Geography · Year 11

Active learning ideas

Urban Challenges: Slums and Informal Settlements

Active learning works for this topic because students need to confront real-world complexity that textbooks flatten. By handling case data, negotiating perspectives, and mapping spatial patterns, they move from abstract concepts like ‘poverty’ to concrete realities like ‘one water tap serving 200 people.’

• ACARA Content Descriptions
• AC9GE12K09

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

Activity 01

• Jigsaw
• 50 min · Small Groups

Jigsaw: Slum Case Studies

Assign small groups one megacity slum, like Kibera or Dharavi. Each group researches causes, characteristics, and one upgrading strategy using provided sources. Groups then teach their findings to others in a jigsaw rotation, filling shared comparison charts.

Analyze how informal settlements function within a megacity's economy.

Facilitation Tip

During the jigsaw, assign each expert group one case study with a clear role: economist, health officer, disaster planner, or community leader, so every voice is anchored in data.

What to look for

Pose this question to small groups: 'Imagine you are a city official debating whether to relocate residents of an informal settlement or upgrade it in place. What are the top three arguments you would make for your chosen strategy, and what evidence supports them?'

• Understand
• Analyze
• Evaluate
• Relationship Skills
• Self-Management

Activity 02

• Case Study Analysis
• 45 min · Small Groups

Stakeholder Role-Play: Upgrading Debate

Divide class into roles: residents, government officials, NGOs, developers. Provide briefs on a fictional slum upgrade. Groups prepare arguments, then debate in a town hall format, with observers noting strengths and compromises.

Explain the push and pull factors leading to the growth of slums.

Facilitation Tip

In the role-play, give residents pre-written ‘life notes’ that reveal their daily struggles, forcing negotiators to weigh real consequences rather than abstract policies.

What to look for

Provide students with a short case study description of an informal settlement. Ask them to identify: 1) Two push factors and two pull factors that likely led to its growth. 2) One characteristic of the settlement that makes residents vulnerable to a specific hazard.

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

Activity 03

• Case Study Analysis
• 30 min · Pairs

Push-Pull Factor Mapping

Students work in pairs to create visual maps separating push factors from rural areas and pull factors in cities. Add layers for economic, social, environmental influences using sticky notes. Pairs present and refine based on class feedback.

Evaluate the effectiveness of different strategies for upgrading informal settlements.

Facilitation Tip

For the push-pull mapping, provide blank OS maps and colored pencils, instructing students to annotate with numbers for quantitative clarity, not just sketches.

What to look for

On an index card, students should write: 'One way informal settlements contribute to a megacity's economy is...' and 'One challenge in providing services to informal settlements is...'

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

Activity 04

• Gallery Walk
• 40 min · Small Groups

Gallery Walk: Strategy Evaluations

Groups create posters evaluating two upgrading strategies with pros, cons, evidence. Post around room for gallery walk. Students use evaluation rubrics to vote and comment on most effective approaches.

Analyze how informal settlements function within a megacity's economy.

Facilitation Tip

In the gallery walk, have students rotate with sticky notes to leave specific feedback on each strategy poster, modeling constructive critique.

What to look for

Pose this question to small groups: 'Imagine you are a city official debating whether to relocate residents of an informal settlement or upgrade it in place. What are the top three arguments you would make for your chosen strategy, and what evidence supports them?'

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

A few notes on teaching this unit

Teachers approach this topic by treating students as analysts, not activists. Research shows that emotive images alone can trigger sympathy but not systemic thinking. Instead, anchor discussions in measurable indicators like population density per hectare or cost per upgraded latrine. Avoid framing slums as ‘problems to solve’; frame them as ‘systems to understand’ so students analyze trade-offs without defaulting to simplistic solutions. Prioritize voices from the ground—case studies should include resident blogs, not just NGO reports.

Successful learning looks like students using evidence to argue for incremental upgrades rather than demolition, identifying both push-pull factors on maps, and evaluating strategies during a gallery walk with criteria they helped set.

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Watch Out for These Misconceptions

• During Jigsaw: Slum Case Studies, watch for students who assume slums drain city economies.

  Use the economist roles’ data sheets on informal waste recycling and domestic labor, then require each expert group to present one quantified contribution during the teach-back phase.

• During Stakeholder Role-Play: Upgrading Debate, watch for students who immediately favor demolition.

  Hand residents pre-printed life notes that include neighborhood assets like proximity to jobs, then interrupt early demolition arguments by asking, ‘What happens to the 8-year-old who walks three kilometers to school if you demolish today?’

• During Push-Pull Factor Mapping, watch for students who limit factors to ‘poor countries.’

  Place an Australian peri-urban case on the same map with identical symbols, then ask groups to compare density and hazard risk patterns side-by-side before generalizing.

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Methods used in this brief

• Jigsaw
• Case Study Analysis
• Gallery Walk