Fairness in Decision-Making

Fairness is a concept students grapple with daily, and active learning provides direct experience. Through role-playing disputes and analyzing scenarios, students move beyond abstract definitions to actively practice and understand the components of fair decision-making.

• Year 6
• Civics & Citizenship
• 3 activities
• 30 min–50 min

Role Play

⏱ 45 min·Small Groups

Role-Play: The Playground Dispute

Students role-play a scenario where two students disagree over a shared toy. Assign roles for each student, a teacher mediating, and observers. The mediator must ensure both sides present their case before making a decision.

Prepare & details

Explain the key elements that contribute to a fair decision-making process.

Facilitation Tip: During the Role Play: The Playground Dispute, ensure students understand their assigned roles and the core conflict before beginning, prompting them to consider the other person's perspective.

Setup: Open space or rearranged desks for scenario staging

Materials: Character cards with backstory and goals, Scenario briefing sheet

• Apply
• Analyze
• Evaluate
• Social Awareness
• Self-Awareness

Formal Debate

⏱ 50 min·Whole Class

Formal Debate: Classroom Rule Change

Present a proposed new classroom rule. Divide students into two groups: one to argue for the rule and one against. Each group prepares arguments focusing on fairness and potential impacts, then debates their points.

Prepare & details

Analyze the importance of hearing multiple perspectives in resolving disputes.

Facilitation Tip: During the Debate: Classroom Rule Change, guide students to focus their arguments on the principles of fairness and the impact of the rule, rather than personal preference.

Setup: Two teams facing each other, audience seating for the rest

Materials: Debate proposition card, Research brief for each side, Judging rubric for audience, Timer

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

Role Play

⏱ 30 min·Pairs

Scenario Analysis: Fair or Unfair?

Provide students with written scenarios depicting decision-making processes. In pairs, they analyze each scenario, identifying elements of fairness or unfairness and suggesting improvements based on principles discussed.

Prepare & details

Evaluate a given scenario for its fairness and suggest improvements.

Facilitation Tip: During the Scenario Analysis: Fair or Unfair?, encourage pairs to explicitly identify which elements of fairness (impartiality, transparency, right to be heard) are present or absent in each scenario.

Setup: Open space or rearranged desks for scenario staging

Materials: Character cards with backstory and goals, Scenario briefing sheet

• Apply
• Analyze
• Evaluate
• Social Awareness
• Self-Awareness

Teaching This Topic

To teach fairness effectively, prioritize concrete examples and student-led exploration over lecturing. Teachers act as facilitators, guiding students to uncover the principles of fairness through active engagement. Focus on process and perspective-taking, helping students see that fairness is often context-dependent and requires careful consideration of all stakeholders.

What to Expect

Students will demonstrate an understanding of fairness by articulating the need for impartiality, transparency, and the right to be heard. They will be able to identify fair and unfair decision-making processes and explain their reasoning, referencing specific elements from the activities.

Watch Out for These Misconceptions

Common Misconception

During The Playground Dispute role-play, watch for students assuming fairness means both children get to play with the toy at the exact same time, ignoring potential solutions that offer equitable turns.

What to Teach Instead

Redirect students by asking them to consider what a fair *process* for sharing might look like, even if it doesn't result in both having it simultaneously. Prompt them to think about who gets to decide the sharing rules.

Common Misconception

During the Debate: Classroom Rule Change, students may focus solely on their own group's loudest arguments, overlooking the need to listen to and address points made by the opposing side.

What to Teach Instead

Remind students that a fair process involves giving equal weight to all arguments. Ask them to identify one specific point made by the other side and explain why it's relevant to the fairness of the proposed rule.

Common Misconception

During Scenario Analysis: Fair or Unfair?, students might label a scenario unfair simply because they disagree with the outcome, without analyzing the decision-making *process* itself.

What to Teach Instead

Guide students to focus on the steps taken in the scenario: Was everyone heard? Was information shared transparently? Was the decision-maker impartial? Encourage them to base their judgment on the process, not just their personal feelings about the result.

Assessment Ideas

Peer Assessment

After the Role Play: The Playground Dispute, have students playing the disputing roles provide brief feedback to each other on whether they felt heard and if the process seemed fair, using a simple checklist.

Discussion Prompt

During the Debate: Classroom Rule Change, use a quick check by asking students to hold up signs indicating 'Fair' or 'Unfair' after hearing arguments, and then facilitate a brief discussion on why they chose their answer.

Exit Ticket

After the Scenario Analysis: Fair or Unfair?, have students write a short response explaining why one specific scenario represented a fair decision-making process, referencing at least two components of fairness discussed.

Extensions & Scaffolding

• Challenge: Have students create their own 'fair or unfair' scenario based on a real-world decision-making process they've observed.
• Scaffolding: Provide sentence starters or a graphic organizer for students struggling to articulate their reasoning during the Scenario Analysis.
• Deeper Exploration: Extend the Role Play: The Playground Dispute by introducing a mediator role, requiring students to negotiate a mutually agreeable solution.