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Introductory activities
Recommended Level of Instruction
U.S. high school civics/social studies (grades 9–12), intro to human rights.
Works best early–mid semester; adaptable to Global Studies or ELA.
Learning Objectives / Competencies
Students will be able to:
- Define and explain human rights using the UDHR.
- Interpret key UDHR articles.
- Analyze real cases of rights protected or violated.
- Create a product on why human rights matter and how youth can promote them.
Readings / Materials
- Selected UDHR articles (e.g., 1–2, 3, 5, 18, 19, 21, 25).
- Short human rights case studies.
- Optional: news examples; basic poster or digital tools.
Synopsis of Material
Across three class periods, students define human rights, explore and paraphrase key UDHR articles, and apply them to case studies. They then connect human rights to their own community and produce a short visual or written piece (poster, infographic, op-ed, or social media draft) on what human rights are, why they matter, and how young people can support them.
Keywords
human rights; UDHR; citizenship; civic engagement; case studies; high school social studies; global issues
Recommended Level of Instruction
Upper-level high school / Gymnasium (ages 15–19), ethics, politics, or social studies.
Works well mid-semester; no prior human rights background required.
Can also be used as an introduction to SDGs or global education.
Learning Objectives / Competencies
Students will be able to:
- Identify and prioritize key human rights.
- Explain and justify choices using clear reasoning.
- Compare how different rights shape societies.
- Collaborate to design a vision for a fictional country.
Readings / Materials
- List of selected human rights (UDHR)
- Optional: SDG overview (link or poster)
- Number cards (1–7)
- Paper or digital workspace
Synopsis of Material
Students work in groups and receive a number card (1–7). The number tells them how many human rights they may select for their fictional country. Groups choose their rights, justify why these are essential, and reflect on the type of society they want to build.
Credit:
Prof. Manuela Wagner (UConn)
Keywords
human rights; SDGs; citizenship; ethics; global studies; social studies; Gymnasium; group activity; decision-making
Thematic Activities
Environment & Sustainability
Recommended Level of Instruction:
Upper-level high school / Gymnasiale Oberstufe (Grades 10–12), civics/ethics/social studies.
Best early–mid semester; no prior knowledge required. Also works as an SDG/global citizenship intro.
Learning Objectives / Competencies:
Students will be able to:
- Link SDGs to specific human rights and justify connections.
- Consider intercultural differences in implementing rights.
- Propose and present one practical action idea.
- Reflect on personal responsibility in daily life.
Readings / Materials:
SDG icons/poster; projector; group worksheet (SDG–right–reason); reflection sheet; post-its; pens.
Optional: short human-rights handout (UDHR-based).
Synopsis of Material:
Quick brainstorm and SDG overview. Groups match SDGs to rights, discuss intercultural aspects, and present a short UN-youth role play with a concrete measure. Students end with a short individual reflection (one SDG + personal action).
Keywords:
human rights; SDGs; sustainability; intercultural competence; global citizenship; role play; group work; reflection; action planning
Against Discrimination
Recommended Level of Instruction:
- Upper secondary level, from grade 10 onward.
- Suitable for German, Civic/Political Education, Religion, or Ethics classes.
Learning Objectives / Competencies:
- Students examine to what extent the human rights of people with disabilities are realized in their own environment.
- Students strengthen subject knowledge, judgment skills, and action-oriented competence.
- Through independent research and engagement with relevant stakeholders, students practise democratic participation.
Reading(s) / Material(s):
- Copies of the group task sheets (see download).
- Additional research materials collected by students during the project.
Synopsis of Material:
- In four groups, students explore the lives of people with disabilities, focusing on their surroundings, everyday experiences, and rights.
- This project-based activity is designed for 2–3 days and encourages students to investigate real-life conditions and reflect on inclusion and human rights in practice.
Keywords (tags):
human rights; disability; inclusion; everyday life; upper secondary; project-based learning; democratic participation; ethics; civic education
Credit / Source:
Gerald Kador Folkvord, in polis aktuell 7/2021: Ich bin nicht behindert, ich werde behindert.
Recommended Level of Instruction:
- Suitable for grades 5–13.
- Appropriate for English, History, Civic/Political Education, and Geography classes.
Learning Objectives / Competencies:
- Students gain an introductory understanding of the women’s suffrage movement.
- Students explore broader social and political movements through the example of voting rights for women.
- The activity supports subject knowledge and discussion skills.
Reading(s) / Material(s):
- Copies of the English gap-fill text “Women’s Suffrage” (see downloads).
- Additional source materials on the Austrian development of women’s suffrage.
Synopsis of Material:
- This lesson offers a general introduction to the history of women’s suffrage through an English-language gap-fill exercise.
