I hear a lot of politicians, reformers, and even educational administrators talk about the importance of preparing students for the marketplace. I appreciate being reminded that this is not education’s ultimate goal.

I think this is an effective way to get students to look at the ramifications of their consumption, and it also serves as a powerful reminder that slavery is not a thing of the past. I would absolutely use this in class, perhaps following it up with a reflective writing assignment.

Thanks Larry

If I were doing a unit on business or the economy, I would absolutely use materials from this site. Many of the readings are fairly short, and the language is pretty down to earth.

Thank Tom (via IATEFL’s GISIG)

In addition to the lesson plans, DGPE offers links to a lot of educational resources on the environment, human rights, development and peace and justice. Many of the resources are reviewed but, strangely, they continue to be listed even if they are reviewed as “Not Useful”. See the review of EECOM (the fourth environmental resource) as an example.

The DGPE website also has information on seminars and courses, which might be of interest if you’re in the Ottawa area.

If one of the lesson plans catches your eye, please let us know in the comments!

The first is The Economics of Happiness.

This documentary links a number of global issues (climate change, terrorism, etc.) with personal issues (depression, loneliness, etc.). I haven’t seen the whole thing, but the trailer brings up a lot of great stuff: true cost economics, the wastefulness of our “efficiency” of scale, and the importance of local communities. For more information, there is a recent review in Yes Magazine.

The other movie (thanks Khalid) is I AM.

It’s directed by the director of The Nutty Professor and Ace Ventura and the trailer is a little melodramatic, but the premise is interesting. He went to a wide variety of people (including personal favorites like Howard Zinn and Noam Chomsky) and asked them two questions:

1. What’s wrong with the world?
2. What can we do about it?

The ultimate conclusion seems to be that we are all very interconnected, and that we find happiness and health through taking care of each other. I think both of these movies (or at least clips from them) would work well in a unit on happiness and global issues.

Alternatively, you can navigate starting with the product. In this case, the yellow numbered circles indicate how many countries use child or forced labor to produce it.

The information is important and well-researched, and it is organized in a very accessible way. I would certainly use it as part of a unit on child or forced labor, but I would also use it with more general units on business or shopping.

Thanks Larry

The lessons ask students to look at their own role in these issues, which I think is an important thing to do when addressing global issues. The readings are interesting, and not overly long or complicated. There is also a good variety of activities.

The only criticism I have is an apparent lack of awareness about issues relating to animals. For example, the handout “Hamburger, Fries and a Coke” in Unit 2 details the resources used in creating this stereotypically American meal. We are told about the fertilizer and water used for the grain to feed the cow, the gas used to ship the patties, and even about the poor working conditions at the slaughterhouse. At the same time, no mention is made of animal cruelty, the pollution runoff from factory farms, or the chemicals like hormones and antibiotics that the cows are pumped full of. To me, this is a strange omission.

Overall, though, I think this is a really useful set of lesson plans, and I’m not sure if the plan is to keep it free forever, so be sure to download it soon.

This website could also be used in critical thinking exercises, as students could parse out the different motivations behind the site, and look at the different ways these issues have been covered in mainstream and progressive media outlets.

There are two issues facing our nation–high unemployment and undocumented people in the workforce–that many Americans believe are related.

Missing from the debate on both issues is an honest recognition that the food we all eat – at home, in restaurants and workplace cafeterias (including those in the Capitol) – comes to us from the labor of undocumented farm workers.

If I were doing this in class, I might also bring in materials (like this or this) on the lives of undocumented workers in the slaughterhouse industry, inviting students to look further look at the food chain we currently rely on.

I haven’t used any of these materials yet, so to get a better understanding, I took a look at one topic in particular. I chose the 9-12 unit on Microfinance. The lesson plan itself is 37 pages, with detailed descriptions of the standards met, and several page-long readings on women and microfinance. It starts with a set of visual aids, a collection of photos and maps that help introduce the issues.

Next, students watch a short (2 min.) video clip profiling a woman in Aceh, Indonesia who is rebuilding her business after the tsunami. There is also a reading that gives additional information on her story, and discussion prompts are included with the visual aids. Many ideas for extension activities are also given, including reading graphs, understanding laws, and learning about gender inequality in the US.

The second part of the lesson uses a 2 min. interview with a woman from the International Food Policy Research Institute. She discusses how improving the economic status of woman also benefits children. Slides in the visual aids take students through a summarizing activity and a discussion of the U.N.’s Millennium Development Goals. Again, many extension activities are given.

Based on this lesson, I would absolutely look to use these materials in class. They are full of great vocabulary, and engaging activities. And I think the range in grade levels available would make it easy to find something that would work with a class at a variety of English proficiencies.

Via World727