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Lesson plans 4s-11sTeacher reading to students in class © Jo Mieszkowski
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Children of this age show an enormous interest in life in other parts of the world. The added dimension that citizenship brings to the curriculum is to prompt them to ask, "Why does that matter to me?"
 
What are you aiming for?
Children up to age 8 are preparing to play an active role as citizens. They should be able to understand:
  • that people and other living things have needs just like they do
  • that they belong to various groups and communities such as family and school
  • that what improves or harms their environment is partly a result of how well people look after it
  • how to take part in a simple debate about topical issues.
 
Children 8-11 should be able to understand a deeper complexity in global citizenship issues. This should include:
  • researching, discussing and debating topical issues, problems and events
  • why and how rules and laws are made and enforced; how to take part in making or changing rules
  • that there are different kinds of responsibilities and rights and these can sometimes conflict with each other
  • using their imaginations to understand the experiences of others
  • what democracy is and about its basic institutions
  • appreciating the range of religious and ethnic identities in the UK
  • exploring how the media present information
 
Bear in mind that during lessons and elsewhere, citizenship is exemplified by many actions and discussions you already have with children. Developing good relationships and respecting differences means that children must learn to see others' viewpoints. Beyond this, citizenship asks them to think about the lives of people living in other places in the world, to recognise and challenge stereotypes and to respect different values and customs.
 
Resource materials for lessons
If you would like to order educational materials to support teaching the global dimension (specifically development education) there is a website for this purpose. To search for useful lesson plan packs, teachers reference books, teaching aids such as maps, posters, board games etc, visit www.globaldimension.org, where you can search by age and subject through resources that have all been rated by teachers. It includes many of the materials in the Oxfam education catalogue and from a number of other accredited sources.
 
This section offers lesson plans specially written for the Global Gateway, as well as links to other sites offering lesson plans that teachers have tried and found effective.
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