Teaching Sequence

Work through this resource material in the following sequence:

10 minutes	Part A: Understanding consent models for organ and tissue donation
20 minutes	Part B: Perspectives on consent models
40 minutes	Part C: Debating consent models
05 minutes	Reflection

Part A: Understanding consent models for organ and tissue donation

Step 1.

Opt In

Watch this video on the organ donation process in Australia:

How does donation work? DonateLife - https://youtu.be/oPvkuP_Sb5s?si=ILEFphCN3iKtr9WX2

Step 2.

Show students the Australian Government's online organ and tissue donation registration process. You might like to read through the information with students.

Step 3.

Explain to students that Australia currently has an ‘opt-in’ consent model for organ and tissue donation. Under this model, Australians 16 years or older, can register their intent to be an organ and tissue donor on the Australian Organ Donor Register. This means they are ‘opting in’, making a clear decision that they wish to donate their organs and/or tissue at the end of their life. In the hospital when it has been determined a person cannot survive and there is the possibility of donation, there will be a discussion with the person’s family about donation. As a part of this discussion, they will be told if their family member had registered their intention to donate and will also be asked if they, as the next of kin, consent to donating their family member’s organs and/or tissues. Ultimately, the deceased person’s next of kin needs to agree to donation. More families say yes to donation if their family member is registered or they have discussed donation, and the family is aware that the person wanted to be a donor. Examples of countries with opt-in models include the United States, Canada, Denmark, Estonia, Germany, Japan and Korea.

This website can further clarify the organ and tissue donation process in Australia - How does donation work? | DonateLife.

Step 4.

Opt Out

Explain that Australia is constantly monitoring international models to make sure we are operating the best system for our needs. A number of countries have moved to an ‘opt-out’ consent model for organ and tissue donation, but currently, Australia is not considering such a change.

If Australia did one day decide to change to an ‘opt-out’ consent model, then everyone would be presumed to be a willing donor unless they had ‘opted out’ by registering that they do not wish to donate on the Australian Organ Donor Register.

This means that when the person dies, they are presumed to be willing to be a donor unless they had opted out on the register. Their family would be told if they had registered not to donate. Even if they have not opted out on the register, a donation will not proceed if the family objects to the donation.

The UK moved to an opt-out system in 2020; here is some further information on how this system works in the UK: What is the opt-out system in England? - NHS Organ Donation. Examples of countries with opt-out models include Spain, the United Kingdom, Italy, Norway, Sweden and France.

Step 5.

Show students the following information to give them more information about the consent models and rates of donation, transplantation and consent:

Consent Systems Factsheet
International Consent Models Graph
Transplantation And Donation Activity Report 2021 (choose a few pages to focus on or allow advanced students to read through the whole report)

Allow students to ask clarifying questions and ensure they understand the main difference between the opt-in and opt-out models of consent.

Learning support:

You might like to go through the below table with students to clarify the key differences between the models:

Under an opt-in system (current)

Under an opt-out system (hypothetical)

People aged 16 and over can register to be an organ and/or tissue donor when they die on the Australian Organ Donation Register.

In the hospital, if a person is medically suitable to be a donor, donation will be raised with the family irrespective of being on the register or not.

Families are informed if their family member has registered their decision to be a donor (opted-in).

If a person has registered to donate, consent will still be gained from the family for donation.

The next of kin needs to consent to donation - so chooses to donate or not donate organs and/or tissues.

People aged 18 and over can register that they do NOT want to be an organ and/or tissue donor when they die on the Australian Organ Donor Register.

In the hospital, if a person is medically suitable to be a donor, donation will be raised with the family irrespective of being on the register or not.

Families are informed if their family member had registered their decision NOT to be a donor (opted-out).

If a person has NOT opted out on the Australian Organ Donation Register they are presumed to have no objection to being an organ and tissue donor.

It is assumed donation will proceed, however, if the next of kin objects to donation, it will not proceed.

Part B: Perspectives on consent models

Step 1.

