Global Citizenship: Activities Toolkit

Introduction (Philosophy)

The following five activities that will take place in a sequence are meant for grades 4-6
students and their purpose is to make children realize how interconnected the world is, develop
an understanding of how important it is to challenge stereotypes and open their eyes to global
issues. Overall the lessons will teach about social justice, equity and sustainability.

“Lesson One: What is a global citizen?” (Oxfam)

Intended Learning Outcome:
• Make children realize their potential to make change
• Teach them to accept and act on group decisions
• Teach them to compromise
• Develop a sense of importance and self-worth
• Grow respect for difference and diversity
• Teach them about the power individuals have to make a change

Resources Required:
• Slips of paper (9 for each group of 4-5 kids)
• Each slip will have the following statements:
o “I try to understand what other people are feeling.” (Oxfam,1)
o “I am as important as everyone else.” (Oxfam,1)
o “Everyone else is equal to me but different from me.” (Oxfam,1)
o “I know what is fair and not fair and try to do the right thing.” (Oxfam,1)
o “I look after the environment and don't waste things.” (Oxfam,1)
o “I try to help others and not fight with them.” (Oxfam,1)
o “I have my own ideas but can alter them if I realise they are wrong. (Oxfam,1)
o “I want to learn more about the world.” (Oxfam,1)
o “I think I can change things in the world.” (Oxfam,1)

Process:
• Students will be asked to rank all 9 statements in order of importance in a group of 4-5
children
• Statements of equal importance can be placed beside each other
• Students are required to reach a group consensus before ranking each statement
• After 15 minutes, groups will share their order of ranking and explain their reasoning
• After this discussion, send groups back to find ways of what they can do to show that
these things are important. An example of this would be suggestions such as listening to
others, asking others what is wrong or how are they feeling for the statement “I try to
understand what other people are feeling.” (Oxfam,1)
• These suggestions can be written as actionable plans for what children will do to show
their global citizenship
“Lesson 2: Our links around the World” (Oxfam)
Intended Learning Outcome:
• Teach students “to appreciate the contributions of different cultures, values and beliefs to
their lives” (Oxfam, 1)
• Build an understanding of world trade
• To grow interest in world events

Resources Required:
• A copy of “Think Of” worksheet for each pair of students (See Appendix A)
• Pencils
• A globe or map

Process:
• Hand out the worksheet to each pair and ask them to discuss and fill in their answers;
more than one answer possible
• Share and discuss the answers a class
• A discussion about challenging stereotypes can take place at this time
o For example, a language spoken in England could be Welsh, Irish, Scottish,
English but many other languages are also spoken there such as Urdu and Hindi
o Just like that, rice is eaten in many parts of world including England and not just
in Asian countries
• Students will be asked to share different answers to the same questions to build an
understanding of how significant it is to challenge stereotypes

“Lesson 3: Where is this place?” (Oxfam)

Intended Learning Outcome:

• “Gain an awareness of the nature of prejudice and ways to combat it” (Oxfam, 1)
• Teach students how to detect bias, opinion and stereotypes
• Develop empathy for people globally and locally

Resources Required:
• A copy of the “Where is this Place?” statements worksheet for each pair of student (See
Appendix B)
• A few photos and some information about the country chosen; Students shouldn’t be very
familiar with this country

Process:
• As a class, ask students to describe the country chosen and also ask where they received
the information from and if they think it is true (negative stereotypes should be
countered)
• Give some interesting facts about the country and show photos of it
• Discuss how initial view and reality may differ
• Hand out 2 different sets of statements from A, B, C, D to each pair of students
 • First, ask each student to individually decide which country is being depicted by the
statements and ask for reasoning
• Then ask the pairs to swap their statements and repeat the first step by themselves again
• Then ask the pair to compare their answers
• As a class, invite students to share their thoughts
• After each group has shared their thoughts, tell students that all phrases represent views
of England
• They come from Kenyan girls (A), and boys (C) and Greek boys (B) and girls (D) (See
Appendix B)
• Ask if anyone is surprised and why?
• Put the statements on a chart with 2 different columns
o Those that students’ think describes England
o Those that students’ think doesn’t describe England
o Talk about where their view may have originated from such the media, movies,
textbooks and etc.

