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Global Schools Program Grade 10

Secondary

Description

Over the course of these lessons, students will identify their own values, explore how they express those values through their actions, and go out into their communities to see how they can contribute to solving real-world problems.

Lesson 1- My Self

Lesson 2- My Community

Lesson 3 - Balancing Voices in Global Issues

Lesson 4 - Our World

Lesson 5 - Capstone Project

General Assessment

What skills does this resource explicitly teach?

The unit may help to strengthen the following skills;

  • values clarification
  • critical thinking
  • interviewing techniques
  • formal writing
  • listening/presenting/communicating

Strengths

The unit is one of the few resources that link values to action and ties these in turn to the Sustainable Development Goals. In doing so it also helps students understand the connection between the local and the global. Finally, it accomplishes these goals with a pedagogy that strikes a balance between teacher direction and student inquiry, while providing the resources needed by teachers and students.  

Recommendation of how and where to use it

The unit is an effective resource in introducing students to the Sustainable Development Goals in general, while its particular curriculum fit depends upon the issues the students choose to pursue. It will be of particular relevance for those courses and units of study that focus on citizenship, both locally and globally and the responsibilities attached to citizenship.

Relevant Curriculum Units

The following tool will allow you to explore the relevant curriculum matches for this resource. To start, select a province listed below.

