Introduction
Buying consciously means helping people (By @danurwendho on unsplash.com)
Inequality within and among countries affects, among other fields, the labor standards. In 2017, the International Labor Organization (ILO) reported that there were 152 million children worldwide in child labor. In the same year, ILO also reported that 25 million people worldwide were in forced labor. These issues together with the denial of other fundamental labor rights are a daily problem all over the world. The activity consists in three steps: first of all, it gathers the ideas and opinions of the class through a brainstorming process; secondly, it provides an assessment of the current global state of affairs; and lastly, it proposes the creation of a handbook on how to be a conscious consumer. This activity aims at giving an educated understanding of inequality and the numerous issues that come with it and because of it, such as child labor, bonded labor, exploitation and underpaid work. The learners will be introduced to the main international organization dealing with these phenomena and the diverse issues that must be tackled in order to minimize the negative impact of inequality in the world. The learners will also assume an active role in trying to offer their contribution to the cause by getting informed on ethical and conscious practices of consumption. |
Learning Objectives
- The learner understands that inequality is a major driver for societal problems and individual dissatisfaction
- The learner is able to negotiate the rights of different groups based on shared values and ethical principles
- The learner is able to maintain a vision of a just and equal world
- The learner is able to identify and analyse different types of causes and reasons for inequalities
- Integrated problem-solving competency
- Critical thinking competency
- Self-awareness competency
Instructions
Step 1) Brainstorming (30 minutes) The teacher introduces the activity with a brainstorming on “fundamental workers’ rights”. The learners are asked to think about what are, in their opinion, the fundamental rights of labor and workers. Once the answers and opinion are gathered and shared with the whole class, the teacher proceeds to explain what the International Labor Organization is and what are the statements contained in the Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work with the support of video 1 and website 1. Step 2) Assessment (210 minutes) The teacher introduces a debate on the current issues concerning workers’ rights at a global level, asking the learners why they think this declaration exists. Building on the learners’ ideas, the teacher will explain the many problems linked to labor rights, such as:
Using, if desired, video number 2 listed under “Useful Resources”. At this point, the focus must shift towards a possible solution to the problem. The learners are asked to think about good practices one can put into practice in order to have a positive impact. The discussion should, with the teacher’s help, aim at the concept of “conscious consumer”. Learners are divided into groups of 4-6 people depending on class size and are asked to research on this concept as follows:
Learners’ results will be kept as a remainder on how to consume consciously and can be collected in a small guide and informative flyer to distribute inside the educational building and outside. Most importantly, each student must pick 3 to 5 habits/practices/”rules” that a person must follow to be the best conscious consumer. This will be important for the following section. - CALL TO ACTION 1 The learners will work all together to create the ultimate handbook on how to live and consume consciously, compiling all the habits/good practices/rules they found during their research. They will also organize a promotion day at the educational center for the launch of their handbook or an awareness day around the topics they worked on in order to spread the knowledge and the sensitivity they developed. The handbook can and should be made into virtual form and posted on social media for a wide distribution. - CALL TO ACTION 2 Make a list of the social entities in the city that work with vulnerable groups like immigrant people. Students choose the entity that most interests them and contact the facilitator with the lawyer of the selected entity. The lawyer who can carry out his activity professionally or voluntarily will be invited to the training centre so that students can hear the problems of this group in working situations. Each student will have to write down a fact or a phrase described by the lawyer that most interested him or her so that later on twitter (or other social media) the teacher (or the students) can share all the statements highlighted by the student. |
Notes for Educators
Estimated Total Duration: 4 hours + Call to Action
Step 1: Ask “what do you think can be considered fundamental workers’ rights?” to start the brainstorming. Suggested readings on ILO and Declaration can be found here:
- https://www.ilo.org/global/about-the-ilo/lang--en/index.htm
- https://www.ilo.org/declaration/lang--en/index.htm
Step 2: Reports of 2017 by ILO on can be used for a deeper understanding of child labor and bonded labor:
- https://www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/@dgreports/@dcomm/documents/publication/wcms_575499.pdf
- https://www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/@dgreports/@dcomm/documents/publication/wcms_575479.pdf
Call to Action: Being a conscious consumer simply means to actively get informed on the production process behind a good, and decide to purchase it or not depending on the means and practices used to create that good. Concepts like ethical production and consumption should be explained as well.