Show your pupils that even small steps can have a big impact when you work together with this social action lesson plan…
In conversations with my kids and other young people, I kept noticing the same challenge. Despite their passion and brilliant ideas to create change, they lacked the right tools to make meaningful action.
They wanted to fundraise, campaign and raise their voices, but the platforms available just weren’t designed for them.
So, this lesson grew out of the desire to help young people channel their ideas and their energy into actionable programmes that they can design, spearhead and run themselves (with your expert oversight, of course). Let the children in your care know that they matter…
Learning objectives
- Explore and define real-world problems that matter to them
- Be inspired by children who are already creating positive change
- Identify key community issues and consider solutions
- Plan and carry out their own social action campaign
- Reflect on the impact of their actions
Starter activity
Begin with a big question: “If you could change one thing in the world, what would it be?” Let pupils reflect individually, then have them discuss in pairs or groups.
Gather their ideas on sticky notes or on the board, and group similar themes together – these could become the seeds of future campaigns.
Next, talk about what the children think a campaign might look like. As a class, or back in pairs and groups, ask everyone to discuss what change campaigns and organisations they’ve already heard of (e.g. Greenpeace, Extinction Rebellion, etc).
What do these groups have in common? What do their campaigns look like?
Anoushka Freeman is head of operations at SuperKind, where she leads on educational content.