  • Step 1Select a province
  • Alberta
    • Step 2Select a grade level
    • Grade 10
      • Step 3Select a subject
      • Social Studies
        • Step 4Relevant matches
        • Social Studies 10-1(Perspectives on Globalization) Globalization & Sustainable Prosperity
        • Social Studies 10-2 (Living in a Globalizing World) Canadian Response to Globalisation?
        • Social Studies 10-2 (Living in a Globalizing World) Globalisation and Sustainable Prosperity
        • Social Studies 10-2 (Living in a Globalizing World) Personal Response to Globalization
        • Social Studies 10-4 (Living in a Globalizing World) Globalisation and Sustainable Prosperity
  • British Columbia
    • Step 2Select a grade level
    • Grade 11
      • Step 3Select a subject
      • Social Studies
        • Step 4Relevant matches
        • Explorations in Social Studies 11: Social justice initiatives can transform individuals and systems
    • Grade 12
      • Step 3Select a subject
      • Environmental Science
        • Step 4Relevant matches
        • Environmental Science 12: Living sustainably supports the well-being of self, community, and Earth.
      • Social Studies
        • Step 4Relevant matches
        • Social Justice: Individual worldviews shape and inform our understanding of social justice issues.
        • Social Justice: Social justice initiatives can transform individuals and systems
        • Social Justice: Social justice issues are interconnected.
  • Manitoba
    • Step 2Select a grade level
    • Grade 12
      • Step 3Select a subject
      • Social Studies
        • Step 4Relevant matches
        • Citizenship and Sustainability: Area of Inquiry: Social Justice and Human Rights
        • Global Issues
  • New Brunswick
    • Step 2Select a grade level
    • Grade 12
      • Step 3Select a subject
      • Environmental Science
        • Step 4Relevant matches
        • Introduction to Environmental Science 120: Sustainable Development
      • Social Studies
        • Step 4Relevant matches
        • World Issues 120:Interdependence
  • Newfoundland & Labrador
    • Step 2Select a grade level
    • Grade 10
      • Step 3Select a subject
      • Social Studies
        • Step 4Relevant matches
        • Social Studies 1201: Power, Citizenship, and Change
    • Grade 11
      • Step 3Select a subject
      • Religious Education
        • Step 4Relevant matches
        • Ethics and Social Justice 2106: Personal search/moral and ethical issues
  • Northwest Territories
    • Step 2Select a grade level
    • Grade 10
      • Step 3Select a subject
      • Civic Studies
        • Step 4Relevant matches
        • Citizenship in Canada
      • Social Studies
        • Step 4Relevant matches
        • Social Studies 10-1(Perspectives on Globalization) Globalization & Sustainable Prosperity
        • Social Studies 10-2 (Living in a Globalizing World) Canadian Response to Globalisation?
        • Social Studies 10-2 (Living in a Globalizing World) Globalisation and Sustainable Prosperity
        • Social Studies 10-2 (Living in a Globalizing World) Personal Response to Globalization
        • Social Studies 10-4 (Living in a Globalizing World) Personal Response to Globalization
        • Social Studies 10-4(Living in a Globalizing World) Globalisation and Sustainable Prosperity
    • Grade 11
      • Step 3Select a subject
      • Civic Studies
        • Step 4Relevant matches
        • Challenges in the Global Environment
  • Nunavut
    • Step 2Select a grade level
    • Grade 10
      • Step 3Select a subject
      • Social Studies
        • Step 4Relevant matches
        • Citizen Participation
        • Rights & Responsibilities
        • Social Studies 10-1(Perspectives on Globalization) Globalization & Sustainable Prosperity
        • Social Studies 10-2 (Living in a Globalizing World) Canadian Response to Globalisation?
        • Social Studies 10-2 (Living in a Globalizing World) Personal Response to Globalization
  • Ontario
    • Step 2Select a grade level
    • Grade 10
      • Step 3Select a subject
      • Civic Studies
        • Step 4Relevant matches
        • Civics and Citizenship (Open): Civic Awareness
        • Civics and Citizenship (Open): Civic Engagement and Action
    • Grade 11
      • Step 3Select a subject
      • Social Studies
        • Step 4Relevant matches
        • Equity, Diversity, and Social Justice (Workplace Pre.) Equity, Social Justice, and Change
        • Equity, Diversity, and Social Justice (Workplace Prep.) Promoting Equity and Social Justice
    • Grade 12
      • Step 3Select a subject
      • Social Studies
        • Step 4Relevant matches
        • Challenge and Change in Society (Univ. Prep.) Global Social Challenges
        • Equity and Social Justice: From Theory to Practice (Univ./College Prep.) :Personal and Social Action
        • Equity and Social Justice: From Theory to Practice (Univ./College Prep.) Addressing Equity and Social Justice Issues
  • Quebec
  • Saskatchewan
    • Step 2Select a grade level
    • Grade 11
      • Step 3Select a subject
      • Social Studies
        • Step 4Relevant matches
        • World Issues - Wealth & Poverty
        • Social Studies 20
        • Social Studies 20: World Issues -Human Rights
  • Yukon Territory
    • Step 2Select a grade level
    • Grade 11
      • Step 3Select a subject
      • Social Studies
        • Step 4Relevant matches
        • Explorations in Social Studies 11: Social justice initiatives can transform individuals and systems
    • Grade 12
      • Step 3Select a subject
      • Environmental Science
        • Step 4Relevant matches
        • Environmental Science 12: Living sustainably supports the well-being of self, community, and Earth.
      • Social Studies
        • Step 4Relevant matches
        • Social Justice: Individual worldviews shape and inform our understanding of social justice issues.
        • Social Justice: Social justice initiatives can transform individuals and systems
        • Social Justice: Social justice issues are interconnected.

Themes Addressed

Citizenship (2)

  • Alternative Globalisation
  • Community-Building and Participation

Sustainability Education Principles

Principle Rating Explanation
Consideration of Alternative Perspectives Good

The lessons asks students to reflect on their personal values, consider the link between those values and problems facing their community and the world, and be open to a consideration of the values of others. The lessons are therefore driven by the student rather than by the agenda of others.

Consideration of Alternative Perspectives:
  • Satisfactory: absence of bias towards any one point of view
  • Good: students consider different points of view regarding issues, problems discussed
  • Very good: based on the consideration of different views, students form opinions and  take an informed position
Multiple Dimensions of Problems & Solutions Good

In lesson 2, students go out into their local community to interview individuals or organizations that are addressing problems of interest to the students. What problems will be addressed is unknown but the teacher may encourage students to look for the interplay of economic, social and environmental factors in investigating the issues. 

