Ethics, Justice & Political Economy
Objectives
- D09.S1.11.01 Analyze how social and economic structures shape which choices people can make, and argue about responsibility.
- D09.S1.11.02 Evaluate competing accounts of what a good life or a good society means, drawing on more than one cultural tradition.
- D09.S2.11.01 Analyze the relationship between justice, power, and law, and argue for how an unjust law or system should be changed.
- D09.S2.11.02 Evaluate competing theories of justice (such as those centered on freedom, equality, or care) and apply them to a current issue.
- D09.S3.11.01 Analyze a global collective-action problem, such as climate change or labor rights, and the coordination needed to solve it.
- D09.S3.11.02 Evaluate solidarity (acting with others across difference and distance) and argue for what it requires of citizens.
- D09.S4.11.01 Analyze a real or historical conflict from multiple perspectives and propose a just and peaceful path forward.
- D09.S4.11.02 Evaluate the ethics of nonviolence and of peacekeeping, and argue about when and how they can succeed.
Essential questions
- How do social and economic structures shape which choices people can make, and what counts as a good life or a good society across traditions?
- How do justice, power, and law relate, and how do competing theories of justice apply to a current issue?
- What does solidarity require of citizens, and how do I analyze a conflict from multiple perspectives and argue for nonviolence and a just peace?
Big ideas
- Social and economic structures shape which choices people can make, and accounts of the good life and the good society differ across cultural traditions.
- Justice, power, and law are interwoven, and theories of justice centered on freedom, equality, or care apply differently to current issues.
- Global collective-action problems need coordination; solidarity — acting with others across difference and distance — is how citizens respond, and nonviolence is a strategy to evaluate.
Lessons
- 1 The Shape of Our Choices 55 minutes
- 2 Responsibility When Choices Are Shaped 55 minutes
- 3 What Makes a Life Good? 55 minutes
- 4 What Makes a Society Good? 55 minutes
- 5 Justice, Power, and Law 55 minutes
- 6 Changing an Unjust Law 55 minutes
- 7 Justice as Freedom 55 minutes
- 8 Justice as Equality and Care 55 minutes
- 9 Three Lenses on One Issue 55 minutes
- 10 A Problem We Can't Solve Alone 55 minutes
- 11 Workers Across the World 55 minutes
- 12 Solidarity Across Distance 55 minutes
- 13 One Conflict, Many Sides 55 minutes
- 14 Nonviolence and Peacekeeping 55 minutes
Assessment plan
An analysis of how structures shape choice with an argument about responsibility; a comparison of accounts of the good life and the good society across traditions; a justice-power-law analysis with an argument for changing an unjust law or system; a theories-of-justice application to a current issue; a global collective-action-problem analysis with coordination reasoning; a solidarity evaluation; a multi-perspective conflict analysis with a just and peaceful path forward; and an ethics-of-nonviolence and peacekeeping evaluation, gathered as portfolio artifacts.
Unit 10 — Ethics, Justice & Political Economy
Overview
This unit deepens Grade 10’s critique and action into structures, justice, and solidarity, building on ethical reasoning across frameworks and collective-action design. Learners analyze how social and economic structures shape which choices people can make, and argue about responsibility, and evaluate competing accounts of what a good life or a good society means, drawing on more than one cultural tradition. They analyze the relationship between justice, power, and law, and argue for how an unjust law or system should be changed, and evaluate competing theories of justice — those centered on freedom, equality, or care — and apply them to a current issue. They analyze a global collective-action problem, such as climate change or labor rights, and the coordination needed to solve it, and evaluate solidarity — acting with others across difference and distance — and argue for what it requires of citizens. They analyze a real or historical conflict from multiple perspectives and propose a just and peaceful path forward, and evaluate the ethics of nonviolence and of peacekeeping, arguing about when and how they can succeed. Questions are held as questions, never answered as dogma.
Essential questions
- How do social and economic structures shape which choices people can make, and what counts as a good life or a good society across traditions?
- How do justice, power, and law relate, and how do competing theories of justice apply to a current issue?
- What does solidarity require of citizens, and how do I analyze a conflict from multiple perspectives and argue for nonviolence and a just peace?
Lessons
| Lesson | Title | Standards |
|---|---|---|
| L.11.010.01 | The Shape of Our Choices | D09.S1.11.01 |
| L.11.010.02 | Responsibility When Choices Are Shaped | D09.S1.11.01 |
| L.11.010.03 | What Makes a Life Good? | D09.S1.11.02 |
| L.11.010.04 | What Makes a Society Good? | D09.S1.11.02 |
| L.11.010.05 | Justice, Power, and Law | D09.S2.11.01 |
| L.11.010.06 | Changing an Unjust Law | D09.S2.11.01 |
| L.11.010.07 | Justice as Freedom | D09.S2.11.02 |
| L.11.010.08 | Justice as Equality and Care | D09.S2.11.02 |
| L.11.010.09 | Three Lenses on One Issue | D09.S2.11.02 |
| L.11.010.10 | A Problem We Can’t Solve Alone | D09.S3.11.01 |
| L.11.010.11 | Workers Across the World | D09.S3.11.01 |
| L.11.010.12 | Solidarity Across Distance | D09.S3.11.02 |
| L.11.010.13 | One Conflict, Many Sides | D09.S4.11.01 |
| L.11.010.14 | Nonviolence and Peacekeeping | D09.S4.11.02 |