Active Citizenship and the Democratic World · 1st Year

Active learning ideas

Treating Everyone Fairly: No to Discrimination

Active learning works especially well for this topic because children must connect abstract rights to their lived experiences. Movement, discussion, and role-play help students move from passive understanding to active empathy and advocacy.

• NCCA Curriculum Specifications
• NCCA: Junior Cycle - Human Dignity
• NCCA: Junior Cycle - Rights and Responsibilities

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

Activity 01

• 30 min · Pairs

Rights Scavenger Hunt: UNCRC

Students are given a child-friendly version of the UNCRC. They must work in pairs to find which articles protect their right to play, their right to an opinion, and their right to be safe from harm.

Explain what 'treating everyone fairly' means.

Facilitation Tip

During the Rights Scavenger Hunt, circulate and ask small groups to explain how each article they find protects children in their own school context.

What to look for

Present students with three short scenarios: one clearly fair, one clearly discriminatory, and one ambiguous. Ask students to write 'Fair', 'Unfair', or 'Unsure' next to each, followed by one sentence explaining their choice.

Activity 02

• Simulation Game
• 45 min · Small Groups

Simulation Game: The School Council

Students act as a school council tasked with improving the school environment. They must use the 'Right to be Heard' (Article 12) to justify why students should have a say in specific school policies.

Identify examples of unfair treatment (discrimination).

Facilitation Tip

In the School Council simulation, assign one student to ‘push back’ by asking tough questions to help the group consider fairness beyond simple majority.

What to look for

Pose the question: 'Imagine you see a classmate being treated unfairly because they are new to the school. What are two specific things you could do or say to help make the situation fairer?' Facilitate a brief class discussion, noting down student suggestions.

• Apply
• Analyze
• Evaluate
• Create
• Social Awareness
• Decision-Making

Activity 03

• Gallery Walk
• 50 min · Whole Class

Gallery Walk: Rights Around the World

Students research how children's rights are upheld or challenged in different countries. They create posters for a gallery walk, where classmates use 'priority stickers' to identify which rights they think are most at risk globally.

Discuss how we can stand up for fairness and equality.

Facilitation Tip

For the Gallery Walk, ask students to jot down one question on a sticky note for each image to encourage deeper reflection and peer discussion.

What to look for

On a small piece of paper, ask students to write down one thing they learned about treating everyone fairly today and one question they still have about discrimination or equality.

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

A few notes on teaching this unit

Start with concrete examples from students’ lives to build meaning. Avoid starting with legal definitions, which can feel distant. Research shows that when students role-play discrimination scenarios, they show greater empathy and recall of rights later. Always debrief simulations with clear connections to UNCRC language to ground the experience in rights-based language.

Successful learning looks like students confidently linking UNCRC articles to real situations, challenging unfair behavior, and proposing fair solutions. They should leave able to explain why rights include responsibilities and how discrimination affects others.

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Watch Out for These Misconceptions

• During the Rights Scavenger Hunt, watch for students who treat rights as absolute permissions without limits.

  Use the scavenger hunt debrief to highlight that rights like ‘freedom of expression’ require respecting others’ rights to safety and dignity, pointing to specific articles in the UNCRC.

• During the School Council simulation, watch for students who assume their classmates’ opinions don’t matter until they’re older.

  After assigning roles, pause and ask students to find Article 12 in their UNCRC sheets, then respond to the ‘unheard’ voices in their simulation by adding their concerns to the agenda.

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Methods used in this brief

• Simulation Game
• Gallery Walk