Thinking Deeply About Citizenship - What It Means To Be A Good Citizen [P4C - Philosophy Lesson]

This ‘Fun Philosophy Lesson’ is focused on philosophical and ethical debates around the nature of citizenship. This resource is suitable for students aged 8-16 and is especially useful for Citizenship, Social Studies, Civics, PSHE, and Philosophy classrooms. It is also an ideal teaching resource for enhancing your school’s SMSC (Spiritual, Moral, Social, & Cultural) education remit. As with all our resources: it can be used by teachers and educators who work in any country: it is not designed around any one country’s political system or conception of citizenship.

This interactive multi-use learning session is of particular interest to teachers of Civics, Philosophy, Ethics and Citizenship. It focuses on a wide range of topics, including:

• What it means to be a good citizen
• The rights and responsibilities of citizens
• The balance between individual freedoms and societal needs
• The role of government in shaping citizenship
• Ethical dilemmas in modern citizenship
   
  We’ve aimed to cover as many engaging philosophical and ethical issues as possible to help young learners debate and discuss what it means to be an active and responsible citizen in their community and the world!

The big question asked in this session is, “What does it mean to be a good citizen?” Using a variety of engaging activities, students will discuss and debate other thought-provoking philosophical and ethical questions, such as:

• Is it more important to follow laws or to stand up for what you believe is right?

• Should citizens always obey the government?

• What responsibilities do we have to others in our community?

• Is it ever okay to break the law to protect others?

• How can we balance personal freedom with the needs of society?
   
  Students will also analyse and evaluate a wide range of philosophical and ethical claims, such as:

• “Good citizens should always tell the truth.”

• “Citizens should have the right to break unjust laws.”

• “Helping others is the most important part of being a good citizen.”

• “A good citizen cares about future generations more than their own.”

• “Freedom of speech is more important than protecting people from harm.”
   
  This session uses our unique format for philosophy teaching resources and features an integrated menu that allows teachers to select from a variety of starter, main, plenary, assessment, and end-of-lesson reflection activities. With a diverse selection of activities designed to trigger philosophical discussions, debates, and reflections, the resource can be re-used multiple times with the same group. For teachers interested in running P4C (Philosophy for Children) sessions, these resources are ideal!

The file is a non-editable PowerPoint Show: no planning or preparation is required. Simply run the file, and the intuitive menu system will make delivering a powerful philosophy session easy!