Year 3, Lesson 1.3: Good Worker vs. Good Citizen

Unit Learning Goal

Students will explore what it means to be a good citizen in different contexts—including local, national, and global—and will examine how responsibilities to self, others, and society shape ethical decision-making and civic identity.

Lesson Goal

Students will be able to distinguish between the traits and responsibilities of a good worker and a good citizen, and reflect on how these roles may overlap or conflict in real-life scenarios.

Assessment

  • Monitor participation in the interactive activity and small group discussions.

  • Collect and review the Good Worker vs. Good Citizen Sorting Handout for understanding.

  • Analyze Exit Ticket responses for evidence of nuanced thinking about role conflicts and intersections.

Casel Alignment

Self-Awareness, Responsible Decision-Making

Portfolio Documentation

Resources

  • None

Prerequisites

Students should be familiar with the 3 Es of Good Work and have completed earlier reflection lessons.

Total Time

45 minutes


Instructions

  • Remind students that in the last lesson, they explored their personal responsibilities using the "Rings of Responsibility" and discussed what it means to be a responsible citizen. Today’s lesson builds on that reflection by exploring how the roles of “good worker” and “good citizen” might align—or come into conflict—with each other and with other identities, like being a good friend, student, or family member.

1. Opener: Think-Pair-Share: Who Do You Admire and Why? [10 minutes]

  • Ask students to think of someone they admire. This person could be someone they know personally or someone public.

    • Advance prep option: You may assign this reflection as a quick journal entry or prep question before class.

  • Ask:

    • Is this person a “good worker,” a “good citizen,” or both?

    • What specific qualities or actions make them admirable as a “good worker” and/or “good citizen”?

  • Format:

    • Think quietly. (1 minute)

    • Pair up and discuss. (2 minutes)

    • Share highlights with the full group. (2–3 minutes)

2. Sorting: “Good Worker or Good Citizen?” [20 minutes]

  • Pass out the Good Worker vs. Good Citizen Sorting Handout.

  • Students will read a list of characteristics, values, or actions and decide whether each best describes a “good worker,” a “good citizen,” or both.

  • Then, in small groups, they’ll compare answers and discuss areas of disagreement.

  • Optional Extension Within the Activity: Ask students: Are there other traits, actions, or qualities they admire that aren’t on the list? Invite groups to add their own additional examples in the indicated rows at the conclusion of the worksheet.

3. Follow-up Group Discussion [10 Minutes]

  • Bring the class back together and facilitate a group reflection:

    • Where did your group disagree, and why?

    • Did anyone change their mind? What influenced your thinking?

    • Can you think of real people who embody both roles?

    • What happens when being a good worker and good citizen come into conflict?

    • Can these roles conflict with other roles we value—like being a good friend, family member, or community member?

4. Closing and Exit Ticket [5 minutes]

  • Ask students to choose one prompt and write a brief response.

    • Option A: Describe a moment when being a good worker might conflict with being a good citizen. What would you do and why?

    • Option B: Think of your role as a student—can you think of a time when being a “good student” came into conflict with being a “good citizen”? What did you do or what might you do in that situation?