|
Subtask 4 - Trade: How Our Goods Are Sometimes Made
(PDF File)
Description | CGEs | Expectations | Teaching/Learning | Resources
Teacher Background Notes | Relevant Scripture Passages
Relevant Excerpts from Church Documents | Summary Box
Description
In this subtask, students further explore where some imports originate (i.e. soccer balls, toys, sports wear, etc.) and investigate the working conditions under which they are produced. This deeper examination of the goods we import begins by placing students in the ‘shoes’ of a disadvantaged Peruvian shoemaker through a simulation game called ‘The Shoe Game’. Students then read and analyse fact sheets, from a variety of sources, which allow a deeper insight into a major problem with many of our imported goods – that many goods we appreciate and enjoy are being grown or manufactured in other countries where working conditions are far from ideal or just. Finally, in order to prepare for the culminating activity and demonstrate their research skills, students research and prepare a short report on the country in which the problematic situation from their fact sheet occurred.
| Catholic School Graduate Expectations |
| CGE1d |
Develops attitudes and values founded on Catholic social teaching and acts to promote social responsibility, human solidarity and the common good.
|
| CGE2c |
Presents information and ideas clearly and honestly and with sensitivity to others. |
| CGE3c |
Thinks reflectively and creatively to evaluate situations and solve problems. |
| CGE3f |
Examines, evaluates and applies knowledge of interdependent systems (physical, political, ethical, socio-economic and ecological) for the development of a just and compassionate society. |
| CGE7e |
Witnesses Catholic social teaching by promoting equality, democracy, and solidarity for a just, peaceful and compassionate society. |
|
| Expectations |
| 6z25 |
use a variety of resources and tools to gather, process, and communicate information about the domestic and
international effects of Canada’s links with the United
States and other areas of the world.
|
| 6z26 |
explain the relevance to Canada of current global issues
and influences. |
| 6z27 |
identify some countries with which Canada has links
(e.g., in Europe, the Pacific Rim, the Americas, Asia, the
Middle East, Africa) |
| 6z28 |
describe some of the connections Canada shares with the rest of the world (e.g., trade, history, geography, tourism, economic assistance, immigration, indigenous peoples, peacekeeping, media, culture).
|
| 6z29 |
identify products that Canada imports and exports
(e.g., imports: fruit, vegetables, chemicals, motor vehicles; exports: newsprint, grain, machinery, timber,
telecommunications, natural gas) |
| 6z30 |
identify the countries to which Canada exports goods
(e.g., the United States, Japan, the United Kingdom, China, Germany) |
| 6z31 |
identify the countries from which Canada imports goods
(e.g., the United States, Japan, the United Kingdom,
Germany, other European countries, Taiwan, South Korea, Mexico)
|
| 6z35 |
describe distinguishing characteristics of a country in another region with which Canada has links |
| 6z37 |
use a variety of primary and secondary sources to locate and process relevant information about Canada’s links with the world (e.g. primary sources: statistics, field trips, interviews, original documents; secondary sources: maps, illustrations, print materials, videos, CD-ROMS, Internet sites) |
| 6z41 |
use appropriate vocabulary (e.g. technology, culture, immigration, tourism, physical features, indigenous peoples, export, import, parallels, meridians, Pacific Rim, economics, media) to describe their inquiries and observations |
| 6e26 |
explain their interpretation of a written work, supporting it with evidence from the work and from their own knowledge and experience |
| 6e32 |
summarize and explain the main ideas in information materials (e.g., textbooks), and cite details that support the main ideas |
| 6e33 |
make judgments and draw conclusions about ideas in written materials on the basis of evidence |
Top |
 |
Summary Box
Groupings
Students work in a whole group
Students work in small groups
Students work individually
Teaching/ Learning Strategies
Simulation, Directed Reading - Thinking Activity, Demonstration
Guided Exploration, Independent Reading, Research Process, Writing Process, Internet Technologies, Online Public Access Catalogues (OPAC), Issue-Based Analysis, Concept Clarification
Assessment
Students’ work during the simulation activity and their contribution to class and small group discussions, are observed and recorded anecdotally by the teacher. Then the first assessment has two purposes: to determine a student’s ability to comprehend information from reading and to determine a student’s ability to respond to a social and moral issue. The second assessment is more informal. It gauges the student’s ability to obtain, record, and organize information that will be used in the culminating task.
