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

Active learning ideas

The Search for Peace

Active learning makes the abstract work of peace-making concrete for students. When they step into roles as negotiators or map real events, they see how trust builds step-by-step and how setbacks shape progress. This kind of engagement turns history into a living process they can influence, not just a story to memorize.

• NCCA Curriculum Specifications
• NCCA: Primary - Politics, conflict and society
• NCCA: Primary - Continuity and change over time

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

Activity 01

• World Café
• 50 min · Small Groups

Role-Play: Negotiation Simulation

Assign roles as unionists, nationalists, and mediators. Provide background briefs and key issues like power-sharing. Groups negotiate for 20 minutes, then debrief on sticking points and compromises reached.

Analyze the challenges involved in bringing opposing sides to the negotiating table.

Facilitation Tip

During the Role-Play: Negotiation Simulation, assign roles based on real stakeholder positions to ground the activity in historical context, not stereotypes.

What to look for

Pose the question: 'Imagine you are a negotiator for one of the opposing sides in the Troubles. What would be your absolute non-negotiable demand, and what would you be willing to compromise on? Explain your reasoning.' Facilitate a class discussion comparing student responses.

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

Activity 02

• World Café
• 45 min · Pairs

Timeline Build: Peace Initiatives

Students research and sequence events from Sunningdale to Good Friday Agreement on a class timeline. Add cards for grassroots efforts like Corrymeela. Discuss how each built momentum.

Explain the role of international mediators in the peace process.

What to look for

Provide students with a short, anonymized quote from a victim of violence and another from a former paramilitary member. Ask them to write one sentence identifying the perspective of each speaker and one sentence explaining how dialogue might bridge their experiences.

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

Activity 03

• World Café
• 40 min · Whole Class

Debate Circle: Dialogue vs Force

Pose: 'Was compromise more vital than military pressure?' Students prepare arguments in pairs, then debate in a circle, rotating speakers. Vote and reflect on mediator roles.

Evaluate the importance of dialogue and compromise in resolving conflict.

What to look for

Students create a timeline of key events in the peace process. They then exchange timelines with a partner and check for accuracy of dates and inclusion of at least two different types of peace-making efforts (e.g., political, grassroots). Partners provide one suggestion for an additional event to include.

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

Activity 04

• World Café
• 35 min · Small Groups

Grassroots Project Pitch

In small groups, design a modern cross-community initiative inspired by historical examples. Present pitches with rationale, budget, and expected impact to the class.

Analyze the challenges involved in bringing opposing sides to the negotiating table.

What to look for

Pose the question: 'Imagine you are a negotiator for one of the opposing sides in the Troubles. What would be your absolute non-negotiable demand, and what would you be willing to compromise on? Explain your reasoning.' Facilitate a class discussion comparing student responses.

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

A few notes on teaching this unit

Teachers should frame peace-making as a skill to practice, not just content to learn. Research shows students grasp complex processes better when they experience the tension of compromise firsthand, so avoid rushing to resolution. Use primary sources to anchor claims in evidence, and keep discussions focused on the process, not just outcomes.

Successful learning shows when students move beyond textbook events to analyze the human choices behind them. They should explain why dialogue matters, compare the weight of political and grassroots efforts, and recognize peace as a process, not a single moment. Their work should reflect nuance, not oversimplification.

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Watch Out for These Misconceptions

• During the Timeline Build: Peace Initiatives, watch for students assuming peace only comes from a single treaty signing. Redirect them by asking, 'Which events on your timeline show that peace required more than a document?'

  The timeline activity should reveal layered efforts by including implementation phases, trust-building projects, and follow-up negotiations to correct this view.

• During the Grassroots Project Pitch, watch for students dismissing local efforts as less important than political agreements. Redirect them by asking, 'How did the projects on your pitch list make top-level talks possible?'

  Have students map community projects alongside political events to show their foundational role in enabling later agreements.

• During the Role-Play: Negotiation Simulation, watch for students believing mediators impose solutions. Redirect them by asking, 'What choices did the mediator make to help sides find common ground rather than dictate terms?'

  The simulation should highlight how neutral facilitation uncovers shared interests, not top-down decisions, to challenge this idea.

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Methods used in this brief

• World Café