Allocate students to small groups of three to five. Provide each group with one of the Consent Model Articles. Have all students from each group read their nominated article and record the following (which they will present to the rest of the class):

A summary of the key points of the article (find two or three)
Examples of persuasive language used
Significant or memorable quote/s from the article (find one or two) that represent/s the primary values of the author/s and what they want the reader to buy into.

Step 2.

Have students share their summaries of the articles with the class and compare and contrast the language and values identified.

Step 3.

As a class, unpack the various arguments for and against the opt-in and opt-out systems. You might like to use a shared online document or record the notes on the board in the following tables:

Reasons for an opt-in system	Reasons against an opt-in system

Reasons for an opt-in system	Reasons against an opt-in system

Part C: Debating consent models

Step 1.

This activity is called a ‘devil’s advocate debate’.

Divide the class randomly into three teams. You might like to pick every third student on the roll, for example.

Assign one team to ‘agree’ with the following topic, one team to ‘disagree’ with it and one team to play ‘devil’s advocate’, asking questions to challenge each side to think differently and provoking intense discussion.

Step 2.

Introduce the topic:

An opt-in system is the most ethical, effective and publicly accepted consent model for Australia at this time.

Step 3.

Explain the rules:

Every member of each team will need to contribute to the debate.

It might work well for one key argument to be assigned to each team member.

Only one representative from each team can talk (take the floor) at a time – teams can choose to pre-select a speaking order or use a spontaneous tag-in method.
Each set of representatives is allowed to converse for a maximum of four minutes (you’ll need to set a timer).
Only the ‘devil’s advocate’ group representative (or teacher) can interject or redirect the conversation to the other team (if one person has spoken for a full two minutes, the floor is handed to the other team). Back-and-forth dialogue is encouraged, provided there is no interrupting!
(Optional) The students actively debating could ‘take the floor’ at the front of the class.

Step 4.

Explain the judging criteria:

Team members demonstrated effective use of persuasive language.
Team members used accurate and persuasive arguments to support their case.
Team members responded to the devil’s advocate in a way that furthered their argument.
Team members followed the rules.

Step 5.

Allow the teams some planning time (at least ten minutes is recommended). The ‘agree’ and ‘disagree’ teams can select and assign their key arguments to various team members and note down some persuasive language they can use. The devil’s advocate team can plan some questions or key ideas that they could ask each team to challenge their argument or encourage them to go deeper. This might include presenting statistics or facts.

Step 6.

The devil’s advocate group and teacher should decide which team won the debate using the judging criteria as a guide.

Step 7.

Conclude the debate with a discussion about how the students found the activity, what they learned and what impressed them. Also, make sure you determine and announce the winning team.

Reflection

Ask students to respond in writing:

What new ideas did you discover in today’s lesson?
Why do you think Australia has an opt-in consent model?
Which consent model do you think is most ethical and effective and why?

Extension opportunity:

Students could write a persuasive essay outlining their own views on consent models for organ and tissue donation. They could refer to these statistics in the 2023 Donation and Transplantation Activity Report in their essay.

Optional:

You might like to register your intention to donate or talk to your family about what you have learned about organ and tissue donation.

Differentiated learning

Extension

Students could undertake further research about different countries’ approaches to organ donation and different evidence supporting each scheme.
Students could write a persuasive essay outlining their own views on consent models for organ and tissue donation. They could refer to these statistics in the 2023 Donation and Transplantation Activity Report in their essay.

Provisions for learning support

If some students aren’t confident speaking in front of the class, you could assign them to the devil’s advocate group for the debate, or they could write a paragraph, with their teacher if needed, about one of the schemes. They could explain how the scheme works and the reason it is positive or negative. They might also like to record a persuasive speech outlining their views.
Some students may find the Consent Systems Factsheet valuable.

Teacher reflection

Take this opportunity to reflect on your own teaching

What did you learn about your teaching today?
What worked well?
What didn’t work so well?
What would you share?
Where to next?
How are you going to get there?

DonateLife - Debating Consent Systems

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