

Overview
About This Lesson
This lesson is designed to help students develop their critical thinking skills, empathy and civic agency. It provides space for students to further explore the impacts of racism in the present day: how it affects both how people are treated and how society is structured.
In Part I of this lesson, students reflect on social inequality and consider the factors, social institutions and social categories that contribute to such inequality, before exploring how systemic racism can impact school policies and the treatment of people of colour in the criminal justice system. In Part II of this lesson, students learn about some impacts of, and responses to, racism in society, focusing on the act of ‘taking the knee’.
These topics may be difficult for some students to discuss, especially if they have been directly impacted by them. It is, therefore, essential to create a safe and reflective classroom by using contracting or completing the first lesson in this series: Preparing to Discuss Race in the Classroom, if you have not already done so. When discussing sensitive topics, it is vital to communicate to students that they do not need to share information about themselves and their experiences which they do not feel comfortable sharing: they should always have a choice about what they do or do not divulge.
Preparing to Teach
A Note to Teachers
Before you teach this lesson, please review the following guidance to tailor this lesson to your students’ contexts.
Lesson Plans
Part I Activities
Part II Activities
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