GCSE RS: Business ethics activities Activities provided by Ian Russell Lesson ideas for lessons on ethical investments and business ethics: • You could start a lesson on ethical investments by distributing £10,000 worth of pretend banknotes to every student as they come into the class, then ask them to decide where to place their savings in order to make a good return: would they choose Bank A, which promises to get them more money by any means necessary, and to give them a return of £10,500, or Bank B, which promises to invest their money ethically and to give them a return of £10,400? (You may need to explain how banks make money at this stage.) Ask them if they think a ‘good’ return in this situation means the highest return or the most ethically-employed investment, or is it possible to have both? I have found the following videos from the Co-operative Bank very useful: • Animal testing and the Co-operative Bank’s ethical policy: www.youtube.com/watch?v=m5WWFFMCzl4&feature=related • Environment and the Co-operative Bank’s ethical policy: www.youtube.com/watch?v=OUcJDdG8lII&feature=related • Human rights and the Co-operative Bank’s ethical policy: www.youtube.com/watch?v=4AEXvK4u4IM&feature=related • The arms trade and the Co-operative Bank’s ethical policy: www.youtube.com/watch?v=oqRsYSSMOYY • The Co-operative Bank advert, ‘Money makes the world go round’: www.youtube.com/watch?v=GbVXNSSrEwg&feature=related • Corporate responsibility and the Co-operative Bank: www.youtube.com/watch?v=TTsZRBa-cTQ • You could then ask students what the Co-op do with the money they get, and what they don’t do with it. Then as a class, collaborate to write a summary of what an ethical investment is. • When it comes to business ethics, why not invite some local businesspeople to take part in a Q&A panel with your students, who can prepare questions in advance to ask them. • You could also show students the video of the Show of Hands song “Arrogance, Ignorance and Greed”, which can be found at www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tn8ITk6UWM. The initials of the song’s name are not coincidental. Discuss with Or Boardworks Ltd The Gallery 54 Marston Street Oxford, OX4 1LF d r FREE Sampl You eD r e i sc t: 0845 0 300 400 f: 0845 0 300 200 [email protected] www.boardworks.co.uk your students why someone would be inspired to write such a song? How does the video support the lyrics? Dissect the lyrics for hidden messages (e.g. “your probity you exchanged for gold”). I have also directed students to various videos that explore the US Congress investigation into AIG, such as www.youtube.com/ watch?v=IBnWt8DouFQ. • Use the question structure ‘who?’, ‘what?’, ‘why?’, ‘where?’, ‘when?’ and ‘how?’ to guide students’ investigations. When questions are generated and sequenced by students before they are released to search the web, their labours will be more focused and will bear greater fruit. Please note: the above weblinks were working correctly at the time of publication. Boardworks takes no responsibility for the content of external sites. If you found this lesson plan useful, why not forward it to a friend? And if you’d like to receive lesson plans and free resources direct to your inbox, why not join our email list? Go to www.boardworks.co.uk/emailupdates-_794/ to sign up today! If you enjoyed using this resource and like sharing your ideas with other teachers, why not write a lesson plan for Boardworks? To find out more, visit our authors page: www.boardworks.co.uk/authors-_348/ Or Boardworks Ltd The Gallery 54 Marston Street Oxford, OX4 1LF d r FREE Sampl You eD r e i sc t: 0845 0 300 400 f: 0845 0 300 200 [email protected] www.boardworks.co.uk