About this Collection
What do I want to find out?
What pupils understand by the term ‘fair’ and how developed their understanding of justice is. Do they think injustice is inevitable?
What do I need?
- An opinion scale:
| very unfair | unfair | neither | fair | very fair |
- Cards with a selection of the following statements, one statement per card:
| Prizes are given to the children who work hardest | The teachers spends an equal amount of time with each child | Rich people have bigger carbon footprints | Many children work on cocoa plantations as slaves |
| Prizes are given to the children who run fastest | All the money in the world is shared out equally | Rich people can pay for better health care | Children working on cocoa plantations have never tasted chocolate |
| Prizes are given to the children who are cleverest | Children bring all their toys to school. These are then shared out equally | The Chief Executive of Nestle earns £8 million per year | In Britain we eat on average 11 kg of chocolate each year. |
| All children get the same grade for their work | Some people are luckier than others | Life expectancy in Ghana is 64 years and 80 years in the UK | Many cocoa plantation workers earn less than 6p per hour |
| Some poor people work harder than some rich people |
What do I do?
Timing: 10 minutes plus discussion
- With pupils in groups, ask them to place the statements you have chosen on the opinion scale.
- Listen carefully to their discussion and justification for their choices.
- Take photos to record where they have placed each statement.
How do I analyse the results?
- Looking at the photos, use the following to give each statement a score: very unfair (1), quite unfair (2), nether fair nor unfair (3), quite fair (4), very fair (5).
- Do pupils’ discussions and justifications correspond to where they agree to place the statements?
- To what extent is there a difference between how pupils respond to more and less familiar situations? Which statements have the highest and lowest scores? Do any patterns emerge?
How do I measure the change?
- Repeat the activity using a different selection of statements. Compare the Do pupils’ responses suggest they think ‘fair’ means the same as ‘equal’?
- Look for evidence that pupils are more comfortable with the concepts and language of “rights” and “justice”.
- Are pupils now more prepared to express ideas about how unfairness can be reduced?
- To what extent do they show a willingness to take action, or do their responses suggest they believe injustice to be inevitable?