Lesson Plan 4: Reaching Consensus

How does this fit into the National Curriculum? To participate effectively as members of different groups, pupils should be taught to make different types of contributions to groups, adapting their speech to their listeners and the activity (EN1 3a); to take different views into account and modify their own views in the light of what other people might say (3b); help the group to complete its task by varying contributions appropriately, clarifying and synthesising others' ideas, taking them forward and building on them to reach conclusions, negotiating consensus or agreeing to differ (3e).

Teachers' Note: This lesson plan is intended to help pupils learn some debating skills. Appoint four 'facilitators' whose job it is to move discussions along should they get stuck and to summarise points made. It is their job to reach a conclusion that the majority of people are happy with. Your job as teacher is to stop the debate getting too heated, and to encourage each member of the class to put forward their own views.

A choice of stimulating debating subjects is given below. Happy debating!

Animals should be given the right to live without being harmed by people.
People who kill animals should be treated as though they have killed a person.
If we think it is OK to eat meat we should kill the animal ourselves.
All sports where animals are or could be harmed should be banned (hunting, shooting, fishing, hare coursing, greyhound racing, horse racing).
Given the number of stray cats and dogs, people should be banned from breeding more of them.
Are we hypocritical to condemn those who eat dogs and cats while we eat pigs and sheep?
Is meat murder?
Is speciesism as bad as racism and sexism?