Materials needed: Piece of paper and writing utensil Description: First ask the students to imagine that the class is in a city-state and that the members of this class are the rulers of the city. We make the laws, rules, and judge cases. Often, cases are brought to our court and we make decisions on … Cases Before the Court
Materials needed: paper and pen/pencil Description: Start by asking “What is a law?” Allow a number of students to speak to get several ideas on the table. Likely they will talk about rules, punishments, order, peace, and the government. The central idea found in these suggestions will probably be “a rule made by the government for … Laws
Background content: Ideally students would have read some background content on implicit bias before the conversation. One possibility is Kelly and Roedder’s 2008 paper “Racial Cognition and the Ethics of Implicit Bias.” (available on the Resources tab). Only assign the first half of the reading, as it gives some background on implicit bias and empirical … Implicit Bias
Seattle hip hop rapper Macklemore (aka Ben Haggerty) is one of the few widely-known rappers who is white. In his song “White Privilege” (2005), Macklemore sings about his experience as a white rapper, including how being white was advantageous in the music industry. In 2016, Macklemore collaborated with Chicago singer Jamila Woods to release the … Macklemore’s White Privilege II
Students engage with the ‘Ring of Gyges’ story from Plato’s Republic and John Rawls’ concept of the ‘veil of ignorance’ to examine how a just society might be organized.
Materials needed: John Locke’s Second Treatise on Government, chapters two and eight. An alternative is James Rachels’ The Elements of Moral Philosophy, chapter eleven, “The Idea of a Social Contract” (see full citations and links in the ‘Resources’ section) Questionnaire (see below) Poster board for displaying the finished constitution Optional: online discussion forum; wig and … Social Contract Theory: Creating a Cooperative Learning Environment
Materials needed Plenty of paper Several sets of 5 different colored pencils or markers Timer Warm-Up Activity: Ask your students to think about how they define a stereotype. Work in small groups to come up with a basic definition. Have your students write this definition down. After small group discussion, write each group’s definition on … Stereotyping
This exercise attempts to give students the opportunity to formulate rules that they themselves would choose to be governed by. It explores the rules that they, as a community, would agree upon. And it tries to implement these rules in the classroom setting so as to test their viability in the crucible of real-world experience. … One Rule Game
What is Difference? Difference is an easy-to-learn, fast-to-play, negotiation game that is designed to promote philosophical discussion about equity both inside and outside of the game. Set-up Divide the class into groups of exactly 3 students each. Each group consists of a green, purple, and yellow player. Each group is given player cards at random … Difference: A Philosophy Game
“Republic of Silence,” by Jean-Paul Sartre Jean-Paul Sartre came to define post-war Existentialism. In this prominent editorial published shortly after the occupation ended, Sartre articulates both the context to his views and the suggestion that everyday life may present even more challenges to real “Existential Choice.” After watching this short video, read the essay and … Can We be Authentic in Everyday Life?
PLATO is part of a global UNESCO network that encourages children to participate in philosophical inquiry. As a partner in the UNESCO Chair on the Practice of Philosophy with Children, based at the Université de Nantes in France, PLATO is connected to other educational leaders around the world.
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