What’s at Stake and How to Address It

Process

Background

Step 1:
Explain to the class that the S-A-T model is a method for understanding a complex issue, helping you to see clearly various forces at play  in relation to the whole. 

S-A-T stands for:

• Structural forces are our natural or built environments, institutions, and infrastructure (things like transportation, education, or water quality).
• Attitudinal forces are the attitudes, worldviews, assumptions, and beliefs that affect how people  think and behave (for example, feelings of fear, pride, or a sense of security).
• Transactional forces are the key interactions that take place between people in the system (like, a debate that took place, community meetings, or someone being incarcerated).

The SAT model assumes that intervening in a complex issue must happen across all three levels —structural, attitudinal, transactional  — to bring about change in that issue. For journalists, using the S-A-T model to see your beat or the problem you’re covering as a collection of various forces can help tell deeper stories.. For solutions journalists, the SAT model can help analyze solutions to the problems you’re reporting on.

Exercise

Step 2:
Have students revisit the map(s) they created during the Capture, Cluster, Connect exercise.
Have students revisit the map(s) they created during the Capture, Cluster, Connect exercise.

Looking at the map, as a class label each force described with the SAT model by writing an S, A, or T on the sticky note. If you’re working online or remotely, label each force and add it to a shared document.

Some forces could seemingly  fit into more than one category, so it’s useful to talk through with students how they’re conceiving of  each force and better define it. (For instance, if “incarceration” means people going to prison, that would be transactional. or is it mass incarceration, that would be structural.) 

For each force, choose only one category. Try to arrive at a consensus about how it is being labeled, creating time and space for discussion and debate.

Step 3:
Now that all of the forces have been labeled, take some time to debrief with the class how this sort of categorization an application could be applied to their reporting. Here are some questions that you can discuss as a class or in small groups:

• What would a story look like that addresses information in all three categories?
• Do you think that coverage of this topic often falls into just one category? Why or why not?
• How could you use the SAT model to analyze existing responses to an issue?
• What does this model teach you about complex issues?

Have Questions? Feedback?

We’d love to hear about your experience using these activities in your classroom, get your thoughts on what we could improve. Email us at resources@journalismdesign.com or fill out this form.