Economics & Business · Year 7

Active learning ideas

Ethical Considerations in Business

Active learning works well for ethical considerations in business because Year 7 students grasp complex moral choices best through lived experience. Role-plays and case studies make abstract ideas concrete, letting students feel the weight of decisions before they analyze them. Movement-based tasks like gallery walks and decision trees hold attention while building empathy for real-world stakeholders.

• ACARA Content Descriptions
• AC9HE7S04

• 30–50 min
• Pairs → Whole Class
• 4 activities

Activity 01

• Case Study Analysis
• 45 min · Small Groups

Role-Play: Profit vs Planet Dilemma

Assign roles as CEO, employee, consumer, and environmentalist. Present a scenario where a company must choose between cheap production and eco-friendly methods. Groups prepare arguments for 10 minutes, then debate for 20 minutes, voting on the best ethical choice.

Evaluate the ethical implications of a company prioritizing profit over environmental protection.

Facilitation Tip

During the role-play, assign some students to advocate for profit and others for environmental protection, ensuring all voices are heard before students switch perspectives.

What to look for

Pose the following scenario: 'A company can significantly increase its profits by polluting a local river, but doing so will harm wildlife and potentially affect the town's water supply. What ethical considerations should the company's leaders prioritize, and why?' Facilitate a class discussion where students must justify their reasoning.

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

Activity 02

• Case Study Analysis
• 50 min · Small Groups

Case Study Carousel: Real Business Ethics

Print case studies on Australian companies like fast fashion labor issues or supermarket waste. Groups rotate every 10 minutes to read, note ethical issues, and propose solutions. Conclude with whole-class share-out of common themes.

Analyze the responsibilities of businesses in ensuring fair labor practices.

Facilitation Tip

For the case study carousel, rotate groups every 7 minutes so students encounter multiple ethical dilemmas and compare responses across scenarios.

What to look for

Provide students with short case studies of businesses (e.g., a tech company using child labor, a supermarket with excessive plastic packaging, a cafe paying staff above minimum wage). Ask them to identify the primary ethical issue in each case and state one potential consequence for the business.

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

Activity 03

• Case Study Analysis
• 30 min · Pairs

Ethical Decision Tree: Pairs Build

Pairs draw decision trees for business scenarios, branching profit, ethics, and outcomes. Start with a prompt like fair pay vs outsourcing, add yes/no paths, and justify endpoints with evidence. Share one tree per pair.

Justify the importance of corporate social responsibility in modern business.

Facilitation Tip

When pairs build the ethical decision tree, require them to label each branch with a stakeholder impact and a consequence before adding alternative choices.

What to look for

Ask students to write down one business practice they believe is ethically questionable and one business practice they consider ethically commendable. For each, they should briefly explain their reasoning, referencing concepts like stakeholder impact or CSR.

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

Activity 04

• Gallery Walk
• 40 min · Pairs

Gallery Walk: CSR Posters

Students create posters on a company's CSR efforts, such as BHP's community programs. Display around room; pairs visit each, noting strengths and improvements. Discuss as class which CSR matters most.

Evaluate the ethical implications of a company prioritizing profit over environmental protection.

Facilitation Tip

In the gallery walk, have students annotate each poster with one question and one compliment using sticky notes to focus their attention.

What to look for

Pose the following scenario: 'A company can significantly increase its profits by polluting a local river, but doing so will harm wildlife and potentially affect the town's water supply. What ethical considerations should the company's leaders prioritize, and why?' Facilitate a class discussion where students must justify their reasoning.

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

A few notes on teaching this unit

Experienced teachers approach ethics by normalizing disagreement while keeping the focus on analysis rather than winning. Avoid framing ethics as right versus wrong, because most business dilemmas involve gray areas where values conflict. Research suggests students learn best when they articulate their own values first, then test them against real cases or peer reasoning. Use sentence stems during discussions to scaffold responses, such as 'One consequence for workers might be...' or 'A company could respond by...' to push beyond vague statements.

Successful learning looks like students weighing competing values thoughtfully, not just picking sides. They should use evidence from cases or debates to justify their reasoning, showing understanding that ethics often involves trade-offs. Clear articulation of consequences for stakeholders signals deep engagement with the topic.

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Watch Out for These Misconceptions

• During Role-Play: Profit vs Planet Dilemma, watch for students assuming businesses only care about profits. Redirect by having them tally arguments for each perspective and circling any that mention customer loyalty or regulatory fines.

  During Role-Play: Profit vs Planet Dilemma, have students record every argument they hear on a T-chart labeled ‘Profit’ and ‘Planet,’ then ask them to highlight any that mention long-term reputation or legal risks to challenge the misconception directly.

• During Case Study Carousel: Real Business Ethics, watch for students dismissing environmental protection as solely a government responsibility. Redirect by asking groups to list any company-led initiatives mentioned in their case before they leave the station.

  During Case Study Carousel: Real Business Ethics, provide a graphic organizer for each case that includes columns for ‘Government role,’ ‘Company action,’ and ‘Consumer demand,’ forcing students to identify shared responsibility before moving on.

• During Ethical Decision Tree: Pairs Build, watch for students assuming ethical choices always reduce profits. Redirect by asking pairs to research one Australian company’s revenue growth after implementing an ethical policy and include the data on their tree.

  During Ethical Decision Tree: Pairs Build, require students to include at least one piece of evidence from an Australian firm’s annual report or news article that links ethical practices to financial performance on their tree.

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Methods used in this brief

• Case Study Analysis
• Gallery Walk