SQT Politics and Parliment Toolkit

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Toolkit

Politics Parliament&

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Schools Question Time Politics & Parliament Toolkit

Contents

Schools Question Time . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1

Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3

Lesson 1: People and Parliament . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4

Worksheet 1

Worksheet 2

Worksheet 3

Lesson 2: Parliament and Government . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .11

Worksheet 4

Lesson 3: Voting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .20

Worksheet 5

Curriculum Links . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .23

About Parliament’s Education Service . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .24

Question Time is a trade mark of the British Broadcasting Corporation

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Schools Question TimeSchools QUESTION TIME is a Political Literacy and Citizenship Life Skills initiative supported

by Parliament’s Education Service, the Institute for Citizenship and the BBC. The initiative is

designed to provide a unique chance for young people to participate in activities which will

encourage them to become active and informed citizens.

There are four specific activities/resources to the initiative:

Politics & Parliament Toolkit - a free Political Literacy resource which can be used

independently from the Schools QUESTION TIME Challenge. The toolkit explores the themes

of Politics and Parliament and includes three in-depth lesson plans for Key Stage 3 and 4 on:

> People and Parliament

> Parliament and Government

> Voting

Communication Skills Toolkit – a free resource which can be used independently from the

Schools QUESTION TIME Challenge. It explores the value and characteristics of good debate

for informed citizenship. The Toolkit is made up of a set of teacher’s notes, seven lesson

plans and resource sheets for six different types of debate. It has been developed with the

help of teachers and educators to help both you and your students explore:

> the value of discussion and debates

> the interpersonal communication skills that enable quality dialogue

> different models that can be used

> the relationship between effective communication and citizenship.

Event Pack – a free resource which can be used independently from the Schools QUESTION

TIME Challenge and the Communication Skills Toolkit. This resource is particularly useful if

the school is considering entry to the Challenge as it helps secondary school students explore

opinion forming, communicating and debating. It includes activities to help with event planning

and evaluation. The event pack consists of six photocopiable Student Cards, teacher’s notes

and three full colour posters.

The pack has been developed with teachers to promote structured discussion and debate. It

enables students to explore democratic processes and systems, the qualities of leadership and

responsibility and how to ensure representation for diverse groups within society.

Students will learn how to:

> understand other people’s points of view better

> organise their lives more effectively


> make friends more easily

> learn more effectively

> put across points of view more effectively

> make better decisions

> enjoy the respect of other people

> be more interesting to other people

> get more pleasure from other people’s company.

Challenge Guide – a guide to entering the Schools QUESTION TIME Challenge. The

Challenge is a competition in which students put on a local QUESTION TIME event which is

judged across the UK. Delegates from the four winning teams help to make the last televised

BBC QUESTION TIME of the season in July 2009. Entry is simple and full details are given in

the Challenge Guide – initial entry is by answering three simple questions.

The 10 schools with the best entries will receive:

> an exciting full day workshop focusing on Political Literacy and communication skills

delivered by Parliament’s Education Service. All workshops focus on active learning and

participation

> an award to the value of £250 from the Institute for Citizenship supported by Parliament’s

Education Service to run a local Schools QUESTION TIME event.

Enter the Schools QUESTION TIME Challenge and your students could win the

opportunity to help produce a real edition of BBC’s QUESTION TIME with David Dimbleby

and the regular TV production team!

See www.schoolsquestiontime.org

Question Time is a trade mark of the British Broadcasting Corporation 2

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IntroductionActive citizens in the 21st century now need an understanding about the complex processes

round them. The importance of understanding, and interacting with, the institutions and

processes that govern us has never been more important.

The issues surrounding Politics and Parliament have often been seen as challenging topics to

teach as part of Citizenship and PSHE classes. These lessons are vital for informing young

citizens of why and how decisions that affect them are made, but can be hard to teach.

This year’s free Schools QUESTION TIME resources try to help teachers to tackle complex

and challenging topics in a fun and informative way.

This resource has been developed with the help of teachers and educational experts to help

you and your students explore:

> the different roles of Parliament and Government

> the differences between being an MP and a Member of the House of Lords, and theprocesses of election of MPs and the nomination of Peers

> their voting rights and the reasons why people do or do not vote

The resource comprises:

> three in-depth lesson plans aimed at guiding teachers and students through all the major

facts and issues

> information about Parliament’s Education Service and how you can access free resourcesand support for students and teachers

This Toolkit has been produced by the Institute for Citizenship and Parliament’s Education

Service as part of Schools QUESTION TIME, a Political Literacy and Citizenship Life Skills

initiative supported by Parliament’s Education Service, the Institute for Citizenship and the

BBC. It uses the format of the BBC’s QUESTION TIME programme as a springboard for

thinking about being active and informed citizens.

