Teaching Sequence

Work through this resource in the following sequence:

10 mins

Tune In: Where do I stand?

35 mins

Find Out: Investigating perspectives

15 mins

Take Action: Now where do I stand?

5 mins

Reflection

Tune In: Where do I stand?

Step 1

Ask students to stand up. Use the length of a wall or across the classroom as a spectrum.

Explain that this lesson is about understanding how people and countries support charitable giving. Students are going to stand to one side as ‘Agree’, the other side as ‘Disagree’, and a position in the middle as ‘Unsure’ as you read 4 statements from Peter Singer’s book The Life You Can Save (Chapter 2, page 19).

Reassure students that there are no wrong responses to these statements, but students should think carefully about why they have a certain response. These are statements that address ethical issues. People might feel uncomfortable when asked to examine their stance on an issue or question their ethical position.

Step 2

Students move to a position along the spectrum once you read each statement:

First premise: Suffering and death from lack of food, shelter, and medical care are bad.

Check with some students on why they are standing where they are.

Second premise: If it is in your power to prevent something bad from happening without sacrificing anything nearly as important, it is wrong not to do so.

This premise is a little more complex. Check with students on what they’re thinking about their choice, as there may be experiences or nuances that could influence a student’s decision. For example, you may like to clarify their interpretation of ‘something bad’ or what constitutes a ‘sacrifice nearly as important.’

Third premise: By giving to effective nonprofits, you can prevent suffering and death from lack of food, shelter, and medical care without sacrificing anything nearly as important.

Check with students about their understanding or experience with this statement, including their perception of ‘effective nonprofits and what a sacrifice would be (such as the scale of a gift).

Conclusion: Therefore, if you do not give to effective nonprofits, you are doing something wrong.

This is a challenging statement—reassure students that feeling awkward about this statement is entirely natural.

Step 3

Ask students to return to their seats. Ask the class for feedback on how it felt to make a choice based on those statements.

Explain that the students are quite representative of how other people feel. You could also share some of these reasons Why People Don’t Donate to Charities from The Life You Can Save.

Briefly clarify that this exercise challenges our ethics. Ethics are moral principles that often govern a person’s behaviour about right and wrong, good and bad, fairness, or obligations to others. The ‘ethics of giving’ is a good example of this.

Explain that students should try to remember how they feel now and where they stand, as we will be returning to these statements after we have investigated more detailed reasoning from The Life You Can Save.

Find Out: Investigating perspectives

To give some context around this Find Out and the resources students will use in the following steps, you might like to explain to your students that this lesson builds off of the work of an organisation called The Life You Can Save. The Life You Can Save works to eliminate poverty. They conduct research to identify nonprofits running highly impactful programs that address the multiple dimensions of poverty. They also help connect people who want to donate money and resources with these nonprofits to maximise the impact of their gifts. They aim to create a world where everyone has an opportunity to build a great life and where there’s no suffering or death due to extreme poverty.

Step 1

Explain to students that they will explore and evaluate the ethical arguments from Peter Singer’s The Life You Can Save that address some common challenges in encouraging people to be charitable. The students will be reading excerpts from Chapter 3 of the book. For this task to work, the class will need to work together in sharing different sections and capturing their insights.

Students will need access to a digital copy Chapter 2 and 3 of The Life You Can Save or (if printing) a couple of copies so that pages can be shared amongst students.

Step 2

Explain to students that they will now consider some of the ‘Common Objections to Giving’ found in Chapter 3.

Students will be grouped into 9 pairs, or some triads. If you do not have 18 students in your class, some of the allocations below are shorter (see points #4, #7, #9) and, therefore, could be completed by a single student.

Allocate one of the following sections of the chapter to each group. These are also noted on the Student Worksheet:

There is no black-and-white universal code for everyone. It is better to accept that everyone has a different view on the issue, and all people are entitled to follow their own beliefs (pages 29-33).

