UNIT FOUR
social justice and civic responsibility

 

"Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly."
- Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

 

Overview and Objectives
The theme of this unit is social justice and civic responsibility. A fundamental aspect of educating for peace is to make learning come alive. Peace is not something "out there" to be objectively studied and understood; rather, its seeds are sown in every relationship in all learning communities around the globe. The immortal words of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. have never been more relevant than they are today.

Social justice is the principle of positive peace that complements the notion of peace as the absence of direct and institutional violence (negative peace). Students can begin to explore issues of social justice by asking questions such as:

  • Why is it not possible for human civilisation, with its abundance of natural, economic, technological, and cultural resources, to provide adequately for the basic needs of all people on the planet?
  • What are the roots of world hunger and poverty?
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  • What is the current distribution of the world’s wealth and how did it get that way?
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  • What is the average level of education for citizens of the world’s poorest countries? The world’s richest countries?
  • What is the impact of globalisation on rural communities throughout the world? On organised labour? On the fulfilment of human rights?
  • How does pollution affect the lives of women, men, and children in developing countries? In industrialised countries?
  • What is the impact of long-term military presence on the environment? On child and maternal health?
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These kinds of questions illuminate the dimensions of social injustice throughout the world. Challenging students to increase their awareness of local, national, and global inequities presents an opportunity for them to become active in finding solutions. Youth participation is an essential part of building a sustainable culture of peace.

One way for students to increase their awareness of local and world issues is to critically examine news and media. The link between media and learning is well documented. In peace education, this link is especially important. As noted in Article IV of the UNESCO’s 1978 Declaration on Fundamental Principles Concerning the Contribution of the Mass Media to Strengthening Peace and International Understanding, to the Promotion of Human Rights and to Countering Racialism, Apartheid and Incitement to War:

The mass media have an essential part to play in the education of young people in a spirit of peace, justice, freedom, mutual respect and understanding, in order to promote human rights, equality of rights as between all human beings and all nations, and economic and social progress. Equally, they have an important role to play in making known the views and aspirations of the younger generation.

Does popular media today live up to this standard? The following exercise allows students to investigate the role of media resources together and, in the process, explore current challenges to social justice. This activity is most appropriate for students aged fourteen years and older.

Learning objectives. (To see more about these objectives, go to Teacher as Learner section.)
Students will:
(Knowledge)
• Gain an understanding of a local, national, or international conflict
• Increase knowledge about different aspects of conflict and the nature of causes and consequences
• Increase awareness of the roles the news media plays in portraying events and conveying information

(Skills)
• Practice skills in conflict analysis and critical thinking
• Increase their ability to filter information presented in the media
• Practice skills of teamwork and communication
• Enhance their capacity for informed civic participation

(Attitudes)
• Demonstrate social responsibility
• Display co-operative approach to learning

Preparation
Newspapers and magazines
Red, Blue, and Green markers
• Universal Declaration of Human Rights  outside link
• Declaration on Fundamental Principles concerning the Contribution of the Mass Media to Strengthening Peace and International Understanding, to the Promotion of Human Rights and to Countering Racialism, Apartheid and Incitement to War  outside link
• International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights  outside link

Suggested Learning Activity
This activity should be introduced in the context of other learning in the class. For instance, analysing text and images in newspapers, magazines, and other media could be integrated into lessons on current events, journalism, social movements, etc. or could be used as preparation for testing based on the use of primary sources. While the theme of this particular example relates to news about conflict, a variety of peace-related topics (such as world politics, the environment, health care, the workings of the United Nations, regional development, etc.) could also be investigated through the same exercise. Because peace education aims to connect learning rather than segment or separate subjects, this activity should be related to previous and forthcoming lessons.

Step 1: Ask students to bring in media articles about a specific local, national, regional or international conflict. Specify the conflict during class so that all students are investigating the same topic. The teacher should also provide at least two articles on the conflict taken from different sources that seem to represent opposing viewpoints. Explain that you are trying to find diverse sources so that the class can understand the conflict from many different points of view. If possible, students may also bring in news articles found on-line, but they must always cite the source and, whenever possible, explain the perspective of that source.

Step 2: After all the sources have been collected, choose a few (up to five) of the most informative articles representing different perspectives.

Step 3: Divide the class into three groups: a red group, a blue group, and a green group. Distribute copies of the articles to each group member. All students should write on their own individual copies because they will need the papers later on.

Step 4: Ask the first group (red) to underline in red any part of the text which explains the underlying and/or explicit causes of the conflict.

Step 5: Ask the second group (blue) to underline in blue any part of the text which explains the immediate or long-term consequences of the conflict.

Step 6: Ask the third group (green) to underline in green any part of the text that explains who is involved in the conflict, and then to categorise these individual or groups as the major "parties".

Step 7: When the groups have completed the task, ask them to form new groups of three or more with at least one red, one blue, and one green member in each.

Step 8: Ask them to explain their text selections to the others, discuss the findings and draft three sentences to describe the conflict behind the stories. These sentences should include information about the root causes of the conflict, the parties involved, and the short and long-term consequences.

Step 9: Students should then share these concise descriptions with the other members of the class. Note that the same information may often lead different people to make different conclusions. If you have used articles from different sources or various perspectives, highlight the different interpretations that may be drawn.

Step 10: Assess these activities with the students. See below.

Source
This Learning Activity is adapted from the Children Working for Peace project manual produced by UNICEF and the Oxford Development Education Centre in the United Kingdom.

Assessment

Peer Interviews
In pairs, students gain feedback about the activity and then report back to the class as a whole. Students should ask each other the following questions:

• Which part of this activity was most engaging for you?
• Which part was most difficult?
• What would you do differently?
• What is one thing you learned in this Unit?

Journal Entry
Ask students in a final journal entry to re-read the journal and comment on their own work. Below are some suggested questions to pose to students for their final journal entry:

• What aspect of your work in this unit pleases you most?
• What surprised you about your work for this unit?
• If you were grading yourself on participation, what grade would you give and why?
• Have the ideas of human dignity and identity become more clear to you? Why or why not?
• Please describe something you learned in this unit.
• Have your feelings about others in the class changed at all? If so, in what way?
• Have your perceptions of others in the class changed? If so, in what way?
• How would you teach a friend or relative about human dignity?
• How would you teach a friend or relative about identity?
• Do you think dignity and identity matter in your life? Why or why not?
• Please add any other questions, comments or suggestions you have in relation to this unit.
• Thank you.