Assessment Strategies
Observation, Response Journal and Research Task
Assessment Recording Devices
Anecdotal Record and Rubric
|
|
|
|
| Teaching/Learning |
- Students begin this subtask by participating in a simulation game called “The Shoe Game”. In this activity, students work together in small groups playing the role of a Peruvian family of shoemakers. Each family of shoemakers will be required to “produce” running shoes to be sold at the marketplace in order to provide for themselves and their family. Through this simulation activity, students will experience some of the frustrations and difficulties of those forced to work under poor labour conditions and an unstable economy. As a whole group, the students then reflect on their experiences of “fairness” during the game. These experiences are related to the daily life experiences of those families living in poverty in third world countries. This game requires a good deal of pre-planning and in-class time to be successful but is extremely effective and worthwhile. This simulation game and the class discussion/debriefing that follows should be completed one day and the remaining activities in the classes that follow. This subtask will take several class periods to complete. Please refer to BLM 4.1 through 4.7 for a more detailed outline of the game and the worksheets and resources necessary to complete the activity. Once the game is prepared it can be used every year. (60 minutes or more)
- Students will select a fact sheet from the selection listed in the attached grid (BLM 4.8). The teacher will ensure that a variety of situations are selected giving special consideration to the reading ability of various students and the difficulty of the passage. It should be made clear to the students:
- that they will need to understand the problem presented in the fact sheet
- that they will be required to learn about the country in which the problem is occurring
- that they will eventually share the information that they have gathered
The teacher hands a fact sheet (one of BLM 4.9 to 4.21 - see Resource list for links to these BLMs) to each student along with the Reading Response Assignment worksheet (BLM 4.22). The teacher may then use this opportunity for an assessment of student reading ability. The students must hand in their reading response assignment before proceeding to the next step. (40 minutes or less)
- After giving students the opportunity to become aware of a problem situation independently, the teacher will have students share the variety of problems that are being investigated. Students will be given the opportunity to verify and question the source of the information. Questioning sources is a key “social studies” skill. Some students may wish to add their own research (opportunities for Level 4 responses). (40 minutes or less)
- In the final stage of this subtask, students will research and prepare a short report on the country in which the problem they investigated is occurring. The teacher can have students work individually or in their Culminating Task groups on this research assignment. The research assignment should focus on key socio-economic indicators and the living/working conditions for the citizens of these countries. Students should include the country’s location on a world map, some demographics, some idea of national wealth, trading relations (what and with which countries), income levels, school enrolment levels, etc. The CIA–World Fact book website (www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook) or the UN Country at a Glance website (www.cyberschoolbus.un.org/infonation/index.asp) have accurate and current information on the nations of the world. Students will need to consider how to present this information for their report and culminating task.
Suggestion:
Teachers may want to work together with the class to create a sample report as a model for students before they research and write their own report. A whole class created, and teacher led report, on the United States would help provide students with a model and further assist the teacher in covering the expectations of the ‘Canada and World Connections’ strand of the grade 6 Social Studies curriculum - Canada’s Links to the World.
Top |
|
Resources
BLM 4.1 - The Shoe Game - Teacher’s Notes
BLM 4.2 - The Shoe Game - Family Role Card
BLM 4.3 - The Shoe Game - Mercado Central Role Card
BLM 4.4 - The Shoe Game - Rent Collector Role Card
BLM 4.5 - The Shoe Game - Money Lender Role Card
BLM 4.6 - The Shoe Game - Trading Shoe Template
BLM 4.7a - The Shoe Game, Money (10 Nuevo Soles)
BLM 4.7b - The Shoe Game, Money (50 Nuevo Soles)
BLM 4.7c - The Shoe Game, Money (100 Nuevo Soles)
BLM 4.7d - The Shoe Game, Money (500 Nuevo Soles)
BLM 4.8 - Product/Country Selection Sheet
BLM 4.9 - Fact sheet 1
BLM 4.10 - Fact sheet 2
BLM 4.11 - Fact sheet 3
BLM 4.12 - Fact sheet 4
BLM 4.13 - Fact sheet 5
BLM 4.14 - Fact sheet 6
BLM 4.15 - Fact sheet 7
BLM 4.16 - Fact sheet 8
BLM 4.17 - Fact sheet 9
BLM 4.18 - Fact sheet 10
BLM 4.19 - Fact sheet 11
BLM 4.20 - Fact sheet 12
BLM 4.21 - Fact sheet 13
BLM 4.22 – Reading Response Assignment
BLM 4.23 – Research Rubric
CIA – The World Fact book website (www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook)
UN Country at a Glance website (www.cyberschoolbus.un.org/infonation/index.asp)
UN Cyber School Bus website (http://cyberschoolbus.un.org)
Large wall map “A Developing World”, Canadian Geographic Enterprises (with assistance from CIDA), 2004. (www.canadiangeographic.ca/worldmap)
Top
Teacher Background Notes
The teacher may wish to spend one class navigating the CIA World Fact book website (www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook) and the UN Country at a Glance website (www.cyberschoolbus.un.org/infonation/index.asp) with students in order to make their research more efficient. Both these websites are an excellent source of information on countries.
The teacher will also find the United Nations website http://cyberschoolbus.un.org, useful for background information on the issues of worker rights and labour. Click on the “Rights at Work” link under the Curriculum menu. This is a youth oriented and visually appealing website that will be sure to interest students and provide valuable information.
