LESSON PLAN: DEBATING HUMAN RIGHTS

Debating is a great way to immerse students

NATIONAL CURRICULUM LINKS
into current affairs. Students take an active
part in a discussion and need to react to each The Citizenship Curriculum sets
other’s thoughts. Seeing these discussions is a understanding human rights and
great way for a teacher to get an idea of the international law as a target for Key
abilities of students in how they articulate Stage 4. Besides meeting targets,
themselves. human rights are in the news on a daily
They also provide a great opportunity for basis.
peer-to-peer feedback and immediate
feedback from you as their teacher.

The following games help structure

conversations about human rights. The first
game is best suitable for Key Stage 3 and 4.

The second game is suitable for all Key

Stages.

At the end, we provide 4 simple viewpoints to

enable you as a teacher to provide immediate
feedback.
GAME 1: WHERE DO YOU STAND?
TOP TIPS
Group size: 2-30 Other human rights you
can use:
Classroom set up: some empty space with a line in the
middle • Right to a fair trial
• Right to Freedom of the
Time: 30-45 mins (dependent on group size) press
• Right to internet access
This game helps students develop a more in-depth understanding of the
practical side of basic human rights, and the challenges surrounding how • Right to freedom of
we implement them. assembly
More information on
Students will need some prior knowledge here. To take an active role Human Rights:
in this exercise students need to know about the existence of human In 1948, the Universal
rights, and be able to name a few themselves. Please take a look at our
TOP TIPS section for further reading and research. Declaration of Human
Rights brought human
Below you will see a number of human rights, and a scale below them. rights into the realm of
These are helpful examples for the exercise. Pick any of the following international law. The full
human rights, and draw a big line on the board. On one end of the scale document can be found
ask your students to suggest a very minimalistic way of implementing that
human right. On the very other end of the scale, ask your students to here:
come up with a very extreme understanding of fulfilling that human right. http://bit.ly/1Q1DCSi
For more information
about
the UK Human Rights Act
and to see the full list of
For example: all
protected rights visit:
Right to education:
http://bit.ly/HRAEN

Basic reading and writing All-paid for education at Oxford for all

Now, ask your students to reflect on the following: is their interpretation of the human right minimal or
extreme? If neither, where would they position themselves on the scale? Give them some time to reflect or
make notes about their own thoughts.

Divide the classroom with a line in the middle which represents the middle of the scale. Identify the points of
the two outer extremes. Ask students to stand along the scale which they think is a reasonable interpretation
of this human right.

Ask students to list the reasons for why they stand where they stand. Ask everyone to list at least one reason.
After that, ask whether anyone might have reviewed their position and wishes to move a step further down
the line.
Make it harder:
Ask students to respond to each other and try to convince people to come to their position on the scale.
Ask a few brave volunteers to defend the two extremes. This ensures a full discussion all over the scale.

Here are some more examples to facilitate discussion:

Right to free speech

Everyone can say Everything must be approved

what they want by the state.

Right to housing

Tin roof over your A beautiful villa in

head. Hollywood.
Right to health care

Basic surgery when very ill. Free healthcare for mental,

physical and cosmetic issues.
Right to freedom of religion

Anyone can start their Full funding for classes, buildings

own religion and preach and proliferation of the religion,
to everyone else about it including having own jurisdiction.

This scale will work with almost all rights, and in every case will increase the insight and
understanding of your students.
GAME 2: STRANDED! Four viewpoints for
immediate
Group size: 5-30 assessment and
feedback
Classroom set up: no specific set up required
Reasoning and Evidence:
Does the student back up
Time: 45 minutes what they say with an
example of a piece of
Imagine you are all on a cruise trip, but a big tropical storm makes the
evidence? If not, encourage
ship sink. Miraculously, you all manage to swim to a nearby island, and
them to always ask
survive this terrible ordeal. When you reach the shore, you see that the
themselves ‘why’ after
island is really beautiful. There’s fresh water, lots of fruit, waving palm
each statement, to be
trees – just like in a magazine! As far as you can see, there are no other
followed with a ‘because’.
islands, so there’s no chance you will leave this island anytime soon. In
order to make life bearable you will have to come up with some rules that Expression and Delivery:
will govern the island. In the evening you all gather around a crackling Does the student engage
camp fire to discuss these rules. Only rules that you will all agree on will the whole group when they
be implemented. Each of you will propose at least one rule, and we will speak or do they mainly
debate whether we should adopt it, or reject it. talk with one or two
people they already know?
When discussing this, teachers can prompt discussion by asking students Encourage them to make
questions like: contact with everyone in
• How do we distribute the resources on the island? their groups to add to their
• Who should contribute to the production of resources on the island? persuasiveness.
• Should there be any other activities on the island other than survival? Organisation and
What should we do, and who should be responsible for making sure Prioritisation: Does the
these things happen? student deliver their best
• Who gets to decide when there is a conflict on the island between the arguments first, or are the
inhabitants best ideas muddled
somewhere in between
A discussion about each rule should last around 5 minutes, depending on other points? Encourage
levels of engagement. If it is unclear whether the rules passes, ask for a the student to put their
vote. best ideas forward at the
start, so everyone has
enough time to process
them.
Listening and Response:
Does the student engage
with interesting points
made by others, or do they
react to all their points all
the time, or only to points
that aren’t key to the
topic at hand? Encourage
them to listen critically
and engage with issues
that are relevant, and not
with all points, or with
mainly ones that are
tangential to the topic at
hand.