UNIT 3
UNIT 3 CIVICS
MDG 2: ACHIEVE UNIVERSAL PRIMARY EDUCATION
OVERVIEW
In this lesson, students will become familiar with the barriers to achieving universal primary education. They will discuss the main reasons for children being unable to access education and understand the ways in which this can affect their future. Students will participate in hands-on activities including playing a board game, answering comprehension questions, and creating a campaign around the right to education.
LESSON OBJECTIVES
CORE STANDARDS
ASSESSMENT
MATERIALS
TIME
Gather Information through online research Communicate through visual devices Participate in group discussion
Ghana Core Standards [page number] Primary – Language and Culture (grades 1-6 ) o Basic reading and comprehension skills [59] o Collecting and Handling data [31] Secondary – Social Studies JHS and SHS (grades 1-3 ) o Education and societal change [38] o Citizenship and Human Rights [22]
Teacher will be able to gauge student understanding through: Participation in the board game activity Comprehension questions Worksheets and campaign project activities can be graded for completion, creativity, and content
Poster board or large piece of paper (flip chart) Four different small objects (beans, seeds, pebbles, etc.) small enough to fit on a poster board Markers or pens or paint materials
40 – 50 minutes 97
KEY TERMS
Universal Primary Education Human Rights Right to Education Supply Side Demand Side
Universal Declaration of Human Rights Convention on the Rights of a Child Escort Discrimination
HOOK Students should watch the second Film Clip on education in India and Germany. Follow up discussion questions: From the images and interviews, how is the school in Germany different from the one in India? What are the drawbacks of not attending school? What is your government doing to make sure that children attend school in your community?
INSTRUCTION Using the Unit Overview, special focus of the instruction can go to: Supply side and demand side factors affecting education Barriers to accessing education Introduction to human rights – exploring ideas of education as a human right
ACTIVITY: BASIC Teacher preparation: Create a game board (sample) on a poster-board or large piece of paper for each group of students (students can play in groups of 4 or groups of 8). Have 4 types of small objects that students can use as playing pieces in the game (different types of beans or seeds work well, if all 4 look distinct)
Tell students that they will be playing a game, which is about children being able to attend school. They will each be given a small object that represents their “character” in the game. Throughout the game, they must follow the rules that apply to their “character.” 98
Rules: Each student begins on the starting place on the board. They must take turns rolling the dice and may move forward as many spaces as the number they rolled. If there is a written scenario on the square they land on, they must follow the rule on the square based on the character they are playing. For example, if you land on the square saying “the school you attend does not have working latrines” a poor rural girl will move back 5 spaces, a middle class urban girl will move back 3 spaces, and all boys remain in the same space. A poor rural girl will be most likely to be affected by this situation in a negative way, and a middle class urban girl will still be affected by lack of latrines but it may not have as much of a chance from deterring her from getting an education, so she moves less. These conditions do not have a particularly negative affect on boys, so they remain in place. Or, if you land on the square “you need school supplies for the year” both poor rural boys and girls will move back 3 spaces, but middle class urban boys and girls move forward 2 spaces.
1. A new school was built in your community 2. School fees are abolished in your country 3. There are not enough teachers in your school, classes are overcrowded 4. Your parents need you to help in the family business 5. Your mother just had a baby and you need to help around the house 6. A marriage proposal came for you 7. You received a scholarship to continue to secondary school 8. You do not speak the language of instruction in your local school 9. There is no one to escort you on you walk to school 10. Your school does not have working latrines 11. Your teachers received additional training 12. You passed your exams 13. Your school provides rations of rice to students who attend regularly 14. You need school supplies for the year 15. Your school begins to offer classes in your mother tongue language 16. your school adopts a school feeding program, lunch provided 17. you have to walk a great distance to the nearest school and you have no one to escort
99
SCENARIO 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17
poor girl 5 5 -4 -2 -5 -5 5 -5 -5 -5 5 5 5 -3 3 3 -5
poor boy 5 4 -4 -5 0 0 3 -5 0 0 5 5 5 -3 3 3 -5
rich girl 1 3 -1 0 -3 -3 0 0 -3 -3 5 5 0 2 1 0 0
rich boy 1 3 -1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 5 5 0 2 1 0 0
Explain to students that the reasons for these discrepancies are because some factors behind school attendance affect poor rural children in different ways than urban middle class children, and some factors affect girls and boys differently. While this scenario is not accurate and does employ generalizations, the main takeaway is that there are barriers to attaining an education, and that these barriers affect different students in different ways.