Relevant Scripture Passages
Teachers may find the following scriptures passages useful for student journal reflections, guiding class faith discussions, or for making connections to the faith dimension of this subtask. In particular, teachers may want to have students look at what these passages have to say about treating labourers unfairly and how a person will be judged for such actions. The full text of these passages can be found in Appendix C.
Matthew 16:26, James 5:4, Luke 16:19-31, Matthew 25:31-40
Top
Relevant Excerpts from Church Documents
Laborem Exercens
17 …it is respect for the objective rights of the worker-every kind of worker: manual or intellectual, industrial or agricultural, etc.-that must constitute the adequate and fundamental criterion for shaping the whole economy, both on the level of the individual society and State and within the whole of the world economic policy and of the systems of international relationships that derive from it.
19 Besides wages, various social benefits intended to ensure the life and health of workers and their families play a part here. The expenses involved in health care, especially in the case of accidents at work, demand that medical assistance should be easily available for workers, and that as far as possible it should be cheap or even free of charge. Another sector regarding benefits
is the sector associated with the right to rest. In the first place this involves a regular weekly rest comprising at least Sunday, and also a longer period of rest, namely the holiday or vacation taken once a year or possibly in several shorter periods during the year. A third sector concerns the right to a pension and to insurance for old age and in case of accidents at work. Within the sphere of these principal rights, there develops a whole system of particular rights which, together with remuneration for work, determine the correct relationship between worker and employer. Among these rights there should never be overlooked the right to a working environment and to manufacturing processes which are not harmful to the workers' physical health or to their moral integrity.
Centesimus Annus
8 (There is) another right which the worker has as a person. This is the right to a "just wage", which cannot be left to the "free consent of the parties, so that the employer, having paid what was agreed upon, has done his part and seemingly is not called upon to do anything beyond" …A workman's wages should be sufficient to enable him to support himself, his wife and his children. "If through necessity or fear of a worse evil the workman accepts harder conditions because an employer or contractor will afford no better, he is made the victim of force and injustice"….Would that these words, written at a time when what has been called "unbridled capitalism" was pressing forward, should not have to be repeated today with the same severity. Unfortunately, even today one finds instances of contracts between employers and employees which lack reference to the most elementary justice regarding the employment of children or women, working hours, the hygienic condition of the work-place and fair pay; and this is the case despite the International Declarations and Conventions on the subject and the internal laws of States. The Pope attributed to the "public authority" the "strict duty" of providing properly for the welfare of the workers, because a failure to do so violates justice; indeed, he did not hesitate to speak of "distributive justice".
15 …."humane" working hours and adequate free-time need to be guaranteed, as well as the right to express one's own personality at the work-place without suffering any affront to one's conscience or personal dignity. This is the place to mention once more the role of trade unions, not only in negotiating contracts, but also as "places" where workers can express themselves. They serve the development of an authentic culture of work and help workers to share in a fully human way in the life of their place of employment.
Rerum Novarum
20 The following duties bind the wealthy owner and the employer: not to look upon their work people as their bondsmen, but to respect in every man his dignity as a person ennobled by Christian character. They are reminded that, according to natural reason and Christian philosophy, working for gain is creditable, not shameful, to a man, since it enables him to earn an honorable livelihood; but to misuse men as though they were things in the pursuit of gain, or to value them solely for their physical powers - that is truly shameful and inhuman. Again justice demands that, in dealing with the working man, religion and the good of his soul must be kept in mind. Hence, the employer is bound to see that the worker has time for his religious duties; that he be not exposed to corrupting influences and dangerous occasions; and that he be not led away to neglect his home and family, or to squander his earnings. Furthermore, the employer must never tax his work people beyond their strength, or employ them in work unsuited to their sex and age. His great and principal duty is to give every one what is just. Doubtless, before deciding whether wages axe fair, many things have to be considered; but wealthy owners and all masters of labor should be mindful of this - that to exercise pressure upon the indigent and the destitute for the sake of gain, and to gather one's profit out of the need of another, is condemned by all laws, human and divine. To defraud any one of wages that are his due is a great crime which cries to the avenging anger of Heaven. "Behold, the hire of the laborers . . . which by fraud has been kept back by you, crieth; and the cry of them hath entered into the ears of the Lord of Sabaoth." Lastly, the rich must religiously refrain from cutting down the workmen's earnings, whether by force, by fraud, or by usurious dealing; and with all the greater reason because the laboring man is, as a rule, weak and unprotected, and because his slender means should in proportion to their scantiness be accounted sacred. Were these precepts carefully obeyed and followed out, would they not be sufficient of themselves to keep under all strife and all its causes?
USCCB Documents
The needs of the poor take priority over the desires of the rich; the rights of workers over the maximization of profits…
Economic Justice for All, United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, 1986
Top |
|
|