Lesson 3 uses the constructions of large dams around the world as case studies in which students are given information from different perspectives and through discussion learn to consider the viewpoints of a wide range of stakeholders. The stakeholders reflect the economic, social and environmental that are central to decisions about building dams.

Multiple Dimensions of Problems & Solutions:

Effectively addresses the environmental, economic and social dimensions of the issue(s) being explored.

  • Satisfactory: resource supports the examination of  these dimensions
  • Good:  resource explicitly examines the interplay of these dimensions
  • Very Good:  a systems-thinking approach is encouraged to examine these three dimensions
Respects Complexity Good

The focus of the unit is values clarification and how values may shape the position one takes in trying to resolve problems, locally or globally. Such an exercise will likely reveal the competing perspectives that stakeholders bring to the table and in doing so help students recognize the complexities that are inherent in most issues. 

Respects Complexity:

The complexity of the problems/issues being discussed is respected.

Acting on Learning Satisfactory

The unit does not conclude with a student action plan but sets the table for student action in that it makes the students aware of local problems and identifies people and organizations that are doing something about these problems. It also asks students to consider these problems within the context of their value system and this may be expected to heighten the possibility of students acting on their learning . 

Acting on Learning:

Learning moves from understanding  issues  to working towards positive change — in personal lifestyle, in school, in the community,  or for the planet

  • Satisfactory: action opportunities are included as extensions 
  • Good: action opportunities are core components of the resource
  • Very Good: action opportunities for students are well supported and intended to result in observable, positive change
Values Education Very Good

Over the course of these lessons, students identify their own values, explore how they express those values through their actions, and go out into their communities to see how they can contribute to solving real-world problems.

Values Education:

Students are explicitly provided with opportunities to identify, clarify and express their own beliefs/values.

Empathy & Respect for Humans Good

Student efforts to link various problems to the Sustainable Development Goals introduces them to the struggles of peoples both locally and in the developing world.

Empathy & Respect for Humans: Empathy and respect are fostered for diverse groups of humans (including different genders, ethnic groups, sexual preferences, etc.).
Personal Affinity with Earth Satisfactory

Since the problems that the students choose to investigate locally is self selected, we cannot be sure if their investigation will raise their awareness of and concern for the natural world. The prescribed study of the impact that dam building has on the natural world, however, is integral to any debate over the merits of dams.

Personal Affinity with Earth:

Encourages a personal affinity with -the natural world.  

  • Satisfactory: connection is made to the natural world
  • Good: fosters appreciation/concern for the natural world
  • Very Good: fosters stewardship though practical and respectful experiences out-of-doors 
Locally-Focused Learning Very Good

Lesson 2 - My Community - requires students to identify issues that are of concern to them and to interview those people who are working to meet those local challenges. Other lessons have students investigate global issues, identify the link between the local and global issues and consider how their actions may have a positive effect locally and globally.

Locally-Focused Learning:

Includes learning experiences that take advantage of issues/elements within the local community. 

  • Satisfactory: learning is made relevant to the lives of the learners
  • Good: learning is made relevant and has a local focus
  • Very Good: learning is made relevant, local and takes place ‘outside’ , in the community 
Past, Present & Future Good

The emphasis is on identifying and understanding current problems and in seeking solutions that will contribute to a more positive future.

Past, Present & Future: Promotes an understanding of the past, a sense of the present, and a positive vision for the future.

Pedagogical Approaches

Principle Rating Explanation
Open-Ended Instruction Very Good

Students move from a consideration of their personal values to how those values may inform their response to local and global challenges. The lessons provide the framework in which students pursue these questions without determining the answers and the direction those answers may take students. 

Open-Ended Instruction :

Lessons are structured so that multiple/complex answers are possible; students are not steered toward one 'right' answer.

Integrated Learning Very Good

Values clarification is a familiar part of many curriculum documents. The lessons that require students to identify and respond to local challenges in accordance with their interests may require students to investigate any number of issues and therefore any number of subject areas. The lessons linked to their study of the impact of large dams may be expected to have them examine the political, economic, geographic and environmental forces at play.

