How did the lesson go?
Classroom spy | This activity is for everyone
Did you complete the lesson about NATO at school with your teacher?
If so, we’d love to hear about any good discussions you had. You could tell us…
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… about any good debates between you and your classmates.
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…about how you feel about the experts, who shared their views.
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Comments (12)
The lesson about NATO was interesting and helped me understand how military alliances work in the real world. During the class, we had good discussions about why NATO was created and how its main goal is collective security, meaning that countries agree to protect each other if one of them is attacked. This made me realise how cooperation between countries can increase security, but also how it can sometimes create tensions with countries outside the alliance.
One of the best parts of the lesson was the debate with my classmates. Some people felt that NATO helps maintain peace and stability, while others questioned whether expanding alliances can increase global conflict. Listening to different opinions helped me see the topic from more than one perspective and understand that global politics is complex and not black and white.
I also found the experts’ views helpful because they explained the topic clearly and used real examples. They encouraged us to think critically instead of just accepting one opinion. Overall, the lesson helped me improve my understanding of international relations and showed me the importance of respectful discussion and open-minded listening when talking about global issues.
This lessons taught me that countries and people have to fight for each other if not there will be a later regret to not supporting each other because later on it will affect you.
Can you share how this will later affect people?
What i meant by it will later affect you is that; for example if there is a war or pandemic that is around a particular location will later spread to all the part and it will be a big crisis because you will no longer be able to runaway. There is an expression that says what goes around comes around this is meaning that whatever you do whether good or bad will still repeat itself either later on now.
Another example is when you dip tissue into water even if it is very small it most often spreads so that means even if it is the war affects only one part it will later spread to other places that is depending if it controlled
During the lesson we learned a lot about alliances and how they work and we also learned about NATO without even realising and we also learned about the real life side of it and how military does affect alliances for example having nuclear bombs may be seen as indimidating but they may not know how to use them which affects the alliances so it depends on the qualities of the alliances
Today we had a lesson on NATO alliance.We talked about how NATO works and how important it is for countries to have alliances. In that lesson, I learned a lot of facts that I didn't know before, for example, that NATO started after World War II for defense against the Soviet Union.I learned that it is the longest-lasting alliance in the world and that many countries later joined it, just as my country Croatia did in 2007.In class we played a game in which everyone made their own flag and received a card with information. Some of us did get more cards because there were few of us in the class, but the game was still fun. I learned that alliances are one of the most important things between countries and they are not based on military power or economics but on trust and once you destroy or weaken that trust, it's hard to get it back. At the end of the lesson, we talked about today's lesson and actually then we realized that the NATO alliance and relations between countries are not so simple and that one wrong move can lead to a disaster.
Yes, we completed the lesson about NATO at school with our teacher, and it led to many thoughtful and meaningful discussions in our classroom. One of the most interesting debates between my classmates was about whether military alliances like NATO are still necessary in today’s world or whether countries should focus more on diplomacy and cooperation instead of defense. Some students believed that NATO is very important because it helps protect countries, prevents conflicts, and creates a sense of shared security among its members. Others thought that relying too much on military alliances could increase tension between nations and that peaceful dialogue should always come first.
We also discussed the opinions shared by experts from the Economist Educational Foundation, and many of us felt that their views helped us understand the topic from different perspectives. I personally appreciated how the experts explained complex political ideas in a simple and balanced way, which made it easier for students to think critically and form their own opinions rather than just accepting one side.
Overall, the lesson was very interesting and helped us learn not only about international security but also about respectful discussion, listening to different viewpoints, and understanding global issues more deeply. It encouraged me to think carefully about how countries can work together to keep peace while also protecting their people, which is an important question for the future of the world.
During the lesson, I realized we learned a lot about alliances and how the really function in the world, even without explicitly talking about NATO at first. I especially liked how we connected it to real-life situations, like how the strength or reputation of a member can affect the whole alliance. For example, it's a bit like a football team: having a star player may seem impressive, but if they can't work well with the team, it doesn't really help. Similarly, a country with powerful weapons might seem intimidating, but if it doesn't have the ability or strategy to use them effectively, it can actually weaken its alliances. It made me see how much trust and cooperation matter in alliances.
This lesson about NATO helped me to have a better understanding of alliances. Before we started the activity, we created our own flags using one of our skills (creativity). We did that because we would need to think if you wanted to ally with one another. When we got more into the lesson, we did an activity that included listening and comprehension. My classmates and I got into groups of 4-5, and each group was given a set of cards. Each person got at least two cards from the deck. We read it and decided if we wanted to ally with each other or not. I felt like this activity was great because we had to make decision and back it up with reasoning. There was a backstory to every card choice. Also, it was critical thinking and problem-solving.
