Teacher Guide

Documenting student learning will support the Learning Celebration in the final two lessons and enable students to share and reflect on their Makedo Change experience with each other and the wider community.

Teachers are encouraged to take short notes after each session outlining what went well, what they might adjust for the future, and any questions to be followed up, then use this to inform future lessons.

For students, video, photography, journalling, and note-keeping are all great methods of documentation.

Teachers may wish to use a paper or digital journal for their reflections and take photos and videos of the class engaged in activities. 

Inspire other classrooms with your great work, and share your change journey via #makedochange on socials.

The Makedo Change program spans 20 lessons spread over as many lessons/weeks as you choose. While it’s designed to be a comprehensive learning experience, we understand that 20 lessons may be unachievable for some classrooms.

Consider your requirements (time, topics you’d like to focus on, etc), then explore the Program Overview on the Welcome page to select the suitable lessons. As Makedo Change is all about inspiring changemaking, we encourage you to engage in the fundraising element from lesson 16 in your program.

Fundraising enables students to have a real-world impact on people most in need and is a key learning experience that may inspire changemaking for years to come.

Take a look at our Fundraising Guide for all the info on Makedo Change fundraising.

The lesson plans have been written to accommodate a broad range of students from grades 3 to 9. Teachers will need to consider their students' age, maturity, abilities and requirements before engaging in the sessions to ensure that they are suitable and impactful in a positive way.

In somelessons, different resources are suggested for younger and older learners. Where this hasn’t been included, feel free to remove or add activities, simplify or extend content and adjust as necessary.

Nurturing a robust discussion is integral in supporting students to be curious, thoughtful and insightful learners. Social and ecological justice issues such as the climate crisis, race, privilege, discrimination and biases exist in our daily lives and are among the most pressing challenges facing people today.

As global citizens, we have a responsibility to educate ourselves about the world we live in. Many students are eager for a space to explore complex issues.

Set the scene

• Work with students to co-create clear boundaries for discussions. For example, students raise a hand when they wish to speak.

• Consider sitting in a circle so everyone can see each other.

• Acknowledge the discomfort that may arise when discussing these big issues. 

• Highlight that it is a safe space where everyone is welcome to share their thoughts and feelings without judgement. 

  
  

During

• Lead with humility and use a gentle, empathetic and welcoming tone. 

• Consider low-risk sharing first, such as individually writing responses or think-pair-share, to allow time to process information and gain confidence.

• Invite students to elaborate on their ideas. Phrases such as ‘Tell us more’ or ‘What inspired you to say that?’ work well. If a student looks stumped, ask the group if anyone can build on the idea mentioned.

• Recognise and discuss the privilege, discrimination and diversity in our lives and even within the class. 

• Acknowledge that we may not always have the answers, but asking questions and exploring together is valuable. 

  
  

Follow-up

• Explore anything that requires further research and report back to the class. You can also assign students to do this.

Monitor the wellbeing of students. Check-in and support as necessary.

Journalling is valuable for students to reflect on and consolidate their learning. As the program tackles emotive and potentially contentious concepts, allow 10 minutes or so at the end of each lesson to write their reflections and wonderings in a journal. We have included Journal Prompts in each lesson as a guide.

Journal entries can be in a notebook, as a digital journal, voice recording, video, etc. You could keep the students’ journals private or ask them to be prepared to share their entries, always being mindful of individual students when doing this.

We love to hear from you! Contact us at change@make.do with any questions, feedback, images of the program in action, etc. 

Remember to look at #makedochange to see what other inspiring changemakers are doing around the globe or to add your own change journey.