After some students begin to finish the game, follow up with a class discussion: Which character finished your game first? Second? Were some characters ahead of others? Why do you think this was so? Did some characters have advantages over others? Which characters came in last? Why do you think this was so? What does this game teach us about children’s access to education? What factors can deter children from being able to attain an education?
ACTIVITY: ADVANCED Note: per teacher’s discretion, secondary students can play the same board game as primary students. 100
Human Rights: Ask students what they think a “human right” is. Ask them to define a “right” and elaborate on who has rights; do all people have the same rights; who protects and guarantees these so-called rights etc. Provide students with a brief explanation of human rights. Ask students to stand if they believe the following are human rights: shelter, food, safety, non-discrimination, freedom of religion, education, health care Once completed, ask students who stood up for “education” and ask them why they think education is a human right. Ask the students who did not stand up to explain why they didn’t think education is a human right. Explain that education is considered a human right, and is part of critical international documents that guarantee this right to children worldwide such as the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) and the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC). However, not all children are able to access their right to education Have students explore in pairs the CRC and UDHR websites, specifically taking notes on which articles discuss the right to education. To guide their research, tell them which articles to search for and have them note the main key words (will add in later). Give groups of 3-4 students each a piece of poster board and markers/pens/paint materials. Have them create a poster raising awareness of the right to education that they can place around their school and community.
HOMEWORK
Research in different local or international different news media how the concept of human rights is being portrayed. Focus on what human rights are most reoccurring in the media? What are the major human rights violations? What is being done to ensure the safeguard of human rights? Write a reflection paper on what you believe is the difference between human rights and personal dignity. Does having your human rights safeguarded ensure a feeling of dignity? Is dignity specific to culture? How would you define dignity?
101
TEACHER RESOURCES Additional Activity Ideas: Have students spend approx. 30 mins playing the following online game: Education for All: How to play? Create a Human Rights Tree – Helpful Websites: Human Rights Here and Now http://www.universalrights.net/main/educat.htm%20 Human Rights Resource Center
102
MDG 2: ACHIEVE UNIVERSAL PRIMARY EDUCATION
OVERVIEW
In this lesson, students will become familiar with the barriers to achieving universal primary education. They will discuss the main reasons for children being unable to access education and understand the ways in which this can affect their future. Students will participate in hands-on activities including playing a board game, answering comprehension questions, and creating a campaign around the right to education.
LESSON OBJECTIVES
CORE STANDARDS
ASSESSMENT
MATERIALS
TIME
Gather Information through online research Communicate through visual devices Participate in group discussion
Ghana Core Standards [page number] Primary – Language and Culture (grades 1-6 ) o Basic reading and comprehension skills [59] o Collecting and Handling data [31] Secondary – Social Studies JHS and SHS (grades 1-3 ) o Education and societal change [38] o Citizenship and Human Rights [22]
Teacher will be able to gauge student understanding through: Participation in the board game activity Comprehension questions Worksheets and campaign project activities can be graded for completion, creativity, and content
Poster board or large piece of paper (flip chart) Four different small objects (beans, seeds, pebbles, etc.) small enough to fit on a poster board Markers or pens or paint materials
40 – 50 minutes 97
KEY TERMS
Universal Primary Education Human Rights Right to Education Supply Side Demand Side
Universal Declaration of Human Rights Convention on the Rights of a Child Escort Discrimination
HOOK Students should watch the second Film Clip on education in India and Germany. Follow up discussion questions: From the images and interviews, how is the school in Germany different from the one in India? What are the drawbacks of not attending school? What is your government doing to make sure that children attend school in your community?