In conclusion, the lesson went well. It taught me about alliances and how challenging it could be. In my opinion, the main skill was (step 13) Analyzing Views. The lesson about NATO was entertaining and one of my favorite lessons.
Can you share what you learnt about analysing views?
Well, as for me, I think that this topic/ lesson was an amazing one because most times, people come here with only the mindset of winning stars only and not learning anything and those that don't get stars give up, and to be sincere, I was once like that, but now, I see the beauty and fun in all these topics. To be specific, this NATO topic really helped me in my academics and my vocabulary and I made a lot of friends because of all the debates I have gone for, I did not win all of them, but I won most and the ones I lost helped me to learn more. This topic also helped me to defend my country more and taught me how alliances work and I know that this might sound funny but I used some of this skills as the class monitor of my class to maintain peace and now, we don't have as mush conflicts as before.
I also got to amazing professionals that helped me to unleash some crazy and amazing critical thinking skills that I never knew I had and I was able to talk to open minded and amazing people. So I am really grateful for this opportunity.
During the lesson about NATO helped me to understand how alliances work in the real world. To me, it was interesting, and it taught me some stuff like let's say we had this game where we would pull a card. Then we read it out loud to see which person or people would be our allies. It was simple and easy to understand.
I kept thinking that NATO was made so countries who are allies could help support each other in whatever is happening.
This lesson taught me that NATO isn't just a name we read in book. But it's actually about group of countries standing together and protecting each other. Before this class, I didn't really think much about being alliance, but after this lesson I really understood the importance of being alliance.
In our classroom, We had a small debate about whether it's better to stay neutral or be part of an alliance like NATO. Some of my friends felt saying neutral keeps a country out of trouble, while others said being in an alliance makes a country safer. I liked how everyone shared their opinions confidently, and it made the discussion more interesting.
But these good views also made me realise that these decisions are not simple. There are many factors behind them, like safety, history and trust between the countries. Overall, this lesson made me to think and helped me to see global politics in a more and practical way. That's truly engaging.
Can you share why your friends felt staying neutral keeps a country out of trouble?
Some of my friends feel that staying neutral keeps a country out of trouble because when you don’t officially take sides, you’re less likely to become a target.
They say that if a country joins a big military group like NATO, it could end up getting involved in conflicts that don’t directly concern it. But if a country stays neutral, it can focus more on peace, trade, and development instead of military tensions.
They also believe neutrality allows a country to act as a mediator. Instead of supporting one side, it can help both sides communicate and try to solve problems peacefully. So in their opinion, staying neutral reduces risks and helps a country avoid unnecessary conflicts.
This lesson taught me how alliances are made, and how sadly when a country chooses allies they don't do it because if this country gives aid or helps students, they do it for their own benefit. Besides, they also showed very well how fast they can change and how countries that had good relationships ended up having really bad ones. As well as how no one chooses the country where they were born and of course the facilities that they have.
Firstly, we chose our allies because of how rich they were or their military power but not because of the good actions that they took as a society, although they are what in the end make us humans. For a country, it seems like how participative the other is with global problems doesn't matter much and what matters seems to be personal interests.
Secondly, little actions can have a huge impact on international relationships especially when the leaders are rigid with their convictions. Moreover, we could see clearly how people were forced to defend points of view that weren't their own just because of the country they had got.
To sum up, I think that we learnt quite a lot thanks to experiencing this in first person and having to deal with it by ourselves. Furthermore, the explanation of NATO in the introduction of the activity was quite revealing and contained information I had never listened about and which I enjoyed listening and of course, learning.
I completely agree with this comment, from my point of view content emotion reflect perfectly well what we did in class, what we learned etc
The final product saw us how quickly we change our decisions mostly due to economic reasons and because It benefit us most, without taking into account our values. This is something is not usually a topic people like to talk about.
As far as I'm concerned this is something crucial for our well-being, not only taking about politics, allies and so on. In our daily live we should start making decisions bearing in mind our priorities, comfortability and health care noy olny because of the money acquired.
Yes, I completed the lesson about NATO at school with my teacher. We learned about what NATO is, why it was created, and the countries that are members. It was interesting to learn how countries work together for security. It teaches us information of computers and more people that we meet in topical talk . The lesson is very interesting when we are learning new things. It is very important because we learn about our countries and even the whole world. It is good for all learners because we learn new things from other continents. Is an interesting .