“Lesson 4: Sustainable Living Source Book” (Oxfam) (Activity can continue over many
sessions)

Intended Learning Outcome:

• Develop an understanding of the relationship between people and the environment
• Build awareness of limited resources
• Develop a sense of responsibility for the environment and the use of resources
• Build an overall commitment towards sustainable development and teach them about
things they can do to make a difference

Resources:
• Copy of “Concepts of Sustainable Development” worksheet (See Appendix C)
• Paper and crayons
• Scissors and glue

Process:
• As a class, look up the meaning of the term “Sustainable Development”
• Discuss the meaning and its implications for humankind and for people in the class
• Introduce the idea of creating a class “Sustainable Living Sourcebook”, which will be a
“resource full of ideas and information about how we can live more sustainably” (Oxfam,
1)
• Divide the class into 3 groups and give each group the responsibility of finding ways of
living more sustainably in 3 different situations:
o At Home
o At School
o In the local community
• Give instructions about the resources that can be used to gather such info such as books,
websites, newspapers, magazines
• An Example of ideas at home and school include:
 o Find ways of saving resources such as paper, electricity, water
o Find ways of promoting healthy eating
o Find ways of reducing waste, such buying food with less packaging on them and
composting fruits and vegetables
• Once this resource completed, it can also be shared with other schools to compare
sustainable initiatives

“Lesson Five: Peace and Conflict in the News” (Oxfam) (Activity can continue over many
sessions)

Intended Learning Outcome:

• Teach students about causes of conflict
• Teach strategies of how to combat conflict and how to prevent it
• Teach them how to detect bias, opinion and stereotypes
• Develop awareness of world events and media presentation of information

Resources:
• A selection of newspapers, both tabloids and broadsheet

Process:
• Ask students to keep a corridor display board diary of peace and conflict news items for
the benefit of the whole school
• Make sure to initially include local and international events by finding reports in the
newspapers you brought in
• Then ask students to bring in articles from home and write about things they have heard
on the radio and TV
• Ask students to include findings about successful conflict resolution and ongoing
disputes
• Ask to students to find reports from many different sources and encourage them to look
for media biases. For example, ask them to compare two different reports on the same
event
• Students will be asked to take turns to change the news and manage the display over the
duration of the activity
Appendix A
Global Citizenship in the Whole School: Grade 4
Worksheet: Think of...

A fruit or vegetable that was A language spoken in the UK Something that comes from
grown in the UK the rain forest of Brazil

A pressure group or charity A country where rice is eaten Something you know about a
which works overseas country in Asia

Something you are wearing A country you have read A famous person from a
that was not made in the UK about or heard about country in Africa
Appendix B
Global Citizenship in the Whole School: Grade 4-6
Worksheet: Where is this place?

A
They eat frogs and snakes.
There are no pickpockets.
There are no black people.
Guns come from there.

B
There are big forests.
They have large roads.
They have beautiful coins.
They have very tall mountains.

C
Their policemen wear red and black uniforms.
They live in flats.
There are many factories.
There are lots of churches and hospitals.

D
There are lots of old things.
They have a nice climate.
There are many shops.
It has a large population.
The people speak a beautiful language.
Appendix C
Global Citizenship in the Whole School: Grades 4-6
Worksheet: Concepts of sustainable development Seven key concepts of
sustainable development (Panel for Education for Sustainable Development,
1999)

1. Interdependence Understanding how people, the environment and the economy are

inextricably linked at all levels from local to global.

2. Citizenship and stewardship Recognising the importance of taking individual

responsibility and action to ensure the world is a better place.

3. Needs and rights of future generations Understanding our own basic needs and the

implications for the needs of future generations of actions taken today.

4. Diversity Respecting and valuing both human diversity (cultural, social and economic)

and biodiversity.

5. Quality of life Acknowledging that global equity and justice are essential elements of

sustainability and that basic needs must be met universally.

6. Sustainable change Understanding that resources are finite and that this has

implications for people's lifestyles and for commerce and industry.

7. Balance Understanding of uncertainty and of the need for precautions in action.

References

• Oxfam. “Global Citizenship for Key Stage Two | Oxfam Education.” Oxfam GB,
www.oxfam.org.uk/education/resources/global-citizenship-in-the-whole-school/key-
stage-two