While we are responsible for the evils we inflict on others, we do not owe something to those to whom we have done nothing wrong (pages 33-38).
We are a generous nation. Our government is already giving more than our share of foreign aid, and we are paying for that through our taxes. Isn’t that sufficient (pages 38-42)? Note: this section also includes graphs on international data, which would require more critical thinking from students.
Philanthropy is just a band-aid, addressing the symptoms but not the causes of extreme poverty (pages 42-44).
Giving people money or food breeds dependency (pages 44-46).
Cash is the seedcorn of capitalism. Giving it away will reduce future growth (pages 46-53).
Aren’t we just pouring money down a black hole (pages 53-55)?
There Are Too Many People Already! (pages 55-59)
How can I know that my gift will reach the people who I want to help and make a positive difference in their lives (pages 59-60)?

Step 3

Once chapters have been allocated, spend 5 minutes reading through each chapter title to ensure students understand the meaning of each objection.

Step 4

Suggest students use the ‘Take Note’ strategy (from Harvard Project Zero) to read, comprehend and consolidate their understanding of this chapter. This is also explained on the Student Worksheet.

After reading their assigned section, students should write some notes on:

What is the most important point?
What are you finding challenging, puzzling or difficult to understand?

Are there any questions you would like to discuss?
What is something you found interesting?

Step 5

Having written their own notes on the section they’ve read, students are to work in their groups to refine their collective responses. This task could be completed using sticky notes (ie 4 sticky notes per group, one for each question). Provide 4 sticky notes to each group and ask them to write their collective response on each one in clear handwriting.

You could also set up a shared document, or a Google Jamboard, Padlet, or similar, and ask students to enter their collective responses online via one device, but you will need to ensure that the 4 questions above are listed as separate sections so student groups can assign their responses.

Step 6

Find a space in the classroom where students can group their sticky notes together, either on a wall or on some desks at the front of the room. Ensure that the wall or desks are marked with questions 1, 2, 3, and 4 (with a sticky note, for example) so students know where to stick their notes. Alternatively, check that students have grouped their responses if the task was completed online.

Step 7

Once the student groups have posted their notes, provide them time to complete a Learning Walk, carefully reading their peers’ responses.

It’s a good idea to take photographs so that you and your students have a record of their peers’ thinking, and you can revisit this content again.

Take Action: Now where do I stand?

Step 1

At the wall or desks (or online) where the different collective responses are collated, spend a couple of minutes on each question and the grouped responses to ask students what they noticed:

Are there any patterns in the responses?
What surprises you?
What questions do you think are most challenging?

Inquire with students: How have the collective note-taking and insights affected your thinking about charitable giving?

Step 2

Explain that the final task is to repeat the spectrum activity from the beginning of the lesson by moving somewhere along the wall or across the room based on ‘Agree, Disagree, or Unsure’ to the premises below, but this time only 3 of the 4.

To add a point of difference, explain that you will seek clarifications:

For each of the objections we looked at, which of these premises is it arguing against most?

Students move to a position along the spectrum once you’ve read each statement:

Second premise: If it is in your power to prevent something bad from happening without sacrificing anything nearly as important, it is wrong not to do so.

Inquire with students about any new insights that emerged from our readings and note-taking.

Third premise: By giving to effective charitable organisations, you can prevent suffering and death from lack of food, shelter, and medical care without sacrificing anything nearly as important.

Conclusion: Therefore, if you do not give to effective charitable organisations, you are doing something wrong.

Do students feel any different about this now?

Extension opportunity:

It might help to reinforce the understanding of how perceptions of heroism and taking a stand can shift by showing this video (2 minutes) by The Life You Can Save Co-founder Charlie Bresler:

You Don’t Have to be Brave to Save Lives (www.youtube.com/watch?v=xnXu9y0YxAQ)

Reflection

Prompt students to reflect on what they have learned through this process.

Using the ‘I used to think… but now I think….’ sentence stems, encourage students to share how their thinking has shifted from this learning experience.

This could be completed as part of a homework task or as the starting task of the next lesson.

Whole Class Extension Opportunity

Get your class involved in Charity Elections, where high school students research, discuss and reflect on three non-profits before voting to decide which will receive up to $2,000 in sponsored funds. Refer to the Teacher Content Information for this lesson for more information

Where Do I Stand on Charitable Giving?

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