Unit 9 (Primary school, Class 9) – Why must we obey rules?

A  Lesson plan

B  Background and educational objectives

An important principle running through all our units on children’s rights is “learning from experience – learning by example”. This also applies to school rules and laws generally. School is life, and can be seen as a small image of society. School rules function in a similar way as laws do in the political community, which is to serve the community and to protect human rights.

Examined more closely, parallels – but also differ­ences – between the rules at school and the laws of the political community become apparent:

Paralleles:

• No community can survive without an agree­ment among its members to obey laws.
• Laws protect the weak. Laws are instruments to implement human and children’s rights.
• Laws need to be enforced, but this should be the exception. They will only work if they are generally understood and accepted. Therefore laws need to be fair.

Differences between school and the political community:

• Making and enforcing laws is an exercise of power. Power must be subject to control. Laws therefore need to adhere to the principles of human rights, and the power to make laws and to enforce them needs to be divided and con­trolled in a democratic community. In the case of the political community, there are exact rules as to which body is entitled to make a law.
• Within the school community, the responsibility for defining school rules and enforcing them rests with the school principal and the staff. However (as with laws in the community), school rules should be open for discussion in the light of children’s rights, and pupils need to understand and appreciate the need for school rules.

Pedagogical approach: The lessons follow a pat­tern of expanding concentric circles. Lesson 1 looks at a specific incident of a rule at school being enforced after it has been violated. Lesson 2 deals with the question of which purpose school rules serve, and offers the answer that school serves certain rights of the child, and school rules are important tools for a school to function well. Lesson 3 moves beyond the horizon of school ex­perience and looks at rules in other spheres of life. Lesson 4 finally draws a line from rules to laws, and asks who should have the power to impose laws that we all are expected to obey.

C  Key questions for reflection on Unit 9

D  Procedure

Preparation for lesson 1

About a week before the first lesson, the teacher gives the pupils the following task: Collect infor­mation on a recent case in which school rules have been broken and a pupil has been repri­manded or punished (if possible, it should be based on a case from our school or community, but other examples are allowed). Make notes using this brief set of standardised questions:

Lesson 1: A pupil in trouble (case study)

Introduction (the pupils sit at tables arranged for group work): Some pupils report on their research on the case in question. The class should decide on a case, that they would like to study in more depth (if possible, a case from the immediate so­cial environment, so that pupils understand the context already and do not have to learn about this).

Discussion: Now the class should try to identify the problem underlying the case in question. This makes it necessary to recur to a school rule and interpret it. The teacher invites the pupils to come forward with their comments (possibly after having made notes first). Depending on the case, their views may diverge, or they may agree (for ex­ample, “It was quite right to do something”, or, “I think this punishment is rather unfair/too tough”). Finally, the teacher asks a pupil to sum up the comments that have been made.

Summary by the teacher: If we scratch away at the surface of such a case, quite often, some pretty complex issues present themselves. These have to be examined in more detail in order to under­stand the case in all its aspects.

The teacher hands out the following worksheet, which is to be used as a basis of discussing and working on the chosen case (in groups of approx. four pupils).

Of course, the worksheet may be modified or ex­tended in the plenary if necessary.

The groups choose a spokesperson and possibly further roles (time keeper etc.). Then the group members discuss the case and note all their ideas down on the hand-outs provided. In particular, they discuss questions 4 and 7, because they ad­dress the core issue surrounding the problem.

For the remaining time: Each group decides on the form and contents of their answers to ques­tions 4 and 7 for their chosen spokesperson to present to the class during the next lesson.

Lesson 2: Why does a school have rules? (duration: approx. 1 ½ lessons)

Presentations, then discussion on last lesson’s task: A spokesperson from each group presents the answers to questions 4 and 7. After this, a dis­cussion is held.

Stimulus:

• What do the groups agree on? Where do the opinions differ?
• What did I like? What do I agree with? What didn’t bother me? What did I find unaccept­able? Why?

In general, the pupils’ findings (supported by the teacher) should be: We all enjoy basic human and civil rights that must also be respected in school. To enable school to uphold these rights, certain conditions need to be observed. The teacher or a pupil might sum up this idea as follows: A school is a place where many people, both young and old, meet and work together. This needs to be or­ganised, which requires rules, including the one that lessons should begin and end on time with everyone, including the teacher, present in the classroom. In addition to this, school is directly re­sponsible for some of the most important chil­dren’s rights: first and foremost, the right to edu­cation.

Input and discussion focussing on the right to education: Where has this right been laid down?