- It can be completed in 1–2 hours and is complemented by sources that highlight the specific Austrian context.
Keywords (tags):
women’s suffrage; gender equality; political movements; voting rights; Austria; English; history; civic education
Credit / Source:
Based on material from Gender – Gleichstellung – Geschlechtergerechtigkeit, by Philipp Leeb, Renate Tanzberger, and Bärbel Traunsteiner (Edition polis, Vienna, 2014; updated 5 March 2022).
Recommended Level of Instruction:
- Can be adapted for different grade levels.
- Especially suitable for Physical Education, Civic/Political Education, and social studies or human rights-related classes.
Learning Objectives / Competencies:
- Students experience some of the challenges of inclusion in sports through short physical tasks and develop empathy.
- Students create practical and imaginative ways to make sports activities accessible for people with different abilities and needs.
- Students reflect on accessibility, adapted rules, and participation in sports as a human rights issue.
Reading(s) / Material(s):
- Simple sports materials such as small balls, ropes, cones, or other equipment depending on the activity.
- Temporary “restrictions” for the challenge, such as blindfolds, using only one hand or one leg, speaking quietly, or completing a task while seated.
- A worksheet or short prompts for reflection.
Synopsis of Material:
- This activity introduces students to inclusion in sports through a short group challenge in which one participant completes a task with a specific limitation.
- Working together, students adapt rules, space, or tools so that everyone can participate, and then reflect on fairness, accessibility, and equal participation in connection with SDG 10.
Keywords (tags):
inclusion; sport for all; accessibility; empathy; disability awareness; human rights; SDG 10; participation; adapted sports; fairness
Activities for other subjects
Recommended Level of Instruction:
Secondary / upper middle school to high school (grade 7+); civics, social studies, ethics, and interdisciplinary sustainability education.
Learning Objectives / Competencies:
Students will be able to:
- recognize the connection between human rights and the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs);
- identify human rights issues within everyday-life scenarios;
- analyze how global development goals relate to real-life social situations;
- reflect on the relevance of human rights in their own daily environments.
Readings / Materials:
Printed or digital overview of the 17 SDGs (symbols and short descriptions); scenario cards with everyday situations; pens; small note cards or sticky notes; optional board/whiteboard.
Synopsis of Material:
Students begin with a short brainstorming activity on the meaning of human rights. They then receive everyday-life scenarios and work individually or in small groups to identify which human rights are involved and which of the 17 SDGs best relates to the situation. In the final discussion, students present their reasoning and reflect on how global sustainability goals and human rights are interconnected in daily life.
Keywords:
human rights; SDGs; sustainability; everyday life; scenario analysis; discussion; civic education
Recommended Level of Instruction:
Secondary / upper middle school to high school (grade 7+); civics, ethics, social studies, and interdisciplinary human rights education.
Learning Objectives / Competencies:
Students will be able to:
- understand the relationship between individual rights and social responsibilities;
- develop empathy for people affected by human rights violations;
- analyze real-life situations connected to the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs);
- practice communication and collaborative problem-solving when addressing rights-related conflicts.
Readings / Materials:
Role-play or case cards; optional simple props for scenes; pens; optional board/whiteboard for reflection.
Synopsis of Material:
Students explore the connection between rights and responsibilities through short role-play scenarios. In small groups, they act out situations related to education access, clean water, and disability inclusion, taking on roles such as the affected person, an institutional representative, and an advocate. After the role-plays, the class reflects on the challenges of implementing human rights and discusses how individuals and institutions can respond to rights violations.
Keywords:
human rights; role-play; SDGs; empathy; civic engagement; inequality; communication; problem solving
Recommended Level of Instruction:
Secondary / upper middle school to high school (grade 7+); civics, ethics, social studies, arts, and interdisciplinary human rights education.
Learning Objectives / Competencies:
Students will be able to:
- express their personal views on human rights through creative work;
- identify issues and rights they would like to stand up for;
- reflect on how individual engagement connects to broader global goals;
- communicate human rights themes in a thoughtful and imaginative way.
Readings / Materials:
Large sheets of paper or digital drawing tools/tablets; colored pencils, markers, or collage materials; optional projector for presentations.
Synopsis of Material:
Students reflect on how they can raise their voices for human rights and explore examples of creative activism such as posters, poems, songs, or social media campaigns. They then create their own “message to the world” focused on a human right or SDG of personal importance and, if they choose, share and discuss their work with the class.
Keywords:
human rights; creativity; SDGs; personal engagement; art; reflection; civic expression
Recommended Level of Instruction:
Secondary / upper middle school to high school (grade 7+); civics, social studies, mathematics, ethics, and interdisciplinary human rights education.
