Purpose of this WebQuest
This WebQuest was aimed at developing an awareness in students about
the Rights of the Child, why they need addressing and what they can do to help.
Students
are to investigate two Global issues, an Australian issue and a school-based
issue.
Four Rights of the Child are investigated by the four teams:
- Number 4 - "You have a right to
special care and protection and to good food, housing and medical services." Example:
Poverty (Titans)
- Number 6 - "You have the right to love
and understanding, preferably from parents and family, but from the government where these
cannot help." Example: Stolen Generation (Amazons)
- Number 7 - "You have the right to go to
school for free, to play and to have an equal chance to develop yourself and to learn to
be responsible and useful." Example: Bullying (Supersonics)
- Number 9 - "You have the right to be
protected against cruel acts or exploitation, eg you shall not be obliged to do work which
hinders your development both physically and mentally". Example: Child Labour
(Furies)
Through this WebQuest, children are
provoked into considering where they stand on social issues and forming opinions about
what they believe.
Hopefully, by the end of
this WebQuest students have started to develop an understanding of their own values,
beliefs and a sense of what they can do on a local school, Australian and Global level
about these rights.
Overview
This WebQuest follows the story of the student who dreams about entering the
world of the "Champions of Justice" - a comic world. They must decide who they
will protect and why.
To help students work this
out, they investigate what they and their friends value, they team up to study a specific
right of the child, and they share their "Right of the Child" with other members
of the class with a piece of art work and a performance: puppet play, song,
commercial or pantomime.
When they are finished they
will have a better understanding of the Rights of the Child throughout the world but also
how these apply to their own classroom, school and country, of what they believe in and
why. They are to hold a Children's Parliament and decide what action they
can do.
Learners/Age Level
This WebQuest is designed for students in middle school (Years Five to
Eight, Years 5 - 8, Stages 3 - 4 NSW Australia) though it can easily be extended for other levels.
Key Learning Areas (Subjects)
This integrated WebQuest is primarily a social justice unit, which can be
used in Personal Development, Social Studies (Studies of Society and
the Environment SOSE/Human
Society and Its Environment -
HSIE), Religious
Education and Values (R.E), Values Education, English
and the Arts.
Curriculum Standards
This WebQuest covers the
following Curriculum Standards taken from the NSW Board of Studies K - 6:
Knowledge and Understandings:
Change and continuity; Cultures; Environments; and, Social systems and
structures.
Values and Attitudes: Social
Justice; Intercultural understanding; Democratic processes; Beliefs and
moral codes; and, Lifelong learning.
Skills: Acquiring information;
Using an inquiry process; and, Social and civic participation.
(Source:
NSW Board of Studies K - 6 Curriculum Documents)
This WebQuest covers the
following Curriculum Standards taken from the NSW Board of Studies 7 - 10:
Knowledge:
acquire knowledge and understandings of social behaviours, processes and
institutions with emphasis on Australian society; develop an understanding
of appropriate concepts: change, class, community, conflict, culture,
function, group, institution, locality, organisation, power, process, role,
self, society, status, structure and system; develop an understanding of the
interaction between Australian society and the global community.
Skills:
identify and clarify social issues; search for data; organise data;
interpret data; analyse information; evaluate evidence; make value
judgements; communicate understanding and judgements; plan with others and
participate productively in group discussion.
Values:
an awareness of values expressed or implied in Australian and other
societies; an awareness of their own values; an ability to identify and make
value judgments which are based on evidence, logic and belief; patterns of
responsible action based on the values they hold and the decisions they
make; appreciation that clarification of values is rarely straightforward
and that differences and conflicts of opinions, beliefs and attitudes will
arise; sensitivity to the needs, values and behaviour patterns of others; a
sense of individual, group, national and international identity.
(Source:
NSW Board of Studies 7 - 10 Curriculum Documents)
Assessment
Throughout this WebQuest, students will participate in individual, pair,
small group and large group activities. They will also have an opportunity
to read, talk, listen and write. Click here
for a rubric on how to assess this WebQuest.
Preceding Tasks
A possible introduction to this unit may be to read some relevant
newspaper articles as a class.
Follow-up Ideas:
Websites to investigate
Investigate these websites for interactivity and information.
UN - Special Session on Children,
2002
The Global
Movement for Children
Extra Resources
General
United Nations: Special Session on
Children
The gathering will present a great opportunity to change the way the
world views and treats children.
Australia's
Report to the UN: For Teachers- PDF 97Kbps
4: Poverty (Titans)
Brotherhood of St Laurence
- Poverty Information Sheets
The information sheets provide information about poverty in Australia in a
question and answer format.
Child Poverty Across the
Industrialised World
This article from Bruce Bradbury of the University of New South Wales
presents results of research which compares child poverty in countries
throughout the developed world.
Poverty Reduction
ADB, Asian Development Bank shows its vision of an Asian and Pacific Region
that is free of poverty. ADB's poverty reduction strategy
paper spells out the steps to be taken to support development of specific
poverty reduction strategies for each borrowing country.
World Bank
World Bank web site developed to provide resources for
people and organizations working to understand and alleviate poverty.
6: Stolen Generation (Amazons)
Aboriginal Stolen
Generation: PL Duffy Resource Centre, Trinity College, WA - lots of
resources
Australian
Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission - Bringing Them Home Report
Parliament of
Australia: Parliamentary Library: The Stolen Generation
7: Bullying (Supersonics)
Bullying
Resources: PL Duffy Resource Centre, Trinity College WA
Bullying: No Way!
Parenting and Child Health: Bullying
9. Child Labour (Furies)
Child Labor Coalition
American
Federation of Teachers: Child Labor Resources
American Federation of Teachers: Child Labor
Human
Rights Watch: Child Labor
  
|