You can also download a FREE Schools QUESTION TIME Event Pack, which is designed for

secondary students and will help them to explore opinion-forming, communicating and

debating, and event planning and evaluation. For this and a host of other Politics and

Citizenship resources visit: www.schoolsquestiontime.org and www.parliament.uk/education

Enter the Schools QUESTION TIME Challenge and your students could win theopportunity to help produce a real edition of the BBC’s QUESTION TIME with DavidDimbleby and the regular TV production team! See www.schoolsquestiontime.org

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Politics & Parliament Lesson 1:People and Parliament

Learning Aim/s:

• To introduce students to the differences between being an MP and a Member of

the House of Lords

• To examine the processes of the election of MPs and the nomination of the

Peers

Learning Outcomes:

Must (all)

• Will be able to explain that MPs are elected and that a member of

the House of Lords is nominated or chosen

• Will be able to explain in limited detail the general election process in

the UK

• Will have some understanding of the different reasons why a person

may become a member of the House of Lords

• Understand what a manifesto is and the part it plays in the election

process.

Should (most)

• Will have a more broad understanding of the work and role of the

House of Commons and the House of Lords

• Will be able to explain the general election process in the UK in

some detail

• Will have more of an understanding of the different reasons why a

person may become a member of the House of Lords and articulate

their opinions on this.

Could (some)

• Will be able to compare and contrast the different memberships

within the House of Commons and the House of Lords and express

their opinions on this

• Will understand the process of a general election and be able to

understand the role manifestos play in helping the electorate choose

who to vote for.

Key Stage/Ages

KS3/4 Ages 11- 16

Resources/Preparation

Worksheet 1 Constituency area manifestos A, B and C (one for

each candidate in the party)

Worksheet 2 Ballot papers 1 per student

Worksheet 3 Nomination for a People’s Peerage worksheet.

All Worksheets are below Lesson Plan

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Politics & Parliament Lesson 1: (Cont)People and Parliament

Lesson Timings Student Learning Activity Teacher Activity/ Responsibility

Introduction

0 - 10 minutes

Individual activity for ‘candidates’:

Decide who will be the party

leader (and therefore prime

minister if they win)

There are two promises already

on the manifesto, which their

individual party stands for no

matter what the constituency.

They, as individual candidates,

have to decide on two additional

promises that are unique to their

own constituency.

Activity 1: The first half of the lesson

will be staging a mini-election in the

classroom to illustrate, in a very

basic form, a general election.

Split the class into three areas:

Constituency A, B and C.

Ask for three volunteers from each

section and designate them a

constituency party.

Hand out the relevant manifesto

worksheet to each candidate.

Meanwhile, ask the other students to

split their classroom into three areas,

handout ballot papers and prepare

for the election

NB: If there is time ask two students

from each ‘area’ to act as election

officials with a register to mark off

names as people vote and to count

the vote afterwards

Development

10 - 30 minutes

Class Activity:

Students allowed 1 vote in their

area (including the candidates)

.Ask the ‘candidates’ to read out their

manifestos in turn within their area.

NB: make clear to students that they

are voting for the candidate in their

area not for the whole classroom

Results: If more than two candidates

from the same party win, they form

the governing party for the

classroom. If their party leader was

elected, they become the Prime

Minister, if not they need to choose

another one.

If it is an equal split amongst the

different parties, they will need to

form a coalition government, decide

on joint policies and one leader.

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30 - 50 minutes

Pair/ individual activity:

Nominate a person to be

awarded a People’s Peerage.

This can be someone famous or

someone the students know

personally but they do have to

justify their answers

Present nominations to the class

Activity 2: House of Lords

Explain that the membership of the

House of Lords has changed over

time.

The majority of the House of Lords

are ‘life peers’ (which means they

have been awarded their title for

life and it does not pass on to their

children)

The Life Peers have been

nominated as they have expertise

in a particular area (e.g. education,

science, business)

Ask the students (either individually

or in pairs) to decide on a person

they would nominate for

membership of the House of Lords

(using the worksheet provided)

Plenary

50 - 60 minutes

Oral feedback/ Class Discussion

Ask students to give feedback on

the choices. Do they agree/

disagree and why?

Recap over the different

memberships of the Houses of

Parliament.

