Voices of Change: Ireland and the Wider World · 6th Year

Active learning ideas

Resistance and Rescue

Active learning transforms this complex topic by turning historical events into personal choices students can analyze. When students role-play ethical dilemmas or map resistance networks, they engage with the emotional weight of these decisions rather than memorizing dates or names. This approach builds empathy and critical thinking, which are essential when studying the moral complexities of resistance and rescue.

• NCCA Curriculum Specifications
• NCCA: Primary - Eras of change and conflict
• NCCA: Primary - Politics, conflict and society

• 35–50 min
• Pairs → Whole Class
• 4 activities

Activity 01

• Case Study Analysis
• 45 min · Small Groups

Ethical Dilemmas: Role-Play Scenarios

Provide small groups with real-life scenarios faced by potential rescuers, including family risks and limited resources. Groups discuss options, role-play decisions, then compare to historical outcomes from survivor accounts. Conclude with a class debrief on influencing factors.

Analyze the different forms of resistance against Nazi persecution.

Facilitation Tip

During the Ethical Dilemmas role-play, circulate with guiding questions that push students to clarify their decisions, such as 'What would change your mind about helping?'

What to look for

Pose the question: 'Considering the extreme risks, what do you believe motivated individuals to engage in acts of resistance or rescue during the Holocaust?' Facilitate a class discussion, encouraging students to reference specific examples from their studies and consider different perspectives.

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

Activity 02

• Case Study Analysis
• 50 min · Pairs

Resistance Networks: Mapping Activity

In pairs, students research rescuers and resisters, plotting connections on large maps with strings and pins. Add notes on methods and risks. Groups present one network to the class, highlighting collaboration's role.

Explain the risks taken by individuals and groups who helped hide or rescue victims.

Facilitation Tip

For the Resistance Networks mapping activity, provide large sheets of paper and colored markers so students can visually trace connections between groups and individuals.

What to look for

Provide students with short biographical sketches of two individuals: one resister and one rescuer. Ask them to write one paragraph comparing the nature of their actions and one sentence explaining the primary risk each faced.

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

Activity 03

• Gallery Walk
• 40 min · Pairs

Testimony Gallery Walk

Set up stations with primary sources like diaries, photos, and letters from resisters and rescuers. Pairs rotate, recording evidence of courage and motivations. Regroup to synthesize findings into a class chart.

Assess the moral courage required to act against injustice during such a time.

Facilitation Tip

Set a timer for the Testimony Gallery Walk to create urgency and focus; students should spend no more than 3-4 minutes at each station to absorb key details.

What to look for

On an index card, ask students to identify one specific act of resistance or rescue they learned about. Then, have them write two sentences explaining the moral courage it required and its potential impact.

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

Activity 04

• Case Study Analysis
• 35 min · Small Groups

Courage Profiles: Peer Interviews

Individuals create profiles of a resister or rescuer, then conduct structured interviews in small groups as if reporting news. Rotate roles and note common themes of moral choice in a shared document.

Analyze the different forms of resistance against Nazi persecution.

Facilitation Tip

For Courage Profiles interviews, model active listening by demonstrating how to ask follow-up questions like 'What do you think gave you the strength to do that?'

What to look for

Pose the question: 'Considering the extreme risks, what do you believe motivated individuals to engage in acts of resistance or rescue during the Holocaust?' Facilitate a class discussion, encouraging students to reference specific examples from their studies and consider different perspectives.

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

A few notes on teaching this unit

Teachers often succeed with this topic by grounding abstract concepts in personal stories. Avoid reducing resistance to a single narrative or implying that all rescuers acted for the same reasons. Research shows that students grasp the scale of these efforts better when they visualize networks rather than memorize isolated events. Use primary sources to humanize the topic, but balance them with secondary analyses to help students see patterns. Always connect historical events to contemporary issues of justice to make the learning relevant.

Successful learning looks like students confidently discussing diverse forms of resistance, identifying the risks rescuers faced, and articulating why ordinary people chose extraordinary actions. You’ll see them drawing connections between individual acts and larger networks, using evidence from primary sources to support their claims. Students should leave with a deeper understanding that resistance was not limited to armed uprisings but included quiet, persistent acts of defiance.

---

Watch Out for These Misconceptions

• During the Resistance Networks mapping activity, watch for students categorizing resistance only as armed uprisings.

  Direct them to the timeline of examples provided in the activity packet, which includes cultural preservation, aid smuggling, and underground newspapers. Ask them to add these categories to their maps and explain how each form challenged Nazi control.

• During the Courage Profiles peer interviews, watch for students assuming rescuers were always leaders or wealthy individuals.

  Provide the 'ordinary people' profiles included in the interview guide and ask students to specifically name roles like farmers, neighbors, or even children. Have them discuss why these backgrounds mattered in their responses.

• During the Ethical Dilemmas role-play, watch for students concluding that fear alone prevented widespread resistance.

  After the activity, have students revisit the maps they created in the Resistance Networks activity to see where groups formed despite risks. Ask them to identify concrete examples of collective courage in their scenarios.

---

Methods used in this brief

• Case Study Analysis
• Gallery Walk