INSTRUCTION Using the Unit Overview, special focus of the instruction can go to: Supply side and demand side factors affecting education Barriers to accessing education Introduction to human rights – exploring ideas of education as a human right
ACTIVITY: BASIC Teacher preparation: Create a game board (sample) on a poster-board or large piece of paper for each group of students (students can play in groups of 4 or groups of 8). Have 4 types of small objects that students can use as playing pieces in the game (different types of beans or seeds work well, if all 4 look distinct)
Tell students that they will be playing a game, which is about children being able to attend school. They will each be given a small object that represents their “character” in the game. Throughout the game, they must follow the rules that apply to their “character.” 98
Rules: Each student begins on the starting place on the board. They must take turns rolling the dice and may move forward as many spaces as the number they rolled. If there is a written scenario on the square they land on, they must follow the rule on the square based on the character they are playing. For example, if you land on the square saying “the school you attend does not have working latrines” a poor rural girl will move back 5 spaces, a middle class urban girl will move back 3 spaces, and all boys remain in the same space. A poor rural girl will be most likely to be affected by this situation in a negative way, and a middle class urban girl will still be affected by lack of latrines but it may not have as much of a chance from deterring her from getting an education, so she moves less. These conditions do not have a particularly negative affect on boys, so they remain in place. Or, if you land on the square “you need school supplies for the year” both poor rural boys and girls will move back 3 spaces, but middle class urban boys and girls move forward 2 spaces.
1. A new school was built in your community 2. School fees are abolished in your country 3. There are not enough teachers in your school, classes are overcrowded 4. Your parents need you to help in the family business 5. Your mother just had a baby and you need to help around the house 6. A marriage proposal came for you 7. You received a scholarship to continue to secondary school 8. You do not speak the language of instruction in your local school 9. There is no one to escort you on you walk to school 10. Your school does not have working latrines 11. Your teachers received additional training 12. You passed your exams 13. Your school provides rations of rice to students who attend regularly 14. You need school supplies for the year 15. Your school begins to offer classes in your mother tongue language 16. your school adopts a school feeding program, lunch provided 17. you have to walk a great distance to the nearest school and you have no one to escort
99
SCENARIO 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17
poor girl 5 5 -4 -2 -5 -5 5 -5 -5 -5 5 5 5 -3 3 3 -5
poor boy 5 4 -4 -5 0 0 3 -5 0 0 5 5 5 -3 3 3 -5
rich girl 1 3 -1 0 -3 -3 0 0 -3 -3 5 5 0 2 1 0 0
rich boy 1 3 -1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 5 5 0 2 1 0 0
Explain to students that the reasons for these discrepancies are because some factors behind school attendance affect poor rural children in different ways than urban middle class children, and some factors affect girls and boys differently. While this scenario is not accurate and does employ generalizations, the main takeaway is that there are barriers to attaining an education, and that these barriers affect different students in different ways.
After some students begin to finish the game, follow up with a class discussion: Which character finished your game first? Second? Were some characters ahead of others? Why do you think this was so? Did some characters have advantages over others? Which characters came in last? Why do you think this was so? What does this game teach us about children’s access to education? What factors can deter children from being able to attain an education?
ACTIVITY: ADVANCED Note: per teacher’s discretion, secondary students can play the same board game as primary students. 100
Human Rights: Ask students what they think a “human right” is. Ask them to define a “right” and elaborate on who has rights; do all people have the same rights; who protects and guarantees these so-called rights etc. Provide students with a brief explanation of human rights. Ask students to stand if they believe the following are human rights: shelter, food, safety, non-discrimination, freedom of religion, education, health care Once completed, ask students who stood up for “education” and ask them why they think education is a human right. Ask the students who did not stand up to explain why they didn’t think education is a human right. Explain that education is considered a human right, and is part of critical international documents that guarantee this right to children worldwide such as the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) and the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC). However, not all children are able to access their right to education Have students explore in pairs the CRC and UDHR websites, specifically taking notes on which articles discuss the right to education. To guide their research, tell them which articles to search for and have them note the main key words (will add in later). Give groups of 3-4 students each a piece of poster board and markers/pens/paint materials. Have them create a poster raising awareness of the right to education that they can place around their school and community.
HOMEWORK
Research in different local or international different news media how the concept of human rights is being portrayed. Focus on what human rights are most reoccurring in the media? What are the major human rights violations? What is being done to ensure the safeguard of human rights? Write a reflection paper on what you believe is the difference between human rights and personal dignity. Does having your human rights safeguarded ensure a feeling of dignity? Is dignity specific to culture? How would you define dignity?
101
TEACHER RESOURCES Additional Activity Ideas: Have students spend approx. 30 mins playing the following online game: Education for All: How to play? Create a Human Rights Tree – Helpful Websites: Human Rights Here and Now http://www.universalrights.net/main/educat.htm%20 Human Rights Resource Center
102