Learning Objectives / Competencies:
Students will be able to:
- recognize that human rights issues and SDGs can also be explored through data;
- interpret simple statistics, charts, and indicators related to global inequalities and social conditions;
- identify which human rights questions are highlighted by quantitative information;
- reflect on both the value and the limits of numbers in understanding justice and inequality.
Readings / Materials:
Printed or digital overview of the 17 SDGs; simplified data cards or charts with SDG-related indicators; pens; note cards; optional calculator.
Synopsis of Material:
Students begin by discussing whether fairness, equality, and opportunity can be measured. They then work individually or in small groups with simplified data cards on issues such as education access, clean water, child mortality, or income inequality, linking the figures to relevant SDGs and human rights concerns. In the final discussion, they share their interpretations and reflect on how statistics can reveal important patterns while also leaving out parts of lived experience.
Keywords:
human rights; SDGs; data literacy; statistics; inequality; global justice; interpretation; critical thinking
Recommended Level of Instruction:
Secondary / upper middle school to high school (grade 7+); civics, social studies, mathematics, ethics, and interdisciplinary human rights education.
Learning Objectives / Competencies:
Students will be able to:
- understand how mathematical models can be used to represent inequality;
- apply basic mathematical concepts such as percentages, averages, and distribution to real-world human rights issues;
- interpret graphical representations of unequal resource allocation;
- reflect on both the usefulness and the limits of simplified models.
Readings / Materials:
Simplified distribution data on income, resources, or educational opportunities; worksheet; pencils; rulers or graph paper; optional digital whiteboard or spreadsheet tools.
Synopsis of Material:
Students explore how inequality can be visualized and analyzed through a simplified case study on the distribution of educational spending. In small groups, they graph the data, calculate how resources are shared across social groups, and discuss what the model suggests about fairness, access to education, and possible human rights implications.
Keywords:
inequality; mathematical modeling; human rights; SDG 4; SDG 10; distribution; data visualization; education justice
Facilitated debates and discussion
Recommended Level of Instruction:
- Upper secondary (14–19), any subject with a human rights / civics focus.
- Best mid-unit or as a stand-alone discussion lesson; also usable in project days.
Learning Objectives / Competencies:
- Students analyze real-life situations in terms of human rights.
- Students discuss and justify possible responses and responsibilities.
Reading(s) / Material(s):
- Printed or projected scenarios with guiding questions.
- Optional: short overview of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights / relevant articles.
Synopsis of Material:
- Four short everyday scenarios (education, protest, discrimination, asylum) are discussed in groups or plenary using guiding questions to explore rights, actors and options for action.
Keywords (tags):
human rights; discussion; debate; case studies; secondary; discrimination; asylum; freedom of expression; right to education.
Recommended Level of Instruction:
Secondary / upper middle school to high school (grade 7+); civics, geography, ethics, social studies; also works well for interdisciplinary lessons.
Learning Objectives / Competencies:
Students will be able to:
- Explain “border” as a multi-meaning and socially constructed concept.
- Analyze border photographs and identify their two-sided functions/effects.
- Infer consequences of borders for different social groups.
- Discuss possible impacts of removing borders on those groups and justify their reasoning.
Readings / Materials:
Board/whiteboard; border photos (printed or digital); placemat template/paper; optional worksheet for consequences/impacts; pens.
Synopsis of Material:
Students start with a placemat brainstorm (“What are borders for you?”) and jointly build a board overview of border functions. In pairs (learning-speed duet), they analyze photos of different borders and derive consequences for affected groups using the class overview. Finally, they discuss a “what if” scenario, what changes if borders are removed and reflect on how their initial ideas about borders did (or didn’t) shift.
Keywords:
borders; human rights; migration; social groups; photo analysis; discussion; critical thinking; civic education
Credit / Source:
Adapted from the activity “Grenzen sind …” in polis aktuell 4/2025.
Recommended Level of Instruction:
Secondary / upper middle school to high school (approximately grade 7+); suitable for civics, ethics, technology, social studies, and interdisciplinary classes.
Learning Objectives / Competencies:
Students will be able to:
- explain the ethical dimension of designing and using technology;
- evaluate technical solutions from the perspective of affected users and stakeholders;
- reflect on digital inclusion and fairness as part of human rights;
- develop and defend balanced, rights-based design solutions in a role-play setting.
Readings / Materials:
Role cards with design challenges and stakeholder perspectives; pens; flipchart or whiteboard for collecting ideas.
Synopsis of Material:
Students work in small groups on a short role-play about fair and inclusive technology design. Each group represents different stakeholders, such as users, developers, and ethics or policy representatives, and negotiates a technical solution that is both practical and respectful of human rights, with links to SDGs such as reduced inequalities and just institutions.
