Social Responsibility in Action

Overview

Students unpack Don Hellison’s Model of Social Responsibility and apply each level to realistic physical activity and wider-life scenarios. Using laptops, they will identify evidence, justify judgements and distinguish what is required for Achievement, Merit and Excellence in the social responsibility assessment.

Learning intentions

Students will:

• Understand the five levels of Hellison’s Model of Social Responsibility.
• Apply the model to physical activity and wider school or community contexts.
• Identify the difference between demonstrating, consistently demonstrating, and outstandingly demonstrating social responsibility.
• Select meaningful evidence that could support their assessment.

Success criteria

I can:

• Explain the behaviours associated with Levels 1–5.
• correctly match actions and scenarios to a level of responsibility.
• Explain why a behaviour meets a particular level.
• identify what I need to demonstrate consistently in physical activity and wider life.

Curriculum links

• Physical Education achievement standard: Consistently demonstrate social responsibility through applying a social responsibility model in physical activity.
• New Zealand Curriculum Health and Physical Education: develop relationships, participate safely and responsibly, and make decisions that enhance the wellbeing of self and others.
• Key competencies: managing self; relating to others; participating and contributing.
• Don Hellison’s Model of Social Responsibility: respect, participation and effort, self-direction, helping others and leadership, and beyond the classroom.

Lesson structure (60 minutes)

1. 0–7 min · Hook and assessment purpose. Teacher displays the question, “Is being a good teammate enough to achieve Excellence?” using the opening question slide, then briefly explains that the assessment requires consistent evidence over time, not one isolated good action. Students vote privately on their laptops, justify their answer in one sentence, and compare responses with a partner.

2. 7–17 min · Build the model. Teacher uses the five-level model slides to introduce the levels, stressing the progression from respect and participation to self-direction, leadership and applying responsibility beyond physical activity. Students complete a laptop matching task: they drag or type key behaviours beside Levels 1–5, then check answers as the teacher reveals the model. Clarify that Level 5 includes being a role model and helping others reach a similar level.

3. 17–30 min · Scenario investigation. Teacher assigns pairs one of five laptop scenarios through the scenario investigation instructions. Scenarios should include realistic Year 12 contexts such as a team training session, a student-led lunchtime activity, coaching younger students, responding to peer pressure, or contributing to a community group. Students decide the highest level clearly evidenced, highlight the behaviour that proves their decision, and record what additional evidence would be needed to justify a higher level.

4. 30–42 min · Achievement-level challenge. Teacher presents three anonymous student profiles on the assessment-level comparison slides: one showing basic social responsibility in physical activity, one showing consistent high-level behaviours in physical activity, and one showing outstanding responsibility in physical activity and wider life. Students work individually on their laptops to classify each profile as Achievement, Merit or Excellence, then submit a short explanation using the structure: “This meets ___ because… The evidence is… To move higher, the student would need…”. Discuss responses, emphasising that Excellence requires sustained, convincing evidence and transfer beyond the activity setting.

5. 42–53 min · Personal evidence planning. Teacher distributes the social responsibility evidence planner and models one example from a practical lesson. Students identify two physical activity situations and one wider-school or community situation in which they could demonstrate responsibility. For each, they record the behaviour, the relevant Hellison level, who could observe it, and what evidence could be collected. Students must avoid vague claims such as “I was helpful” and instead describe observable actions, such as including a less confident participant or independently resolving conflict fairly.

6. 53–60 min · Peer check and exit response. Teacher displays the final review prompts using the plenary and exit-ticket slide. Students exchange planners with a partner and give one specific “evidence strength” and one question that would make the evidence more convincing. They then submit a laptop exit response: “My current strongest level is ___ because ___; my next consistent action will be ___; evidence could come from ___.” Collect or save planners for future assessment conferencing.

Resources

• One laptop per student with access to the class learning platform
• the social responsibility lesson deck
• the social responsibility evidence planner
• Hellison’s Model of Social Responsibility reference material
• Digital scenario and response forms
• Timer
• Whiteboard or display
• Existing practical activity observation notes, if available

Assessment

• Check accuracy during the laptop matching task and question students about why behaviours belong to particular levels.
• Review scenario explanations and listen for evidence-based reasoning rather than unsupported level labels.
• Use the evidence planner and exit response to identify misconceptions, especially confusion between participation, self-direction and leadership.
• Remind students that peer and adult-leader feedback, teacher observation and ongoing reflection contribute to a valid judgement; one-off behaviour is insufficient.

Differentiation

• Provide a digital word bank with terms such as respect, self-direction, initiative, empathy, fair play, leadership, consistency and role model.
• Offer sentence starters: “The observable behaviour is…”, “This demonstrates Level ___ because…”, and “A higher level would require…”.
• Allow students to listen to scenarios through text-to-speech or work with a supportive partner; present scenarios in short, clearly spaced sections for students with literacy or attention needs.
• Extend confident students by asking them to identify whether evidence is sufficient for a level or merely suggests potential, and to explain how an adult leader could verify behaviour over time.
• Ensure examples represent varied activities and contexts, including individual, team, culturally relevant and community-based participation.