The year, term by term
34 weeks across four South African terms.
Every grade follows the same four-term journey — looking and wondering, reasons and evidence, other eyes and hidden persuaders, then doing the right thinking — so families and teachers always know where they are. Lessons unlock one at a time.
Term 1 · 10 weeks
Looking & Wondering
Master sustained argumentation: the full Toulmin model and dialectic, so an argument can be built, stress-tested and rebuilt rather than merely spotted.
Hold onto this term: A strong argument is a structure you can take apart and put back together — every part doing a job.
- Wk 1
Week 1: The Anatomy of an Argument
What are the working parts of any real argument?
- Wk 2
Week 2: Warrants: The Hidden Bridge
What unspoken assumption is this argument relying on?
- Wk 3
Week 3: Backing, Qualifiers and Rebuttals
How does an honest argument show its own limits?
- Wk 4
Week 4: Building a Full Argument
Can I construct an argument with every part doing its job?
- Wk 5
Week 5: Validity Versus Soundness
Can an argument be perfectly logical and still be wrong?
- Wk 6
Week 6: Dialectic: Thesis, Antithesis, Synthesis
How can two opposing arguments produce a better third one?
- Wk 7
Week 7: The FET Thinking Journal, Year 2
How can my journal track the arguments I build and break?
- Wk 8
Week 8: Charitable Reading
Am I arguing against their best case, or a weaker version of it?
- Wk 9
Week 9: An Argument I Want to Get Right
Which live debate do I want to reason through properly this year?
- Wk 10
Week 10: Looking & Wondering — Term Review
How well can I now build and stress-test an argument?
Term 2 · 9 weeks
Reasons & Evidence
Reading the economy critically: incentives, trade-offs, fairness, and the competing frameworks behind South Africa's defining issue of inequality.
Hold onto this term: There is no such thing as a free choice in economics — every option has a cost you must name.
- Wk 11
Week 11: Economic Inequality Frameworks
Why do thoughtful people explain inequality so differently?
- Wk 12
Week 12: Incentives: People Respond to Rewards
How do incentives quietly steer behaviour?
- Wk 13
Week 13: Trade-offs and Opportunity Cost
What am I really giving up when I choose?
- Wk 14
Week 14: Reading the Economy in the News
How do I read an economic headline without being fooled?
- Wk 15
Week 15: Fairness, Efficiency and Hard Choices
Is the most efficient option always the fairest?
- Wk 16
Week 16: Who Benefits? Following the Money
Whose interest does this economic argument quietly serve?
- Wk 17
Week 17: The Limits of Economic Thinking
What can a price NOT capture?
- Wk 18
Week 18: Arguing an Economic Question
Can I build a fair argument on a real economic issue?
- Wk 19
Week 19: Reasons & Evidence — Term Review
How well can I now read the economy critically?
Term 3 · 9 weeks
Other Eyes & Hidden Persuaders
The newest persuaders and the newest power: corporate environmental spin, and the ethics of technology, AI and data — who decides, who is accountable, and whether it is fair.
Hold onto this term: When a machine or a brand "decides", a human still chose how — and someone is still responsible.
- Wk 20
Week 20: Greenwashing
How do I tell a green brand from a green image?
- Wk 21
Week 21: How Algorithms Decide What I See
Who chose what is on my feed, and why this and not that?
- Wk 22
Week 22: AI and Ethics
When a machine decides, who is responsible — and is it fair?
- Wk 23
Week 23: Bias In, Bias Out
Can a "neutral" machine still be unfair?
- Wk 24
Week 24: Who Owns My Data?
What is the real price of a "free" app?
- Wk 25
Week 25: Deepfakes and Synthetic Media
How do I trust anything when video and voice can be faked?
- Wk 26
Week 26: Technology That Helps vs Harms
Is a technology good, bad, or all in how we use it?
- Wk 27
Week 27: Designing Technology Responsibly
What questions should we ask BEFORE building something powerful?
- Wk 28
Week 28: Other Eyes & Persuaders — Term Review
How has this term changed how I judge tech and spin?
Term 4 · 6 weeks
Doing the Right Thinking
Critical thinking as citizenship: rights and responsibilities, judging manifestos and policy, and acting as an informed citizen — then reflect on a year in the arenas of power.
Hold onto this term: A democracy is only as sharp as the thinking of its citizens — your vote is an argument you owe yourself to get right.
- Wk 29
Week 29: Democratic Participation
What does a democracy need from a thinking citizen?
- Wk 30
Week 30: Reading a Manifesto Critically
How do I judge a promise I am being asked to vote for?
- Wk 31
Week 31: Rights and Responsibilities
Do my rights come with duties to others?
- Wk 32
Week 32: From Opinion to Informed Action
How do I turn a careful judgement into responsible action?
- Wk 33
Week 33: A Year in the Arenas of Power
How has this year changed how I read society?
- Wk 34
Week 34: Into Grade 12 — Review & Celebration
What do I carry into the final year and its capstone?