Introduction to Human Rights (GCSE Citizenship)

A ready to use GCSE Citizenship lesson suitable for all exam boards. Ideally made for GCSE level, however it can still be used in schools where GCSE Citizenship is not an option, yet there is some element of Citizenship education. (To be used from year 9 onwards in this instance)

This lesson serves as an introduction to the concept of rights and the history of human rights. To be used as a starting point for students before delving into specific rights and legislation necessary for the GCSE Specifications. The lesson includes 60 minutes worth of high-quality teaching and learning materials and tasks that challenge debate and critical thinking to evaluate the importance of human rights in modern society. The lesson includes an overview of the conventions/laws pertaining to human rights with a comparative focus on the ECHR, UDHR and the HRA. Students learn to categorise the rights into the groups; political, social, economic, legal and moral rights. Students are also challenged to consider if some rights are worth more than others through a fun buy your rights task’ in a Dystopian world scenario. Students are encouraged to debate who should protect and safeguard rights with an introductory look at the role of Government and global institutions such s the EU and UN. Students have to pre-empt the responsibilities that match certain human rights whilst evaluating situations when our rights can be temporarily infringed or restricted. Lastly, students explore real life historical and modern events/case studies to identify which rights have been violated. There is an optional research-based homework task also that you can set. All resources included made using Publisher or PPT.

Learning Intentions:
-I can define human rights
-I can categorise human rights
-I can prioritise human rights using justification.

PowerPoint and resources are in comic sans, with size 14 font and slides have a yellow background to ensure that it is SEN inclusive. The lesson includes differentiated learning tasks that challenge students to be critical thinkers. The lesson includes assessment for learning opportunities and includes has teacher notes with suggested teaching ideas and questioning. It also includes suggested timings. The Lesson and resources are non-specialist friendly and ideal for Early Careers Teachers teaching Citizenship for the first time.

Not for resale. Teach With ONLY — copy, edit and provide the licensed material to those students you teach in any medium or format for the purpose of educating them and/or their private study.