Resources

‘Exploring Our Roles as Global Citizens’ is a four-lesson unit with extension activities and a student-led inquiry project that is designed to introduce the concept of global citizenship, including relevant knowledge, skills, values, and civic actions; to educate students about universal human rights outlined in the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) and what their responsibilities are to ensure these rights are protected; to foster students’ skills in developing perspectives, critical and creative thinking, research, and decision-making about a chosen global issue using a student-led inquiry model; and to empower students to recognize and use their individual strengths to make a positive difference in their local communities. Lesson 1: What Is Global Citizenship? This lesson engages students in reflecting upon what it means to be a global citizen. Although students are often taught the concepts of citizenship and the characteristics of good citizenship during the elementary years, students may not have considered previously their roles as citizens in a global society. Using authentic examples of global citizenship among youth as a springboard for discussion, students determine how they are citizens at various levels. Afterward, students begin their inquiry of a chosen global issue about which they will take informed action at the end of the unit. Lesson 2: We Are Citizens of the World and We Have Rights! Building upon their prior learning about citizenship, students are introduced to human rights, or those rights to which all persons are entitled. Students learn about the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) and create a concept map outlining categories and examples of human rights. Afterward, students relate human rights to contemporary global issues and how it is our responsibility to take action when the rights of others are violated. Lesson 3: Global Citizens Take Responsibility In this lesson, students learn about their individual and collective responsibility to protect human rights. Through analysis of authentic photographs depicting responsible citizenship, students explore the idea that global citizens are proactive when the rights of others are threatened. To demonstrate their learning, students role-play characteristics of global citizenship. Subsequently, in cooperative groups, students continue their global issue research and begin to consider how they will take informed action as global citizens. Lesson 4: Global Change Begins With Me In this culminating lesson, students reflect upon their learning about global citizenship and how they can be positive change agents in their communities. Students first explore how individuals take action to solve a problem or to improve conditions for others. Using these examples as inspiration, students determine how they, too, can be “changemakers.” As a final assessment, students synthesize what they have learned by creating a comprehensive definition of global citizenship, and develop an action plan to address the global issue they have researched.