Can we change something?

“Can we change something?” A cooperative learning activity for 14 plus  learners. All materials and instructions for teachers are included.

Life in a diverse society: How does the individual influence society and society the individual?

People in society can have the feeling that as individuals they don’t have the opportunity to be active participants in societal development and change.  Young people and adults may experience or witness discrimination, injustice, bullying and prejudice, even though they don’t agree with it.

The aim of this activity is to increase the intercultural competence of learners by dealing with sensitive matters like prejudice, migration, discrimination, racism and other social injustices in an objective and safe way.

The cooperative learning activity “Can we change something?” is based on the Cooperative Learning in Multicultural Groups (CLIM). The impact of the activity should be to deepen learners understanding of the issues connected with the diverse society that they are part of. Central to CLIM methodology is the provision of opportunities for learners to engage and  interact with one another at the same time as they discover and discuss important matters from different points of view. A key aim of this unit is that learners understand that each individual has something to contribute and can influence societal development within democratic systems.

A range of issues related to intercultural society are examined with the main questions for learners being:

·      can we change something ?

·      how can the individual influence the society they live in?

·      how does the society influence the individuals?

The unit is ideal for use in life skills, citizenship and social subjects.

A CLIM–unit consists of seven lessons. The first lesson is an introductory one. The last is a synthesis lesson and five activity lessons are organised between these introductory and synthesis lessons. The five activity lessons all look at the main topic explained above from five different perspectives and as the group activities rotate, all learners go through all tasks and so the learning deepens. To understand the CLIM methodology better, you can find further information about in the book available on this site “Diverse Society – Diverse Classroom”, Guðrún Pétursdóttir, 2018.