At-home and at school learning resources from Learning for a Sustainable Future
Week 22: World Day of Social Justice
This week's LIO is all about the World Day of Social Justice, which was celebrated on February 20th this year. Started in 2007 by the UN General Assembly, the World Day of Social Justice is intended to support international efforts in poverty eradication and promote full employment, gender equality, and justice for all. The theme for this year is "Justice in the Digital Economy", which focuses on the growing disparity in access to the internet and technology around the world and can further contribute to deepening economic inequalities.

The activities below introduce students to some of the ongoing issues of inequality facing communities globally. Read about issues of exclusion and discrimination, the fight for human rights and global goals, and the challenges facing young people in different countries around the world. Learn more about 2021's World Day of Social Justice on R4R.ca!
The resource Children of the World visits young people in eight countries. This adventure provides an opportunity for primary students to face challenges, confront other realities and, as with any journey, deepen their understanding of themselves as citizens who can help initiate change. In completing the eight educational activities set out in this guide, students will better understand the issues, propose solutions and ultimately take action!


Activities
  • Listen to This is Our House with students to raise awareness about different forms of discrimination 
  • Using This is Our House discussion questions, connect students with real examples of different forms of exclusion due to their differences, ethnicity, religion, gender etc
  • Explore the concept of home, community and how we can live safely and happily together with Little Homes
  • Use the lesson plan What's Fair? to help students explore the difference between being fair and unfair and how being fair helps everyone get along
  • Social Justice: Examining Privilege with a Recycling Bin is a hands-on activity to promote discussions and reflections on the social justice issue in your classroom
  • Teach your students about diversity and social justice with the You Can Be activity
What did you think of Children of the World?
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This lesson plan will help assist young students in better understanding human rights. Students will discover their rights, will be able to claim human rights, including child rights, and will know that this contributes to the Global Goals. Social justice and human rights have a shared goal, human dignity and equality for all. The issues that make social justice challenging to achieve, such as poverty, exclusion and discrimination, directly contradict human rights, which apply to all individuals indiscriminately. 


Activities
What did you think of Human Rights and the Global Goals?
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Grades 9-12
Amar is a 14-year-old boy who lives in a large city in one of India's poorest states. He is the main breadwinner for his mother and two siblings. This short documentary follows Amar from sunrise to sunset as he goes about his daily routine. While the film explores the themes of poverty, child labour and access to education, it also highlights Amar's determination and perseverance to improve his quality of life. In comparing their daily schedules and responsibilities to Amar's, students will better appreciate the challenges children face growing up in poverty and the personal qualities required to survive and build a better life.


Activities
  • View Amar A Day in the Life; as students watch the video, have them jot down the main activities of Amar's day. Have students compare and contrast their day to the daily life of Amar. Discuss the similarities and differences
  • Delve deeper into the film by leading a discussion using questions on page 4 of the lesson plan
  • View the What Does Social Justice Mean to You? video. Have students write their own definition of social justice and create a similar video to share with their peers
  • Have students draft a What is Social Justice? Tweet or Instagram post that will serve to inspire others
  • Use photographs to teach Social Justice with this Exposing Homelessness and Poverty lesson plan
What did you think of Amar?
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About Learning Inside Out

Above you will find a selection of activities, broken down by various grade levels. These guides will be released weekly and archived on our Learning Inside Out page, so you can always access the full catalogue.

All activities have been modified from resources on our R4R database, simplified and adapted for both outdoor learning in the school yard or at-home as needed. The activity descriptions above should contain all the information and links that you need!

If you'd like to view the full original resource on R4R, including curriculum connections for every province/territory, click the activity title.

We want this guide to work for you, so your feedback is invaluable to us.
Use the feedback button at the bottom of this Guide, or email us at info@LSF-LST.ca. We would also love to see photos of students engaging in the activities, please e-mail us any pictures or videos you have!
Let us know how this helped your learning and teaching from home or at school indoors and (hopefully) outdoors and what you'd like to see more of by filling out our brief feedback form!
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Learning for a Sustainable Future (LSF) is a Canadian charity with over 25 years of experience working within the education system. Our Resources for Rethinking (R4R) database is an award-winning collection of resources that are peer-reviewed by certified teachers and connected to curriculum in all provinces and territories. R4R is recommended on many Ministry of Education websites.
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