Discussion that can be supported by the teacher giving a brief lecture on the rights of the child and their relevance for school life. The following work-sheet can be used, which can also be enlarged e.g. on a flipchart or on the projector:

Input and discussion on the theme “Observing school rules from the perspective of children’s rights: Why does a school have rules?”

The teacher writes this theme on the board: “Why does a school have rules?” He or she distributes a copy of the school or class rules, a felt tip pen and a piece of flip chart paper. The teacher then ex­plains the task:

• Form groups of four. At first, each person will work on his or her own. Read the school rules. Try, wherever possible, to make connections between the school rules and children’s rights.
• Then work as a team. Exchange your ideas and try to decide on which school rule corre­lates to which children’s right. Write your re­sults down.
• Take the worksheet “Why does a school have rules?” and link the articles of the children’s rights convention to the correlating rules of your school or class.
• Elect two spokespeople to present your results to the class.

The pupils present their results in class. The teacher insists on sound reasoning, both in the presentation and in any discussion that may arise.

In the last five minutes of the lesson, the teacher draws the attention of the class to the topic of the lesson, the question on the board: Why does a school have rules? (The pupils may be expected to sum up the result of the lesson with an answer such as: “School serves the right of every child and adolescent to be educated,” or: “School rules are there to ensure that school runs smoothly and effectively to perform its purpose,” etc.)

Task 1, possibly as the conclusion of this lesson: Write a summary of what you have learned in a few sentences a) on the theme “(A school) without rules…” and b) on the question “Why does school have rules?”.

Task 2 (Homework, to be copied as a worksheet separately or on the back of the previous work-sheet):

Lesson 3: Who makes rules in life?

The teacher asks pupils, as experts, to read ex­amples from their homework (see above), includ­ing examples of both formal and informal rules.

The teacher then selects two examples and writes them on the board by filling in a table that has al­ready been prepared, e.g.:

The teacher invites the pupils to voice their thoughts on the two empty columns as well as on the sanctions they think would be needed in the case of a rule being broken. (The traffic rule – in fact a law – will prove quite straightforward: it is set by the Ministry of Traffic (draft) and parliament (legislation), enforced by the police and, if neces­sary, the law courts (e.g. with fines). More difficult (but perhaps more interesting for the sake of dis­cussion) are the unwritten rules e.g. not to belch at the table; the sanctions here are specific to family and culture. The teacher should give the pupils the opportunity to act as experts by asking many pupils to participate in the plenary discussion. The infor­mation is then added to the table.

The pupils form groups of four or five. Task: Share your examples of informal rules on your work-sheets and find out how these rules are enforced and how breaking these rules is sanctioned. In ad­dition: Are there rules that are specific to gender, norms or even laws?

The results are gathered together in the plenary session. Possible points to focus on during the dis­cussion:

• Type and ranking of unwritten rules within the peer group (with examples)
• Who defines or modifies unwritten rules and sanctions in the case of a law being broken?
• Gender specific unwritten rules
• Which possibilities do we have to define or mod­ify rules? When and where can we have a say?

Lesson 4: Who should be allowed to set up laws? (Rules for setting up laws)

The lesson is opened with a review of the last les­son’s findings, where the pupils had looked at in­formal rules and laws. In this lesson, they now take a closer look at how laws should be made.

Stimulus: The teacher gives the following “ex­ample” of a law (written or projected on the board):

Discussion: The pupils may comment freely, prompted if necessary by a few open questions. Their ideas might focus on points such as these:

• This law is unjust, as it is a violation of the princi­ple of non-discrimination.
• It discriminates against various groups (all women, not only women born in April).
• It serves the interests of a small group of people, namely men born in April.
• Laws must serve the good of all. Therefore such laws must be prevented.
• Unjust laws will cause conflict in a community and may even destroy it.

Pupils form groups of four or five. Task: The pupils should discuss which rules and principles are nec­essary to offer protection against unfair legislation. Agree on no more than three key elements for a subsequent presentation.

Presentation, discussion, comparison in the ple­nary session.

Who actually makes the laws in our country? Gathering of pupils’ prior knowledge; summarising input/short presentation by the teacher. Main issues: The constitution encompasses human rights, including the principles of equality and per­sonal liberty. It also contains a section that defines who may set up laws; in most states this is a body of representatives who pass laws by majority vote. These representatives must stand for election and are therefore subject to control by the citizens. Some laws are set up by direct vote at the ballot box.

Possibly a concluding discussion with a review of what has been learned in this unit and a look at the future prospects of living as a young adult in a society shaped by norms and laws.