3 - Fairtrade Debate
In this lesson students debate the quote "Fairtrade is an instrument of justice."
Curriculum Links
This lesson plan has links to Curriculum aims and programmes of study in Citizenship, English and Geography.
Learning Objective
To debate the motion 'Fairtrade is an instrument of justice'
Learning Outcome
To be able to communicate an argument on Fairtrade, taking account of different viewpoints and drawing on research, action and debate.
Resources Needed
ICT and library access.
Preparation
Students can be asked to research reasons for/against Fairtrade before activity
Starter
In pairs, students think of ways to explain the concept of 'Fairtrade' to an alien who has just landed from outer space.
Main Activity
Write the quote 'Fairtrade is an instrument of justice' on the board and invite the class to explain what they think it means. Take a quick straw poll – how many of the class agree with this statement?
Split the class into groups of 3 ensuring there are equal numbers of groups. Explain that they are going to have a formal debate following the following protocol.
Two teams debate against each other:
1. The proposer of the motion (team 1, student 1)
2. The opposer of the motion (team 2, student 1)
3. The second (team 1, student 2) who argues against what the opposer has said
4. The second (team 2, student 2) who argues against student 2 of team 1
5. The summariser (team 1, student 3) who concludes their argument
6. The summariser (team 2, student 4) who concludes their argument
Each student has only 2 minutes to speak and must use evidence to back up their arguments, either from the producer stories or from their own research.
Download documents:
Download documents in Welsh:
The following websites will be useful starting points for researching Fairtrade.
The Fairtrade Foundation www.fairtrade.org.uk
Traidcraft www.traidcraft.co.uk
Oxfam www.maketradefair.com
People & Planet www.peopleandplanet.org/tradejustice
Trade Justice Movement www.tjm.org.uk
Points for students to consider:
• How would you define 'justice'?
• What difference does Fairtrade make to producers and their communities?
• What 'justice' does Fairtrade bring to producers in poorer countries?
• What would happen to farmers if they did not have Fairtrade? Would their lives be any different? How/why?
• Would different people have different perspectives on this quote? e.g. do we, as consumers, believe that Fairtrade is an instrument of justice? Do supermarkets? Governments? Whose opinion is most important (if any)?
Plenary
Look back at the statement 'Fairtrade is an instrument of justice'. Draw/mark a line in the classroom. One end of the line is the 'totally agree' end, the opposite end is the 'absolutely disagree' end. The middle of the line is a neutral area. Ask students to stand at a place on the line which represents how they feel about the statement. Has their opinion been altered by the research and debate they’ve carried out in the lesson?