Citizenship at key stage 3    (Year 7-9)

• Ask the pupils, working in pairs or groups, to study newspaper and magazine pictures of conflict between individuals, groups of people or communities. Include young people and parents, bullying situations, violence, arguments between friends, groups threatening one person or another group, and possible racial conflict. What kind of conflict is happening in the picture? What are the people doing? What could have happened before the picture was taken? And after? How does the situation affect those in the picture? Might it affect others who are not in the picture?
• Ask pupils to consider other situations of conflict they know about. These could be at school or in the media. Include local, regional, national and international situations.
• Build a class list of types of conflicts and ask the pupils to discuss common features. Ask pupils to work in pairs to produce a definition of conflict.
• Pupils select one conflict situation and consider how it affects individuals and communities. In groups, they produce a storyboard to show the conflict, its origin and one possible outcome.

• Pupils could study the parable of the Unmerciful Servant (Mt18:21-35) and discuss what Jesus was trying to teach. Ask them to write a modern version of this parable, thinking about different possible outcomes.
• Ask pupils to consider Jesus forgiving his executioners (Lk23:34). They could watch an extract from the film Jesus of Nazareth to help stimulate a discussion about how the people at the crucifixion may have felt and why.
• Look at The Lord's Prayer (Lk11:2-4) and consider things that pupils forgive and might like to be forgiven for.
• Pupils study the teachings of religious leaders such as Guru Nanak, the Buddha, Muhammad and Moses on forgiveness, reconciliation, and how to treat other people. How were these teachings originally taught? How do they influence followers now? Are there any similarities between the religions? What lessons are there for people who are not members of a faith group? How do different religions respect and/or tolerate the views of others? Is fairness always a factor in reconciliation?
• Ask pupils to write about forgiveness. They could base it on personal experiences, or on imaginary characters.
• Ask pupils to return to the storyboard produced earlier and develop an ending that reflects what they have learnt about forgiveness and reconciliation. In this activity they should illustrate fairness, respect for and tolerance of the views of others.

• Use the story of Coventry Cathedral and the work for reconciliation following the Second World War to discuss why people thought it necessary to work for peace.
• Explore reconciliation stories from Northern Ireland where Protestants and Catholics work together. Pupils could consider the work of the Corymeela Community, the World Council of Churches, local churches and the ecumenical movement. Songs from the musical ‘The Beautiful Game’ may act as illustrations.
• Discuss with the pupils the motivation and idealism behind such initiatives. Use thought bubbles to connect texts and ideals with real events, and balance diagrams where there are tensions to be resolved.
• Explore current conflict situations as they arise. Pupils could address the religious and other factors that are involved through debate and speech writing. They consider the work of voluntary organisations and inter-faith groups such as the United Nations and other agencies, eg Christian Aid, Muslim Aid, Amnesty International.
• Use flow charts to show a sequence of events that will lead to no forgiveness. Repeat the diagram, this time ending with forgiveness. Discuss with the pupils the differences and the difficulties for those involved.

• Explore the reasons for the current situation in Jerusalem. Ask pupils to draw a map of the Walled City of Jerusalem showing the major sites for each religion. Point out how each is close to, or part of, another's traditional area.
• Use textbooks, tour guides and videos to explore the historical and religious traditions of the sites. Include the Dome of the Rock; Western Wall; Via Dolorosa; Yad Vashem; and Church of the Holy Sepulchre.
• In groups, pupils discuss the possibility of a shared holy city. Pupils' ideas could form part of a project about their opinions and hopes for the future in Jerusalem.
• Carry out a similar exercise for other forms of conflict, including within pupils' own communities (see next topic).

• Review what the class has learnt about conflict and conflict resolution. Ask pupils to identify the factors they think need to be present for a peaceful end to conflict. Can they apply these factors or actions to a conflict situation they know about? (This could be a personal, school or community conflict.) They could contact the local Standing Advisory Council for RE (SACRE) and local inter-faith groups to discuss community issues that involve different faith groups.
• Discuss symbols of peace and their importance, eg the Dove of Peace. Let pupils design their own symbol for reconciliation.
• Ask pupils to analyse, in pairs, some dilemmas involving forgiveness and dialogue. Encourage them to think of case studies and stories, whether they are from television programmes or are real situations. Should they forgive? If so, why, when and how? What happens if they do not forgive? How would they start dialogue and reconciliation? Offer feedback to the whole class.
• Pupils could prepare a Peace Charter for personal, school or community situations. Discuss how they would publish and implement it. How would they deal with conflict at school?