Bystanders and Upstanders

CONCEPTUAL

Personal & Social Development›Responsible Decision-Making|Ages 7—9|ID: mt_yCmYV9ruQu

Understand the bystander role — that when someone witnesses unkind or unfair behaviour, they have a choice: they can be a passive bystander (doing nothing), join in, or be an upstander (speaking up or getting help) — and develop the confidence to be an upstander

Mastery Evidence

Explain the difference between a bystander and an upstander
Describe at least two safe actions an upstander can take
Give an example of a time they or someone they know stood up for someone else

Assessment Prompt

“If [child] sees a group of children being mean to someone at school, do they have the courage to say something, walk away with the person being targeted, or tell a teacher — rather than just watching?”

Curriculum Standards2 alignments

PSPE.INT.P1.CU.5IB PYP Personal, Social and Physical Education (PSPE) Scope and Sequencecodes only

Standard code — full text not included in this dataset.

PSPE.INT.P2.LO.11IB PYP Personal, Social and Physical Education (PSPE) Scope and Sequencecodes only

Standard code — full text not included in this dataset.

Prerequisites3

Vocabulary: ethics and citizenship
hardAges 7—11
Understanding Bullying
hardAges 7—9
Everyday Kindness and Care
softAges 5—7

Show full prerequisite tree

Vocabulary: ethics and citizenship hard
The bystander/upstander distinction is entirely vocabulary-dependent — these specific terms must be taught first
Understanding Bullying hard
Bystander/upstander builds on understanding what bullying is
- Seeing Someone Else's Point of View soft
  Understanding bullying impact benefits from perspective-taking
  - Vocabulary: social awareness soft
    Perspective-taking practice is enriched by precise vocabulary including 'perspective', 'bias', and 'compassion'
  - Emotion Vocabulary soft
    Perspective-taking benefits from wider emotional vocabulary
    - Naming Basic Emotions hard
      Wider emotion vocabulary builds on naming basic emotions
  - Other People's Feelings and Thoughts hard
    Perspective-taking builds on knowing others have feelings
    - Vocabulary: understanding others hard
      Understanding that others have perspectives and feelings requires the vocabulary of empathy and perspective
- Vocabulary: ethics and citizenship hard
  Understanding bullying requires precise vocabulary distinguishing bullying types including 'cyberbullying'
- Right and Wrong Choices hard
  Understanding bullying builds on knowing right from wrong
  - Actions and Their Consequences soft
    Right/wrong benefits from understanding consequences
    - Vocabulary: making decisions and keeping safe hard
      Understanding that actions have consequences requires the vocabulary word 'consequence' as a named concept
  - Vocabulary: making decisions and keeping safe hard
    Distinguishing right from wrong requires vocabulary including 'honest', 'fair', 'trust', and 'right and wrong'
Everyday Kindness and Care soft
Being an upstander builds on caring for others
- Naming Basic Emotions soft
  Showing kindness benefits from recognising emotions in others
- Vocabulary: understanding others hard
  Showing kindness meaningfully requires vocabulary for empathy, care, and community
- Other People's Feelings and Thoughts soft
  Showing kindness benefits from knowing others have feelings
  - Vocabulary: understanding others hard
    Understanding that others have perspectives and feelings requires the vocabulary of empathy and perspective

Unlocks2

Prejudice and Discrimination
softAges 9—11
Peer Pressure and Resisting It
hardAges 9—11