Civics & Citizenship · Year 10

Active learning ideas

Protest and Civil Disobedience

Active learning is essential for this topic because students need to grapple with the tension between individual rights and collective action in a democracy. By engaging directly with historical examples and ethical dilemmas, students develop critical thinking skills that go beyond textbook definitions of protest and civil disobedience.

• ACARA Content Descriptions
• AC9C10K05
• AC9C10S04

• 25–50 min
• Pairs → Whole Class
• 3 activities

Activity 01

• Gallery Walk
• 45 min · Small Groups

Gallery Walk: Protests That Changed Australia

Stations feature different historical protests (e.g., Wave Hill Walk-off, Green Bans). Students identify the goal, the method used, and whether the protest was 'successful' in changing the law or public opinion.

Evaluate the legitimacy of civil disobedience in a democracy.

Facilitation Tip

During the Gallery Walk, place key images and excerpts at eye level and space them evenly to ensure all students have space to read and reflect without crowding.

What to look for

Pose the question: 'When, if ever, is it justifiable for citizens to break the law to protest?' Facilitate a class debate, asking students to support their arguments with historical examples and ethical reasoning. Encourage them to consider the potential consequences for both the protestors and society.

• Understand
• Apply
• Analyze
• Create
• Relationship Skills
• Social Awareness

Activity 02

• Formal Debate
• 50 min · Whole Class

Formal Debate: The Right to Disrupt

Students debate: 'Should protesters be allowed to block major roads to draw attention to their cause?' They must balance the right to protest against the rights of other citizens to go about their daily lives.

Analyze the boundaries between state authority and citizen protest.

Facilitation Tip

For the Structured Debate, assign roles clearly and provide a timekeeping device visible to all students to maintain the pace and fairness of the discussion.

What to look for

Provide students with short case studies of historical Australian protests (e.g., the Eureka Stockade, anti-Vietnam War protests). Ask them to identify the goals of the protestors, the methods used, and one specific outcome or impact of the protest. This checks their ability to analyze protest effectiveness.

• Analyze
• Evaluate
• Create
• Self-Management
• Decision-Making

Activity 03

• Think-Pair-Share
• 25 min · Pairs

Think-Pair-Share: What is 'Civil' Disobedience?

Students brainstorm the difference between a 'protest' and 'civil disobedience.' They discuss whether it is ever okay to break the law to change the law, using examples like Rosa Parks or Eddie Mabo.

Design a just policy for regulating public demonstrations.

Facilitation Tip

In the Think-Pair-Share activity, give students exactly two minutes to pair up and share responses with their partner before bringing the class back together to avoid losing momentum.

What to look for

Ask students to write down one key difference between a legal protest and an act of civil disobedience. Then, have them briefly explain one potential challenge faced by authorities when managing a large public demonstration.

• Understand
• Apply
• Analyze
• Self-Awareness
• Relationship Skills

A few notes on teaching this unit

Teachers should approach this topic by grounding discussions in concrete examples from Australian history, such as the 1938 Day of Mourning or the 1971 Aboriginal Tent Embassy. Avoid abstract lectures on civil disobedience; instead, use role-playing and primary sources to help students internalize the perspectives of protestors and authorities. Research shows that students retain ethical reasoning better when they debate real cases rather than hypothetical ones.

Successful learning occurs when students can distinguish between legal protest and civil disobedience, explain the ethical reasoning behind protestors' actions, and analyze the impact of protests on social and political change. They should also understand the legal boundaries and consequences of breaking laws for moral reasons.

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Watch Out for These Misconceptions

• During the Think-Pair-Share activity on civil disobedience, watch for students who conflate protest with voting. Redirect them by asking: 'How might a protest keep an issue alive between elections when voting happens only once every few years?'

  During the Structured Debate, address this by having students compare the effectiveness of voting versus protesting in achieving specific policy changes, using examples like the 1967 referendum on Aboriginal rights.

• During the Gallery Walk, watch for students who assume all protests without permits are illegal. Redirect them by having them read the state-specific 'Summary Offences' acts displayed alongside protest images to identify where protests are protected even without permits.

  During the Structured Debate, clarify this by asking students to debate whether a protest without a permit is justified if it draws attention to an urgent moral issue, such as climate change or Indigenous land rights.

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Methods used in this brief

• Gallery Walk
• Formal Debate
• Think-Pair-Share