What Would Happen If Everyone Did What You Did?
TARGET:
9-11 years
INTENSITY:
25 min / 2x per week
LEARNING GOAL
Developing My Human-Human Co-Intelligence
PEDAGOGICAL INTENTION
Respecting Individual and Shared Rules
Target SKILLS
Socio-emotional Intelligence
Co-Intelligence Human-Human
Critical Thinking
MATERIALS
Kant's universalizability test (simplified)
Social contract analysis cards
DETAILED PROCEDURE
Gather the whole group together in a circle for this activity. Explain calmly to the children: "There's a powerful test for whether a rule is worth following: what would happen if everyone acted the same way you're thinking of acting?"
Step 1
Introduce Kant's universalizability principle (simplified): before doing something, ask - if everyone did this, would the world work? Would you want to live in that world?
Step 2
Apply to familiar situations: cutting the line / free-riding on group work / sharing someone's secret.
Step 3
Say gently to the children: "Rules aren't just about controlling you. They're about the kind of world you're building - every time you act."
Step 4
Personal audit: is there anything you do that couldn't pass the universalizability test?
Step 5
Step 6
Step 7
Step 8
Step 9
Step 10
PROGRESS INDICATORS
The child applies the universalizability test correctly to 5 scenarios.
The child identifies one personal behavior that fails the test.
The child explains the connection between individual choices and group outcomes.