Seeing is believing

What happens when three young girls meet the women doing their dream jobs? In this video, we see the importance of positive female role models.

Do the preparation task first. Then watch the video and do the exercises. You can also read the transcript.

Preparation

Transcript

Annika: I'm nine years old. I think it's the greatest year to be alive.

Director: So, Sierra, can you tell me what you want to be when you grow up?

Sierra: I want to be an author. Because it's a chance I get to use my imagination.

Annika: I want to be a marine biologist when I grow up. My two favourite animals is a turtle and a jellyfish.

Brianna: I'd like to be a helicopter doctor because I've always wanted to be a doctor and I really love helicopters.

Director: So, can you name some authors for me?

Sierra: David Walliams, Roald Dahl and um ...

Annika: I look up to Charles Darwin and Jacques Cousteau.

Director: Do you think there's more men or women who do that job?

Brianna: I don't think it's a job that women would be interested in.

Director: Why?

Brianna: Because I think women would be more into being a nurse.

(We tell children that they can do anything …)

Annika: There's more boys than girls that do it. Maybe girls aren't just interested in more of that stuff.

(… but how can we expect them to believe …)

Sierra: Girls – they like fairies and mermaids and stuff like that, but they're not really real.

(… what they can’t see?)

Director: We've got someone coming to meet you now.

Helicopter doctor: Hi, I'm Claire.

Brianna: Hi, Claire.

Helicopter doctor: I'm one of the helicopter doctors. Nice to meet you.

Brianna: Nice to meet you, too.

Helicopter doctor: How are you going?

Brianna: Good. I'm really excited!

Biologist: My name is Sam. I work here at Sea Life Sydney Aquarium and I'm a marine biologist here.

Author: My name is Jacqueline Harvey. Do you know what I do for a job? What do I do?

Sierra: Write.

Author: I write books. Do you like reading? (Sierra nods.)

Helicopter doctor: Do you want to get in?

Brianna: Yes!

Helicopter doctor: Up you hop! Where you're sitting is exactly where I sit when we fly.

Brianna: Really?

Helicopter doctor: Yep! Exactly where I sit.

Biologist: I'm in charge of this team and I look after absolutely everything in here. So, we have two dugongs and we have a whole bunch of sharks and rays which are ...

Sierra: I wrote a book called The Old Woman Who Lived In A Tree.

Author: Oh! So why don't you read me the first page?

Sierra: Once upon a time, there was an old lady who lived in a tree. One day, the old lady went for a walk.

Helicopter doctor: So you can be an anaesthetic doctor, or you can be an intensive care doctor or an emergency doctor. There are so many different options.

Brianna: Cool!

Helicopter doctor: Yeah.

Sierra: There's not really a difference about 'boy' and 'girl' writing. So they can both become an author.

Annika: I was like 'Oh my gosh! I've only researched about the boy marine biologists. Now I've finally met a girl one!' Like ... just a dream!

Director: Is there anything a boy can do that a girl can't do?

Brianna: No. If you want to do something, you do it.

Helicopter doctor: Good look. Suits you.

Brianna: Thank you.

Annika: When I'm older, those little girls will have someone to look up to because that's going to be me.

© Sydney Opera House

Task 1

Task 2

Discussion

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Worksheet57.15 KB
Average: 4 (21 votes)

Giving girls a chance to apply their abilities would be the best idea. let them know what they can do and build their confidence. As for me, Mother Teresa is the role model. She did the things that no one could do . she left everything and she lived for people. Her love is for everyone, especially for the one who starve for love. she treated the leprosy and homeless. she gave the way for them. she gave love and peace even for a hopeless person who waited for his last breath.

Submitted by jyoti Chaudhary on Sat, 23/04/2022 - 13:02

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How can we help young girls to feel ambitious? Can you describe a woman who is a good role model for girls?
every person has their own ambitions generally parents always support to full feel over child's ambition and the teacher who train child according to her own future goals. Annika explains everything good for girls.

Submitted by Minhhanhtran on Fri, 22/04/2022 - 16:12

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I think that it isn't different between boy and girl in the progression. Girl can do whatever boy does especially in the mental works. Many girls are very intelligent and skilful even more than boys. Some girls take on a lot of important positions in Companies and even in Government.
The video is very interesting and useful for the parents who have the daughter because they will orient and guide for their daughter as they were a child

Submitted by rafaelnascimentote on Mon, 21/03/2022 - 01:52

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We can show other powerful and ambitious girls as a good example to younger ones. I can mention Anitta as a good example of an ambitious girl in Brazil. She is a singer and started singing funk music a few years ago in some music club. She made presentations in different events and became very popular and known here. Now she is known in a lot of countries, she sings in different language and she had made featuring with so many great artists. She is, for sure, a great role model for young girls

Submitted by Edsa on Sat, 12/03/2022 - 17:15

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The most important thing is the iguality, because is the more hole between boys and girls in a society.
Astronaut girls are the perfect example, that´s why, this profesion is only for boys.

Submitted by zubeir on Sun, 20/02/2022 - 14:33

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I think one of the best way if making girls feel ambitious is to let them be exposed to the successful women in different fields and career, in addition to talking positively about those successful women like Mother Teresa, whom I admire, in the presence of the girls.

Submitted by Miguelitorico1996 on Mon, 31/01/2022 - 20:44

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We could start with stopping criticizing women who do jobs that men normally do, because I realize that a lot of women do jobs that they don't really like, so breaking this paradigm would be great for girls. I look up Mother Teresa because she was a great person, she helped many poor people in India and won the Nobel Peace Prize for her volunteer work.

Submitted by Nina.Matarazzo on Tue, 12/05/2020 - 02:34

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We can do many things to make young girls to feel ambitious. At first, as a woman, I considere working hard and being independent as a good way to help them. Also, we can motivate kids to do whatever they want, telling them that they're invencible and they don't have to pay attention to people comments which don't valorate their efford or make them feel insecure. Finally, I think that definitely seeing is believing in those situations. We must demostrate children that they can do everything, with our actions; if they see us being hard working people, they're gonna do the same thing. So, let's move on, and show them they can do it too!
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Submitted by dinhhang on Wed, 06/05/2020 - 08:14

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i think that three girls are so lucky because they can meet the people who they really want to be. they can see the reality and if they want their dream become true, they have motivation to prepare for their future.

Submitted by pizzy78 on Tue, 28/05/2019 - 20:55

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Every girl can afford the same results as a man, in every field and work environment. It is essential to teach it to the new generations, not only through the words but through our daily actions.