Planning Considerations:
I incorporated the "Feeling and Options" and "Taking a Stand" protocols into my 7th Grade U.S. Studies classroom. I combined elements of these two protocols because they both ask students to consider a moral or ethical dilemma. I, then, selected questions that I thought fit best with my learning objectives. Starting with the questions from the "Feelings and Options" protocol, students were asked to define differing perspectives on a situation, the challenges that different individuals would be facing, and how they would be feeling in the scenario. Then, students were to consider options that individuals may have. I then moved into the "Taking a Stand" protocol by asking students to take a stand on a dilemma, share their perspectives with classmates, and think about things they had not yet considered. After that, students were given "complicating factors" that made them rethink the situation.
These protocols are flexible and based on decisions by the individual teacher. They can be pared down to fit into 20 - 30 minutes or could be extended to fill a whole class period. Asking students to work in groups is essential for this lesson because students need to consider multiple perspectives other than their own.
Materials:
I did this assignment during my unit on Civil Rights focusing the dilemma on the 1963 Children's March in Birmingham, Alabama. This is the assignment sheet that students used where I modified the protocols to fit my lesson. This lesson could be easily adapted to fit any moral dilemma, real or fictional.
Standards alignment:
MN 7th Grade Social Studies Standards:
7.4.18.4 Trace the origins of the Long Civil Rights Movement by identifying key events and explaining their significance.
7.5.24.1 Examine the goals and actions of the community groups. Organizations and other freedom movements that fought against injustices (i.e. local, national and global).
7.1.1.1 Participate in civil discourse on issues in the contemporary United States and evaluate arguments, including identifying pros and cons.
Student Examples:
Recommendations:
Parts of this activity required more teacher-directed instruction than others. I read through the moral dilemma with my students and then we worked as a class to identify the different people involved in the scenario and the challenges each faced. I asked students to help come up with these, however, I think if I had left this portion to students individually, there would have been varying results. If this portion is not done well, the rest of the activity may fall apart, so I highly recommend guiding students through the first steps.
I also would recommend creating the “complicating factors” scenarios for any of the moral dilemmas that you use. This helps students see that not all situations are as simple as they initially appear. Their perspective-taking ability is strengthened when they think about a situation from multiple angles.
Reflection:
Overall, this activity was highly engaging for students. It really got the students to think of a single event or situation from multiple perspectives. For the most part, the students were actively working to take on the perspectives of others, however some of the groups were functioning better than others. I initially grouped students in groups of four. Going forward, I think I would start with students working with a partner before placing them in a group of four. This will allow quieter students a chance to participate early on in the process.
These protocols can be applied to moral dilemmas as any scale - local, national, or global - or at any time. It could be used for historical or current events. Because of this, it easily facilitates global learning.