Integrated Learning:

Learning brings together content and skills  from more than one  subject area

  • Satisfactory: content from a number of different  subject areas is readily identifiable
  • Good:  resource is appropriate for use in more than one subject area
  • Very Good:  the lines between subjects are blurred 
Inquiry Learning Good

Each of the lessons identifies "Essential Questions" that students are to investigate and then provides the direction and the resources to help students address those questions.

Inquiry Learning:

Learning is directed by questions, problems, or challenges that students work to address.   

  • Satisfactory: Students are provided with questions/problems to solve and some direction on how to arrive at solutions.
  • Good: students, assisted by the teacher clarify the question(s) to ask and the process to follow to arrive at solutions.  Sometimes referred to as Guided Inquiry
  • Very Good:  students generate the questions and assume much of the responsibility for how to solve them.  . Sometimes referred to as self-directed learning.

 

Differentiated Instruction Good

Student activities include pair share, interviewing and analyzing the findings of interviews, problem solving and advocacy,

Differentiated Instruction:

Activities address a range of student learning styles, abilities and readiness.

  • Satisfactory:  includes a variety of instructional approaches
  • Good: addresses  the needs of visual, auditory &  kinesthetic learners
  • Very Good: also includes strategies for learners with difficulties
Experiential Learning Good

Students go out into their communities to learn about local challenges by interviewing those people and organizations that are responding to those challenges. At the global level they participate in a simulation intended to have them better understand the competing perspectives that are at play in a selected issue.

Experiential Learning:

Authentic learning experiences are provided

  • Satisfactory: learning takes place through ‘hands-on’ experience or simulation
  • Good: learning involves direct experience in a ‘real world context’
  • Very good: learning involves ‘real world experiences’ taking place’ beyond the school walls.
Cooperative Learning Good

Students work in small and larger groups to help one another clarify their personal values, conduct mock interviews so as to improve their interviewing skills, represent selected perspectives and respond to the perspective of others as they seek to understand how different stakeholders may view a particular issue

Cooperative Learning:

Group and cooperative learning strategies are a priority.

  • Satisfactory:  students work in groups
  • Good: cooperative learning skills are explicitly taught and practiced
  • Very Good: cooperative learning skills are explicitly taught, practiced and assessed
Assessment & Evaluation Good

The variety of student activities - student discussions, planning and carrying out interviews, role playing, and presentations - provides teachers with considerable material to assess student understanding of the questions addressed.

Assessment & Evaluation: Tools are provided that help students and teachers to capture formative and summative information about students' learning and performance. These tools may include reflection questions, checklists, rubrics, etc.
Peer Teaching Good

Many of the student activities require students to work with others, to present their understandings to others, and to respond to to the presentations made by others.

Peer Teaching:

Provides opportunities for students to actively present their knowledge and skills to peers and/or act as teachers and mentors.

  • Satisfactory: incidental teaching that arises from cooperative learning, presentations, etc.
  • Good or Very Good: an opportunity is intentionally created to empower students to teach other students/community members. The audience is somehow reliant on the students' teaching (students are not simply ‘presenting')
Case Studies Good

Lesson 3 investigates the impact of dam building and has student focus on a number of case studies to illustrate the forces at play, while lesson two has students explore local issues of their choosing. The final lesson asks student to consider the common elements in these two studies and link these to the Sustainable Development Goals. 

Case Studies:

Relevant case studies are included.  Case studies are thorough descriptions of real events from real situations that students use to explore  concepts in an authentic context.

Locus of Control Good

The lessons are in keeping with the principles of inquiry learning. Students are presented with a variety of questions they are to investigate, provided with a framework and resources to carry out that investigation and are left to do the heavy work.

Locus of Control: Meaningful opportunities are provided for students to choose elements of program content, the medium in which they wish to work, and/or to go deeper into a chosen issue.

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