Main summary points: MPs are

elected, represent an area of the

country, can belong to a political

party (but can be independent) and

once elected it is their full-time job

and they are paid a salary

Lords are on the whole, nominated

or chosen for a variety of reasons

including being an expert in a

particular area. For the majority of

Lords, it is not their full-time job

and they are not paid, though they

can claim expenses for travel, etc

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Extension

• If there is time, this activity can be split into

two lessons:

Class Election: Ask each candidate to respond to questions from their

electorate (e.g. a hustings)

This can lead to further discussion on the role of a manifesto and how

candidates use it to get elected

Nominate a People’s Peerage: Ask the students to research a member

of the House of Lords. Go into further detail of the membership of the

House of Lords (including Bishops Archbishops, Law lords and Hereditary

peers) Further detail can be found from Parliament’s website at

www.parliament.uk or contact the Education Service at

www.parliament.uk/education

Assessment/

Assessment for

Learning (AFL)

X Group Work X Public Speaking

Peer Assessment X Communication Skills

Self Assessment X Individual work

X Oral feedback Written feedback

Key words: MP, Lord, General Election, Parliament, Nominated, Elected,

Constituency, Constituent, Manifesto, Life Peer

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People and Parliament Worksheet 1 - Manifesto A

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People and Parliament Worksheet 1 - Manifesto B

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People and Parliament Worksheet 1 - Manifesto C

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People and Parliament Worksheet 2 - Ballot Papers

Please print out as many sheets as your class needs

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People and Parliament Worksheet 3 - Nomination for a ‘People’s Peer’

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Politics & Parliament Lesson 2:Parliament and Government

Learning Aim/s:

• To introduce the students to the different roles of Parliament and Government

• To start to understand the process of law-making

• To understand the work of Parliament

Learning Outcomes:

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Must (all)

• Will understand the basic differences between Parliament and

Government

• Will understand one of the main areas of work for Parliament is to

make new laws

• Will have an understanding of the procedure within a debate.

Should (most)

• Will be able to produce arguments for and/or against the bill and

articulate these

• Will understand Parliament’s function within the law-making

process

• Will understand that a bill goes through several stages before

becoming a law.

Could (some)

• Will be able to articulate their own opinions whilst also listening to

the opinions of others and articulate counter-arguments.

Key Stage/Ages KS3/4 Ages 11- 16

Resources/Preparation Worksheet 4 - Bill Worksheet (A & B)

Worksheet 5 - Debating Procedure

Worksheet 6 - Classroom laid out as the House of Commons chamber

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Politics & Parliament Lesson 2: (Cont)Parliament and Government


Introduction

0 - 10 minutes

Development

10 - 30 minutes

30 - 50 minutes

Group Activity:

Discussing the issue in groups of

5-6

Who is affected? Why does it

happen? What are the causes?

What are the problems? Who is

responsible? What are the

solutions (if any?)

Group Activity: Using bill

worksheet, students in groups to

create a draft law

Present their bill to the class.

Vote on each bill in turn.

Class Discussion:

Government: They need to

deliver an opening speech (1

minute max) to say why this bill

should be made a law.

Governing Party Back benchers:

They sit on the same side of the

Chamber as the Government and

will agree in principle with bill but

may have some objections or

suggestions on how it could

change.

Official Opposition: They are

against the bill and need to

deliver an opening speech (1

minute max) after the

Government on why the bill

shouldn’t be passed

Other parties: This group can

decide to be for or against the bill

and suggest alternatives.

Explain that Parliament is made up

of three parts: the House of

Commons, the House of Lords and

the Queen. Their main role is to

make laws and keep an eye on the

Government.

The Government are formed by the

leader of the party with the most

MPs. He or she can chose whoever

they like to come and join them.

Their main job is to come up with the

ideas for laws.

Creating a Bill: Using the bill

worksheet, ask students to design a

law that will help provide a solution

to this issue/ problem. ( 5 minutes)

Ask students to read out bills (which

is similar to a first reading) and then

vote on it in the style of the House of

Commons or House of Lords (see

attached notes)

Debating Activity:

Hopefully, at least one bill has

passed its first reading (if not, pre-

prepare a bill on the topic that can

be used).

Choose one group whose bill was

passed to become the Government.

They are going to take their bill onto

its second reading where the class

will debate it and then vote on it

again.

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Politics Literacy Lesson 2: (Cont)Parliament and Government

Plenary

50 - 60 minutes

Class Discussion

See accompanying notes on how

to conduct a debate in the style of

the House of Commons or House

of Lords.

