What does justice mean to Christians?

YEAR 7: SPRING 1

Key Questions

  1. What did Jesus teach on justice?
  2. What do Christians today learn about justice from St Paul?
  3. How do Christian leaders show justice today?
  4. Why do some people give their lives for others?
  5. What does justice mean to Christians in practice?

 

About the unit

In this unit pupils learn about significant figures in the Christian religion who taught about justice, including Jesus and St Paul. Using a variety of written and visual sources, they learn about ways in which key leaders make important contributions to the faith. The unit provides opportunities for pupils to examine and reflect on the issues of justice. They develop their understanding of Christian sacred text. Pupils evaluate the influence of leaders for Christians today, and consider questions about their own experience of influence, leadership and inspiration. Considering issues of justice for themselves can promote pupils’ spiritual and moral development. This unit’s structure could be applied to studies of other significant religious figures in any world religion.

This unit is expected to take approximately 7 hours.

Where the unit fits in

This unit can be taught in year 7. It builds on earlier studies of religious figures and of the Bible, from the key stage 2 scheme of work. The unit focuses on developing understanding of justice, in this case from leading figures in Christianity. The unit raises questions for pupils about justice, what matters most and what human qualities make a person a leader.

The unit prepares pupils for GCSE work in RE/RS by developing their understanding of the relationship between tradition, scripture and modern practice, ethics and beliefs.

Expectations

At the end of this unit

most pupils will: express clearly their responses to questions, eg religious experience, leading and following, working for justice; describe some Christian perspectives on issues of leadership and justice; identify the influence of religious belief upon a person’s life, express some of their own ideas about justice, and consider how these relate to significant Christian leaders; reflect on their own responses to the lives of Christian leaders

some pupils will not have made so much progress and will: recount some stories about Christian leaders; identify and consider some basic questions and ideas about who is a leader and what it means to be a follower; reflect on ways in which some people give their lives to work for justice

some pupils will have progressed further and will: explain how principal Christian beliefs and teachings are shown through the lives of key figures; describe some examples of Christians working for justice; explain the impact of Christian leaders on society in the past and today; explain how contemporary Christian leaders relate to values and visions found in biblical writing; describe their own understanding of some perspectives on issues of justice, in the light of their learning from Christianity

Prior learning

It is helpful if pupils have:

Language for learning

Through the activities in this unit pupils will be able to understand, use and spell correctly words relating to:

Speaking and listening – through the activities pupils could:

Reading – through the activities pupils could:

Writing – through the activities pupils could:

Resources

As well as a range of textbooks and published resources, this unit will be enhanced by the use of original materials from biblical and contemporary Christian and other sources, including:

Out of school learning

Pupils could:

Future learning

Pupils could go on to: