SDGs

 Teaching SDGs: Projects in English


Title 


Peace, Justice, and Strong Institutions

Age group


9th grade

Length of project


4 weeks (12 lessons of 45 min.)

Developers 

incl. contact details



Theoretical background


Kramsch (Language as a social practice) https://depot.litteratur.kp.dk/downloadbyexternalkey/e7f0bbfb937641368de4a960ea432f4b

Kramsch emphasizes that language is not just a system of rules but a way of interacting with the world.


Liddicoat & Scarino (Intercultural language teaching and learning) https://depot.litteratur.kp.dk/downloadbyexternalkey/84312b71fc69417eb6881d83b17e824a

Connects language learning with cultural understanding

They argue that language isnt just about grammar and vocabulary but also about how people think, act, and understand the world (sustainability and communities). Their intercultural approach supports the idea that students should engage with real-world topics (like SDG 11) to develop critical thinking and global awareness.



SDG goals






16

Promote peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development, provide access to justice for all and build effective, accountable and inclusive institutions at all levels


General goals from National Curriculum

(i.e. åben skole, forældresamarbejde, innovation & entreprenørskab)


Goals

(i.e. language, culture, texts)





Programme


Stages

Content

Methods

Materials

Introductions-check 

























Resources

References

Links



 



Literature:

Zenobia by Morten Dürr

Theory:

Affordances of picture books for intercultural learning (Heggernes)

  • Iconotext open to interpretation (i.e not just symmetrical or complimentary) - encouraging different voices and perspectives – increasing readersø tolerance of ambiguity. 

  • Voices across space and time (storyworld again) It can be a different space, different time, and even different ideologies. Pupils using own schemata, but are pushed out to new understandings. 


Kramsch (Language as a social practice) https://depot.litteratur.kp.dk/downloadbyexternalkey/e7f0bbfb937641368de4a960ea432f4b

Kramsch emphasizes that language is not just a system of rules but a way of interacting with the world.


Liddicoat & Scarino (Intercultural language teaching and learning) https://depot.litteratur.kp.dk/downloadbyexternalkey/84312b71fc69417eb6881d83b17e824a

Connects language learning with cultural understanding

They argue that language isn't just about grammar and vocabulary but also about how people think, act, and understand the world (sustainability and communities). Their intercultural approach supports the idea that students should engage with real-world topics (like SDG 11) to develop critical thinking and global awareness.


__________________________________________________________________

Using literature, discussions, and real-world scenarios, students will explore injustice, human rights, and responsible citizenship through engaging tasks. We’ll integrate Zenobia by Morten Dürr, a powerful story about refugees, to spark empathy and critical thinking. Following an intercultural language learning approach, students will analyze, debate, and create projects that connect language skills with global awareness.

Ideas for projects the students can work with:

  1. Create dystopian short stories: short stories about a society set in a society without justice og peace, inspired by Zenopis or real world events ( very relevant for the current situation in the world).

  2. Blog posts - the students could write a persuasive article on a current issue  related to justice, corruption or human rights.

  3. Letter to a leader - draft a formal letter to a politician or activist advocating for change on a justice-related issue.

  4. SoMe reel 

  5. Human rights documentary - create a short documentary exploring an SDG 16- related issue.

  6. Peace and justice podcast - research and record a podcast episode discussing a relevant case study,interviewing peers, teschers, maybe even local politicians etc.

  7. NYHEDS redaktion - selv stå for at interviewe, skrive artikler, layout, trykke og redigere et eksemplar af en klasse avis eller en nyhedsudsendelse 


Our goal is for students to feel and understand the core values of SDG 16 (Peace, Justice, and Strong Institutions) while practicing English and intercultural understanding, and we are planning on doing a couple of different hands-on activities. We would like these activities to mainly be discussion-based, and for them to resonate with the students on an emotional level. We have a few ideas that could be used as a part of a lesson or as a warmup to kind of set the mood:

Activity number one: “Walk in Their Shoes” – Empathy Mapping

The objective here is to build empathy and cultural understanding through character analysis. This exercise would probably take about 15–20 minutes

This exercise should take place after reading a segment of Zenobia. The students should fill out an empathy map for the main character: What does she see, think, feel, and fear?
Then the students create a similar map for a real person in a news story about war, justice, or migration.
Compare and discuss in class or in a circle. Talk about how storytelling can affect our understanding of real-world issues?

Another exercise which could be used is “Two Truths and a Lie” – Human Rights Edition

Here the objective is to raise their awareness of global injustices through critical thinking.Time estimate :10–15 minutes

The teacher or a couple of students prepare three short statements about justice-related facts (e.g., “Children under 14 can be sentenced in X country.”). Two are true, one is false.
The students discuss the statements in small groups, and  guess the lie and discuss why they chose it. The discuss as a class and reveal the truth and might lead to
discussions on how justice systems vary globally.

Activity number three is more interactive “The Justice Compass” – Debate Corners

The objective is active listening, and critical thinking and the time estimate 20–30 minutes

This exercise demands a bit of preparation. Firstly the classroom corners needs to be labellsed: Strongly agree, Agree, Disagree, Strongly disagree.
Now the teacher read provocative statements out loud (e.g., “It’s okay to break the law if it’s unjust.” or “Refugees should always be welcomed.”).The students choose a corner,  and then explain their position in english.
It is important to scaffold this exercise carefully and to encourage respectful disagreement and questions between peers.

The next exercise is more multimodal“JusticePosters” – Visual Reflection

The objective here is to support multimodal language use and personal expression.The exercise should not take more than about 15-20 minutes

The students  will be asked to each create a mini-poster or image with a short quote, word, or symbol they associate with justice, peace, or fairness. These should be hung on a wall either in the classroom or the school library or in the hallways for display.


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