Responsibility

The educator helps the learners to reflect on their own actions, act transparently and to accept personal responsibility for their work.

Learning Outcomes

The educator helps the learners to:

Underpinning Components for the educator

In order to achieve the above Learning Outcomes the educator should be able to:

Example activities for teaching Responsibility

1 What would you do?
  • Suggested duration: 30 mins
  • Technique used: Small group role play
  • Materials required: PTT with details of scenario
  • Aim of activity: To encourage learners to think about how context and bakground can sometimes influence decisions made and the potential impact of that
  • Underpinning components: UC8.1b
  • Connection with other competences: Attentiveness

Short description

Prepare scenario from which different outcomes are possible depending on position, values etc.
Small groups. Allocate roles e.g. New head, old deputy head, new geography teacher, old school bursar, head of religious education
Conduct meeting where the scenario and resulting dilemma are discussed
Plenary – share and outcomes
Small groups. Discuss the consequences of the various outcomes presented
Plenary – share and discuss consequences
Small groups. Consider different options and potential consequences and decide whether you now like to change your group’s outcome.

Role play scenario used with Level 5 students in UK:

  • The school is in a remote rural location away from the mains sewerage system
  • The recently appointed head has been sorting through archived papers and has come across an old report 
  • The report was written by a surveyor who had come to check the land for a car park extension four years ago
  • It identified that the school’s septic tank was leaking and seeping raw sewage into the land near the school field
  • It stated that the tank needed to be dug out, the land around it decontaminated and a replacement water treatment facility installed at a cost of some £200,000
  • It is clear that the work has not been done and the car park was extended in a different direction 
  • The head went for a walk earlier and there was no sign of the leaking sewage
  • Money is extremely tight, staff jobs are on the line
  • The head has called a Senior Management Team meeting to discuss what to do (if anything) about the broken septic tank.
2 Hindsight
  • Suggested duration: 10 mins
  • Technique used: Individual reflection 
  • Materials required: none
  • Aim of activity: To encourage learners to reflect on their life and consequences of some actions they took
  • Underpinning components: UC8.1b; UC8.2
  • Connection with other competences: Decisiveness

Short description

Individually reflect on their lives and to consider any memorable dilemmas they had and whether they made well judged, or misjudged decisions.
Share some if they would like to.

3 Responsibility and accountability
  • Suggested duration: 20 mins
  • Technique used: Lecture
  • Materials required: Slides
  • Aim of activity: To raise awareness of the need for transparency, responsibility, accountability and reflective practice
  • Underpinning components: UC8.2; UC8.3 
  • Connection with other competences: Action; Decisiveness

Short description

Give a short lecture with discussions on the need for

  • Transparency
  • Responsibility and accountability
  • Reflective practice
  • Action research
  • Lifelong learning
  • Target setting
4 Resource Management in the class room Investigation
  • Suggested duration: 20 minutes
  • Technique used: Discussion on management techniques (for heating, paper management, food management, waste management in the class room).
  • Materials required: Heating controls, paper bins
  • Aim of activity: Realise own responsibility and possibly change behavior by doing this together.
  • Underpinning components: UC8.1a; UC8.1b; UC8.2; UC8.3
  • Connection with other competences: Criticality; Decisiveness; Systems

Short description

The educator and students carefully manage the indoor-climate, food, waste, materials. This becomes visible in:

  • heating and cooling only when needed
  • constant proper ventilation (always fresh air and proper humidity level)
  • no waste of materials and energy by working according to this principle
  • conscious choice of materials, for example led-lightning, fair trade products, healthy food, recycled materials
  • diminish waste production, recycle whatever is possible to recycle

To put it in an activity, the students investigate the possibilities to accomplish the above.

5 The I-report
  • Suggested duration: 60 minutes
  • Technique used: Report writing
  • Materials required: Paper and pen or a computer 
  • Aim of activity: Change behavior by writing this report.
  • Underpinning components: UC8.1a; UC8.1b; UC8.2; UC8.3
  • Connection with other competences: Criticality; Decisiveness; Systems

Short description

The students write an I-report in 60 minutes. Subject: How do I accept personal responsibility and accountability towards others and how do I act transparently by reporting to others in appropriate ways.

Task one:

  • Describe daily life from this perspective
  • Give as many examples as possible

Task two:

  • Ask two of your peers to reflect on your report and add their reflection to your report. 

Task three:

  • reflect your report: describe what you can change in order to become (even) more responsible and accountable.

Example activities for teaching Responsibility Sustainable Development Goals

Responsibility SDG1 No poverty

Contribute to ending poverty by acting transparently and accepting personal responsibility.

Responsibility SDG2 Zero hunger

Contribute to ending hunger by acting transparently and accepting personal responsibility.

Responsibility SDG3 Good health and well-being

Be aware of personal responsibility and accept personal commitment and accountability to promote health and wellbeing for ourselves, families, and others. Evaluate and reflect on the possible consequences that our decisions and actions have on our health and wellbeing and possibly on others too.

Responsibility SDG4 Quality education

Recognise the importance of our own skills for improving life, in particular for employment and entrepreneurship.

Responsibility SDG5 Gender equality

Recognize a range of rights, roles and responsibilities with regards to gender issues, consider opportunities for change and take action responsively and transparently to bring about change while reflecting critically on decisions made and actions taken.

Responsibility SDG6 Clean water and sanitation

Reflect on own relationship to water, own actions and use and the consequences of this on others and on supply.

Responsibility SDG7 Affordable and clean energy

Recognise own energy consumption and the possible consequences of this.

Responsibility SDG8 Decent work and economic growth

Be transparent about one’s own actions both as a worker/ professional and as a consumer of products and services.

Responsibility SDG9 Industry, innovation and infrastructure

Act transparently and accept personal responsibility while working on a resilient infrastructure and inclusive and sustainable industrialization and innovation.

Responsibility SDG10 Reduced inequalities

Act transparently and accept personal responsibility to help reduce inequalities.

Responsibility SDG11 Sustainable cities and communities

Identify, evaluate and take responsibility for the potential environmental and social impact and consequences of own lifestyle.

Responsibility SDG12 Responsible consumption and production

Recognise the importance of taking responsibility for the environmental and social impacts of own behaviour as a producer or consumer.

Responsibility SDG13 Climate action

Be aware of personal and collective responsibility in climate change phenomena, including social one as migrations, and explore ways to reduce the individual and social contribution to them. Consider opportunities for change and take action responsively and transparently to bring change about, while reflecting critically on your own decisions and actions.

Responsibility SDG14 Life below water

Be aware of personal and collective responsibility towards marine life and explore ways to reduce individual and collective impact on life below water.

Responsibility SDG15 Life on land

Accept personal responsibility for preserving life on land on the planet.

Responsibility SDG16 Peace, justice and strong institutions

Explore how our actions, individually and collectively, may or may not contribute to a socially just society.

Useful reading for Responsibility

  • Aubrey K & Riley A 2016 Understanding & Using Educational theories. London: Sage. (see chapter 12 – David Kolb: Experiential Learning Theory;)
  • Dewey J (1916) Democracy and Education. Project Gutenberg - EBook
  • Galenkamp, H (2014) Wanneer doen we het goed voor elkaar?
  • Jutten, J (2007) Natuurlijk leren: systeemdenken in een lerende school, Tweede, geheel herziene druk Natuurlijk Leren, Echt
  • Mcniff J & Whitehead J 2011 All you need to know about Action Research. London: Sage