Overview
Through exploration of the water crisis worldwide and the potential mining crisis in Pecos, New Mexico, students now have a foundational understanding of human rights. This lesson provides activities for students to build a tangible understanding of what it means to step into the role of a human rights activist/upstander. They will be able to synthesize what they have learned to personally address human rights issues around water and land that they care about on a local, national, or international level.
Grade Level
8th-12th Grades
Essential questions the lesson will address:
● What are the three main roles a person can choose from when responding to a live human rights challenge/event?
● Why is it important to acknowledge one’s role when responding to an event?
● What is the potential outcome if the majority of people in a society continually choose to be bystanders?
● How can we become a human rights activist/upstander?
Learning Outcomes
Students will be able to:
● Utilize their critical thinking skills to determine specific ways to personally respond to a human rights challenge
● Articulate the following Water Warriors Glossary Words: Perpetrator, Activist/Upstander, and Bystander
● Self-reflect on choices they have made in the past where a person or people were being discriminated against
● Assess the potential personal outcomes of choosing to be a bystander, perpetrator, or human rights activist/upstander
● Analyze what can happen in a situation when there is a breakdown of human rights and there are no human rights activists/upstanders present
Common Core State Standards (9th Grade)
Water Warriors Glossary and Concepts
● Human Rights: Human rights are rights inherent to all human beings, regardless of race, sex, nationality, ethnicity, language, religion, or any other status. Human rights include the right to life and liberty, freedom from slavery and torture, freedom of opinion and expression, the right to work and education, and many more. Everyone is entitled to these rights, without discrimination. (UN definition)
● Universal Declaration of Human Rights: The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) is a milestone document in the history of human rights. Drafted by representatives from different legal and cultural backgrounds from all regions of the world, the Declaration was proclaimed by the United Nations General Assembly in Paris on 10 December 1948 (General Assembly resolution 217 A) as a common standard of achievements for all peoples and all nations. It sets out, for the first time, fundamental human rights to be universally protected and it has been translated into over 500 languages. (UN definition)
● Empathy: one who is present but not taking part in a situation or event : a chance spectator; observer. (Merriam Webster)
● Bystander: an onlooker, passerby, eyewitness, or spectator; a bystander does not directly engage in an event. (Merriam Webster)
● Perpetrator: the doer, the executor, the person responsible for or behind the event. (Merriam Webster)
● Human Rights Activist/Upstander: an advocate who defends against the actions of a perpetrator to protect the person or people targeted; a person or organization who advocates for people experiencing human rights abuses and takes action against their perpetrators. (OHCHR)
International Document Reference
● Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR): Article 2, Article 18, and Article 27
● UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP): Article 1, Article 2, Article 11, and Article 12
Formative Assessment Strategies (What will you be looking for in their work, and how?)
The teacher can make note of:
● The whole class discussion in which students are able to identify an issue related to the pandemic that they care about and be able to articulate a positive way to influence the issue.
● Individual student participation in taking on the roles in the scenes and whether or not they have understood the concepts of bystanders, perpetrators, and upstanders
● Group participation in which the students take part in the scenes with special attention to how they treat each other and if they follow the rules of conduct that were presented to them during the activity.
Materials for Instructor
● Water Warriors Glossary Board (Physical or Virtual)
● Whiteboard/Blackboard and chalk/marker
Materials for Students
● Water Warriors Journal
LESSON PLAN
I. Opening Discussion (20 min.)
This opening discussion is a chance to share with students that throughout these modules we have learned about how water and land issues affect people’s basic human rights around the world. In this class, students will have a chance to reflect on times when they have chosen to step into the role of an activist/upstander and support others, or to remain on the sidelines, or even in some cases, to become a perpetrator of human rights abuses.
Entry-point questions may include:
● Think about an issue that you care about that relates to water or land and how it impacts human rights. If you were going to try to do something positive to influence this, what could that be?
● What would it mean if you did nothing?
II. Water Warrior Glossary Board (10 min.)
Emphasize to students that all of us have played each of these roles––activist/upstander, bystander, and even perpetrator––at one or more times in our lives. Sometimes we make a conscious decision about our role. Other times, we might not even think that we have a role to play, which still results in a role: bystander.
Go to the glossary board and define the following vocabulary:
● Bystander: an onlooker, passerby, eyewitness or spectator; the bystander does not directly engage in the event.
● Perpetrator: the doer, the executor, the person responsible for or behind the event.
● Human Rights Activist/Upstander: an advocate who defends against the actions of a perpetrator to protect the person or people targeted; a person or organization who advocates for people experiencing human rights abuses and takes action against their perpetrators.
III. Writing Activity: Self-reflection on choice (10 min.)
Have students write a reflection piece in their journals about a time they consciously personally took on the role of bystander, perpetrator, or activist/upstander in a difficult situation. Let them know that we have all taken on each of these roles at different points in our lives, and that there is no judgment. Emphasize to students the importance of being honest in their reflections, and tell them they can keep their writings private if they choose to.
When students have completed their writings, invite them to share examples from their personal experiences of the roles they have chosen in difficult situations.
IV. Choice Role-Playing (20 min.)
Share with students that they are now going to act out a scene with three different endings. Each time the scene is played out, the main character will make a different choice about how to react to the situation. He or she will choose to take on the role of a bystander, perpetrator, or human rights activist/upstander.
The chosen scene can be based on a shared student reflection or using one of the sample scenarios provided. Each scene should last longer than three minutes long.
Step One
Set the rules of engagement for the activity:
-Students cannot touch each other or throw any objects, etc.
-Voices need to be kept at normal volume. Students may use tone of voice for emphasis.
-If you are an audience member, raise your hand when the ‘director’ asks a question instead of shouting out a reply.
Step Two
Choose three students to act out the chosen scene. The scene can be based on one of the scenarios provided in the Scenario Worksheet or on one of the students’ self-reflection pieces.
Step Three
Explain to the student actors that they will repeat the scene three times. The main character will have the chance to make all three choices: bystander, perpetrator, or activist/upstander, therefore each scene will have a different ending.
When the scene reaches the pivotal moment where the student’s ‘choice’ is clear, say ‘freeze’. At this point ask the class to identify which choice the main character has made: perpetrator, bystander, or human rights activist/upstander.
V. Reflection & Sharing (5 min.)
Lead a discussion with students about their observations of the different choices and outcomes they observed. If a student’s reflection piece was used as the scene, ask him/her/them what it was like to see their scene end in three different ways.
Focus the closing discussion on students’ experiences, both as participants in and observers of the scenes.
Entry-point questions may include:
● Were any of the scenes familiar to you? Have you witnessed any of these human rights issues take place since the pandemic began?
● What was it like to see the main character make three different choices?
● How do you think each of the three choices made by the main character impacted a person’s or surrounding people’s health or well-being?”
● Do you feel that you have the choice to step into the role of a human rights activist/upstander, especially during this health crisis?