Keywords:
technology ethics; digital inclusion; fairness; human rights; role-play; user-centered design; SDGs; accessibility; critical thinking; civic education
Recommended Level of Instruction:
Primary level (from grade 4); suitable for social studies and interdisciplinary contexts with a focus on digital literacy.
Learning Objectives / Competencies:
Students will be able to:
- Explain what cyberbullying is and distinguish it from ordinary conflicts.
- Assess example situations and justify whether they constitute cyberbullying.
- Identify and apply concrete response strategies if they are affected by or witness cyberbullying.
- Reflect critically on digital communication and responsible online behavior.
Readings / Materials:
Worksheet (class set); optional short explainer video on cyberbullying; board/whiteboard; pens.
Synopsis of Material:
Students begin by discussing their experiences with digital communication and are introduced to the concept of cyberbullying. Through three case studies, they assess whether situations qualify as cyberbullying using a continuum scale, recognizing that some cases may be ambiguous. The class then discusses differences between conflict and cyberbullying and develops practical strategies for action, including the role of bystanders. The lesson concludes with a reflection on respectful online communication and setting boundaries.
Keywords:
cyberbullying; digital literacy; online communication; conflict vs. bullying; bystander intervention; media reflection; social learning
Credit / Source:
Lorenz Prager, Cybermobbing und was ich dagegen tun kann .
AI Prompts for Lesson Planning
These prompts are designed to help you generate short lesson sequences on Human Rights Education for different subjects.
Copy a prompt into your preferred AI tool (e.g. Gemini, ChatGPT), choose the output language and level, and then adapt the results to your class and curriculum.
Subject / level
Ethics, middle or high school
What this prompt does
Generates three 15–20 minute intro lessons on Human Rights Education using the 17 SDGs as a basis.
Prompt (English)
You are a teacher in upper secondary education [add your school]. In line with the current curriculum, you design three teaching units of 15–20 minutes each on Human Rights Education, to be used as an introduction to the topic. Use the 17 United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) as your basis. The aim is to give students an overview of human rights and their application in everyday life and to familiarise them with the topic. Make sure the tasks are communicative, creative and reflective, alternate between individual work and group work with role plays, and end each lesson with a short reflection. The tasks should be suitable for the subject Ethics.
Prompt (German)
Du bist Lehrender der Gymnasialen Oberstufe in Baden-Württemberg, Deutschland. Dem aktuellen Bildungsplan entsprechend entwickelst du drei jeweils 15–20-minütige Unterrichtseinheiten zum Thema Human Rights Education, die als Einstieg in das Thema verwendet werden sollen. Nutze dabei die 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) der UN als Grundlage. Ziel ist es, den Schüler:innen einen Überblick über Menschenrechte und deren Anwendung im Alltag zu geben und sie damit vertraut zu machen. Du achtest auf kommunikative, kreative und reflektierende Aufgaben, die zwischen Einzelarbeit und Gruppenarbeit mit Rollenspielen abwechseln und die Stunde mit einer Reflexion beenden. Die Aufgaben sollen für das Fach Ethik sein.
Subject / level
German class, middle or high school
What this prompt does
Generates three 15–20 minute intro lessons on Human Rights Education for German lessons, based on the 17 SDGs.
Prompt (English)
You are a teacher in upper secondary education [add your school]. In line with the current curriculum, you design three teaching units of 15–20 minutes each on Human Rights Education, to be used as an introduction to the topic. Use the 17 United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) as your basis. The aim is to give students an overview of human rights and their application in everyday life and to familiarise them with the topic. Make sure the tasks are communicative, creative and reflective, alternate between individual work and group work with role plays, and end each lesson with a short reflection. The tasks should be suitable for the subject German.
Prompt (German)
Du bist Lehrender der Gymnasialen Oberstufe in Baden-Württemberg, Deutschland. Dem aktuellen Bildungsplan entsprechend entwickelst du drei jeweils 15–20-minütige Unterrichtseinheiten zum Thema Human Rights Education, die als Einstieg in das Thema verwendet werden sollen. Nutze dabei die 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) der UN als Grundlage. Ziel ist es, den Schüler:innen einen Überblick über Menschenrechte und deren Anwendung im Alltag zu geben und sie damit vertraut zu machen. Du achtest auf kommunikative, kreative und reflektierende Aufgaben, die zwischen Einzelarbeit und Gruppenarbeit mit Rollenspielen abwechseln und die Stunde mit einer Reflexion beenden. Die Aufgaben sollen für das Fach Deutsch sein.