Lesson 8: The End of Life

Facilitate a ‘Human Barometer’ activity where students indicate their perspective on the following statements:

• “People with terminal illnesses should be able to choose when and how they die”
• “People who oppose euthanasia lack compassion for those who are suffering”
• “As a society we have a strong track-record of caring for the elderly and the terminally ill”

• Article: Death is not the end: Fascinating funeral traditions from around the globe

Students skim read the TED Ideas article ‘Death is not the end: Fascinating funeral traditions from around the globe’ and discuss the tradition which most stands out to them. Students then reflect on what the insight that tradition give us into the beliefs and values of that cultural group.

• Blog Post: 22 of the most powerful death & dying quotes ever written

Students read the blog post and choose the quote they most identify with.

Students then create their own meme on the topic.

• Clip: Euphemising Euthanasia (Part 1) (6:15)

Students watch the clip and complete the ‘Compass Points’ thinking routine.

• Where do you see Eye to Eye with her argument?
• What do you find Worrisome about her argument?
• What else do you Need to Know in order to evaluate her argument?
• What is your current Stance on her argument?

• Article: Are the only reasons to oppose euthanasia religious ones? (2 min)

Students read the article. As a class, students identify the arguments that are presented and then offer counter-arguments which should also be considered.

Explore how convincing the class finds the various arguments.

• Article: What is a “good death”? (6 min)
• Article When we are old: Dignity in aged care (4 min)
• Article: The truth about dying (8 min)

Read ONE of the articles ‘What is a “good death”?’, ‘When we are old: Dignity in aged care’ and ‘The truth about dying’ and complete the ‘Step In, Step Out, Step Back’ thinking routine:

1. Step In:Given what you read in this article, what do you think this person might feel, believe, know, or experience? (In particular, focus on what it seems they believe about what it means to be human, and the value of human life).
2. Step Out:What else would you like or need to learn to understand this person’s perspective better?
3. Step Back: Given your own exploration of this perspective so far, what do you notice about your own perspective and what it takes to choose to adopt somebody else’s?

In small groups students read the following verses and create a mind-map to summarise what they teach about aging and death. (Isaiah 46:4, Leviticus 19:32, Proverbs 16:31, Job 12:12, Job 14:5, Ecclesiastes 8:8, Hebrews 2:14-15, Isaiah 25:6-8, Revelation 21:1-4)

Students choose one or two of these verses which they think are particularly counter-cultural in today’s world and create a short video presentation explaining why they chose that verse, and how they think society would change if more people believed it.

As a class brainstorm a list of ways in which society, your school, and you as an individual could value the elderly and terminally ill more.

• Article: A completed life (1 min)

Students read the article and in point form note down their own thoughts in response to her three reflection questions.

1. Do I have a story?
2. Am I the author of my story?
3. Am I even the protagonist of my own story?

• Article: Easter promises us that death is not an extinction (3 min)

Students read the article and write a two or three paragraph response answering the question ‘What is a “good death?’.

• Article:  It’s out with the old as Christian values fall away (4 min)

Students read the article then write their 200-300 word opinion piece in response to this one.