Teaching Sequence

10 minutes – Part A: Establishing Prior Knowledge About the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR)
40 minutes – Part B: Australia and the UDHR
60 minutes – Part C: What is the Relevance of the UDHR Today?
10 minutes – Reflection

Work through this resource material in the following sequence:

Part A: Establishing Prior Knowledge About the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR)

Step 1. Invite students to explore their current understanding of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) by completing the first step of the 3-2-1 Bridge visible thinking routine on the Student Worksheet.

This routine asks students to note three thoughts, two ideas, and one question about a topic, then later connect these to new thinking about the topic after they have found out more.

Step 2. Next, invite the class to share their ideas with a partner. Encourage students to extend their own responses with ideas from the discussion with their peers. Reconvene the class and ask students to share something interesting that came up in their discussion.

Note: Students will return to this routine in the reflection section of this lesson.

Part B: Australia and the UDHR

Step 1. Introduce this part of the lesson by informing students that they will work together to formulate questions about the connection between Australia and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), then find out more through research. Ask students to arrange the furniture so that groups of 4-5 students are facing each other around a table. Ensure that students have access to at least one web-enabled device per pair.

Introduce the United Nations (UN) and Australia’s connection with the UDHR with the following points:

The UN was formed following WWII to ensure the atrocities from the war, particularly the holocaust, would not be repeated.
The UN was formed for the purpose of: “maintaining international peace and security, developing friendly relations among nations and promoting social progress, better living standards and human rights.”
As of June 2018, there are 193 member states of the UN.
The Universal Declaration of Human Rights was drafted by the Drafting Committee on an International Bill of Human Rights, composed of representatives from a number of countries, including Australia. .
The UDHR recognises the dignity of all people, and asserts that human rights apply equally worldwide.
Individual rights, collective rights, civil and political rights, economic, social and cultural rights, and the responsibility to uphold the rights of others are all emphasised in the UDHR.

Step 2. Distribute five sticky-notes and a copy of the Ultimate Cheatsheet for Critical Thinking (also here) to each group. Invite students to use the cheat sheet to help them pose questions about Australia’s connection with the UDHR. They should write one question on each sticky-note.

Once groups have posed their questions, ask a representative to bring the sticky-notes to the front of the classroom and attach them to the white board. Invite students to read the questions aloud as they are attaching them to the board.

Step 3. Facilitate the class in categorising the questions and arranging the sticky-notes so that questions with similar themes are clustered. Once themes have been uncovered, invite students to select the theme that they would like to investigate. Encourage students to work cooperatively so that the themes are distributed amongst evenly-numbered groups.

Encourage students to work together in their groups to choose three specific questions they will use to guide their online research. Ask each student to note down the three questions on the Student Worksheet.

Students could use the following websites as a starting point for their research:

United Nations: www.un.org
Australian Human Rights Commission: www.humanrights.gov.au
United Nations Association of Australia: https://www.unaa.org.au/learn/australia-and- the-un/

Students should be encouraged to critically evaluate sources by evaluating the information they find using the framework below:

Currency	How recent is the information? How recently has the website been updated? Is it current enough for your topic?
Reliability	What kind of information is included in the resource? Is the content of the resource fact or opinion? Are the views balanced? Does the creator provide references or sources for data or quotations?
Authority	Who is the creator or author? What are their credentials? Can you find any information about the author's background? Who is the publisher or sponsor? Are they reputable? What is the publisher's interest (if any) in this information? Are there advertisements on the website? If so, are they clearly marked?
Purpose/Point of View	Is this fact or opinion? Are sources listed or references cited? Is it biased? Does the author seem to be trying to push an agenda or particular point of view? Is the creator/author trying to sell you something? If so, is it clearly stated?

Students could summarise the information they find in the space provided on the Student Worksheet.

Step 4. Invite students to share their findings with each other by moving away from their group and forming a pair with a person they were not working with. They should take turns to share what they uncovered. Time permitting, encourage students to find a different person and share their findings again. Encourage students to take notes while their peers are sharing in the space provided on the Student Worksheet.

Part C: What is the Relevance of the UDHR Today?

Step 1. Explain to students that in this part of the lesson, the class will work to extend their understanding of the historical and contemporary events surrounding the UDHR and critically assess whether the UDHR is still relevant today. Students will work to establish their own response to the question:

“What is the relevance of the UDHR today?”

Students will conduct research to find out about the UDHR, the people, the countries and the events surrounding it, and present their response in the form of a chronological timeline full of evidence supporting their response to the critical question.

Step 2. Invite students to choose whether they would like to work independently or in small groups, then to arrange themselves and the classroom furniture according to their choice. Ensure that students have access to enough reference materials (e.g. web-enabled devices).

Step 3. Refer students to the Student Worksheet for more specific details about the activity. If required, read through the details as a class, and invite students to ask clarifying questions. Distribute a copy of the How to Make a Timeline factsheet (from dohistory.org) to guide groups to plan how to present research in the form of a timeline that has specific focus on responding (with evidence) to the critical question.

Invite students to approach the challenge by breaking it up into tasks. They could approach the challenge in the following way:

Students could use the following websites as a starting point for their research (also linked on the Student Worksheet):

Students could also consider the following questions to guide them in their research:

1. Why was the UDHR drafted?
a. What need was identified? What problem was the UDHR responding to?
b. What was the UDHR trying to do for future generations?
c. How did the UDHR change the way that human rights were viewed/protected?

1. Who were the main drivers of the UDHR? Who was involved in drafting the declaration (individuals and governments?)
a. What did the adoption of the UDHR look like?
b. Did different countries adopt the UDHR differently? If so why?
c. What did the different adoptions of the UDHR look like?

1. Consider key events in the history of the world. What impact has the UDHR had upon the perception of/reaction to these events?

Encourage students to pose their own questions, think about the key terms they should include and/or define in their findings, and to decide if their timelines will focus on any specific theme or series of events.

Emphasise with students that their timeline should present information that explains their response to the critical question: “What is the relevance of the UDHR today?” The final product could include a sequence of events and extra information that is interesting, engaging and offers further explanation/insight into each main event featured. You could use this Magna Carta interactive infographic to inspire students.

Step 4. Once students have had enough time to complete their timelines (this may require one to two extra lessons), reconvene the class to view and discuss each timeline, with a specific focus on how the timeline illustrates a response to the critical question “What is the relevance of the UDHR today?”

Step 5. If possible, display students’ timelines in a public area in the school, such as on display screens, notice boards or as an image in the school correspondence to parents and guardians.

Reflection

Invite students to return to the 3-2-1 Bridge visible thinking routine from the start of the lesson. Encourage students to note down three new thoughts, two new ideas and one new question around the UDHR.

Once students have completed this, ask them to write a paragraph underneath explaining how their new response connects to their initial response.

Differentiated Learning

Extension: Challenge students to connect their response to the critical question in Part C to one or two contemporary world events.

Provisional Learning Support: Support students during each research task by working with individuals to set specific research questions. Provide students with ideas for specific resources (such as books or websites) to locate information.

Story of Our Rights and Freedoms - Australia and the U.N

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