:
• Do
you know anyone in this area who works in a place like one
of the ones shown? Where does he or she work? In what ways
are the two workplaces similar?
• This
show profiled a number of workplaces. Which seems closest
to ideal to you? Why?
• Are
there any lessons to be learned from these stories? What are
they? Has seeing the program changed what you will look for,
when you look for work next time? Explain.
To give students opportunities to explore these issues actively and creatively, assign one or more of the cross-curricular activities.
2. Cross-Curricular Activities.These offer a variety of projects for individual students or small groups that extend concepts presented in "Carpool to Nirvana." Some of these activities utilize other features of the Livelyhood Web site. All activities are appropriate for students in grades 9-12. Some are suitable for younger students as well; others are appropriate for adult students.
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