Introduction:
In this lesson, students will learn about the history of the Belfast (Good Friday) Agreement by watching a video From Conflict to Peace by The National Archives UK, and how the Peace Process was achieved. They will learn language on the topic of peace and reconciliation, and in a final activity will discuss the importance of peace, reconciliation and social justice.
Learning outcomes:
- Develop an understanding of the history of the Belfast (Good Friday) Agreement
- Discuss some of the content of the Agreement and how this impacted different groups and communities
- Use language on the topic of peace and reconciliation
- Discuss the importance of peace, reconciliation and social justice
Age and level:
13-17, Adults (B2+)
Time:
Approximately 60 minutes (more if including extension activities)
Materials:
The materials can be downloaded below.
- Lesson plan
- Student worksheet
- Class presentation
- Plus video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VQXBpt5RArY
- Task 1: Aims (5 mins)
- Slide 2 - Read out the aims of the lesson and get the student to share which lesson aim they are particularly interested in, and why.
- Task 2: Set up & first watch (10-15 mins)
- Slide 3 - Elicit the 1st lesson aim from the students again. Before they watch, they work in pairs/ small groups to write 6 questions they’d like to know the answers to from looking at the topics that video covers.
- Actively monitor here to help shape questions that are answered, and are important, in the video.
- The students watch the full video but it’s worth pausing after each section (part of the history) in relation to their questions to support students & check understanding.
- Task 3: Listening for specific content of the Agreement (5-10 mins)
- Slide 4 - Tell the students that they are going to watch the section on the content of the Belfast (Good Friday) Peace Agreement. First, they have to predict where the language goes in the 4 main sections.
- They watch and check [play from 3.46 – 5.41]
- The answers are on Slide 5.
- Task 4: Follow-on discussion (10 mins)
- Slide 6 - Now the students have learnt about the context and the people involved, they now discuss in pairs/small groups how the Belfast (Good Friday) Agreement was important for the different groups of people involved.
- Task 5: Vocabulary focus & reflection on the positive impact of the Agreement (5-10 mins)
- Slide 7 - Tell the students that at the end of the video, the narrator concludes with these words, but some of them are missing!
- In pairs/small groups, students share what they think the missing information is. It can be words or phrases.
- The students can listen/watch again [play from 6.09] and check their answers or read the next Slide 8. (You may need to check the meaning of some vocabulary here)
- You can ask the students why they think you highlighted this language. And why is this important for all global citizens.
- Task 6: Discussion (10 mins)
- Slide 9 - Set up this discussion task in small groups and have class feedback sharing ideas.
Further information:
If you would like to know more about the Northern Ireland Peace Process before you teach and to help inform your lesson, you can go here:
- Year ’98: The Making of the Good Friday Agreement A five-part podcast series from the BBC exploring the Belfast/Good Friday Agreement
- What is the Good Friday Agreement? Information about the Belfast/Good Friday Agreement (source: BBC)
Other resources in the series:
Click or tap on the title below to access other resources in this series.
- Belfast (Good Friday) Peace Agreement – visual literacy
- Belfast (Good Friday) Peace Agreement - pre-intermediate video lesson
- From conflict to peace in Northern Ireland
The resources in this series were developed by Sea Steele and Sarah Smith at eltonix