The rest of class should be split

into the three groups outlined and

prepare arguments accordingly

After the debate, ask the class to

vote as they did before to decide

whether the bill will be passed to

the next stage.

Extension

• The students can find out a current bill that is going through

Parliament (on www.parliament.uk) and follow it’s progress

through the different stages.

• Give the students more preparation time to research their

topic – alternatively allow them to pick individual topics to

create bills on.

The students can then take it in turns in role-playing the

‘Government’ in the debate

• If you have time, you can go into a more detailed explanation

of the difference between Parliament and Government and or

the stages of a bill through Parliament. Contact the Education

Service at www.parliament.uk/education for information.


Peer Assessment X Communication Skills

Self Assessment Individual work

X Oral feedback Written feedback

Assessment/ Assessment

for Learning (AFL)

Key words: Bill, law, government, official opposition, debate

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Parliament and Government Worksheet 4 - Bill Worksheet A

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Schools Question Time Communication Skills Toolkit

Parliament and Government Worksheet 4 - Bill Worksheet B

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Debating Procedure

Voting (Division)When they vote in the chamber it is a vocal vote. The Speaker says“All those in favour of…… say aye” “All those against say no”(NB: In the House of Lords they say Content or Not Content)

If the Speaker cannot tell if there is an obvious winner than they declare that the Housewill divide which involves the members filing through the appropriate corridor

Debate

It starts with an opening speech from the ‘Government’ and the ’Official opposition’ (1minute max).The debate then opens to the floor. If a student wants to speak they need to stand(instead of putting their hands up!) and ‘catch the Speakers eye’.It is the Speakers’ responsibility to ensure that members from both sides of the Househave the opportunity to speak (preferably taking it in turns).If possible ask the students not to use each others names but to refer to each other as‘The Right Honourable Member for……’ or ‘My Right Honourable friend…… (if on the sameside as them)To end the debate ask a student from the ‘Government’ side and the’ Official Opposition’to do a 30 second closing speech and then call the vote

This is a simplified version of the procedure used in the House of Commons for thepurpose of short lesson

Parliament and Government Worksheet 5 - Debating Procedure

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Parliament and Government Worksheet 6 - Chamber Layout

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Politics & Parliament Lesson 3:Voting

Learning Aim/s:

• To introduce the concept of voting in elections

• To introduce the concept of manifestos

• To examine the reasons why people do or do not vote

Learning Outcomes:

Must (all)

• Know the voting rights of UK citizens in the present day and be able

to give at least one argument for why it is important to vote

• Be able to describe at least one reason why someone might choose

not to vote and have presented a convincing counter-argument

taking this viewpoint into account

Should (most)

• Be able to describe several reasons why someone chooses not to

vote and have presented convincing counter-arguments taking these

viewpoints into account

• Be able to visualise some of the consequences of people choosing

not to vote and the impact on society

Could (some)

• Have in depth discussions on the apathy towards voting and the

impact on society as a whole

• To empathise with the reasons why people choose not to vote but to

present a convincing counter-argument for such viewpoints.

Key Stage/Ages KS3/4 Ages 11- 16

Resources/Preparation

2005 General Election Data for the schools constituency from

www.electoralcommission.org.uk

Work Sheet 7 Photocopy Resource Sheet for each student or per

group, pens

All Worksheets are below Lesson Plan

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Politics & Parliament Lesson 3: (Cont)Voting


Introduction

0 - 10 minutes

10 - 30 minutes

Development

30 - 50 minutes

Class Discussion

Class Discussion

Group Work: Develop an

advertising campaign. This must

include:

- a poster campaign

- a 30 second TV advert

Present your campaign to the

class.

Write a question on the board and

ask students to vote (e.g. hands-up,

ballot) but then only count votes from

half the class/ just the male students.

Ask the students their opinion on this

(e.g. is this fair? what should voting

achieve?)*

Explain that in the UK general

election we use the ‘First Past the

Post’ voting system, so the candidate

who gets the most votes wins.

Show the students the breakdown of

voting in the school’s constituency in

the last general election (2005).

Look at the percentage of voter

turnout.

Ask students why they think people

did not turn out to vote.

Write feedback on the board.

Ask students in groups to develop an

advertising campaign to encourage

new voters (e.g. 18 year olds) to

register to vote and/or vote on

election day.

Ask students, using resource sheet

1, to feedback on each other’s

presentations.

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Politics & Parliament Lesson 3: (Cont)Voting

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Plenary

50 - 60 minutes

Individual Activity Ask students to individually write

down their thoughts on voting. Do

they think they will vote? Why?

If not, what are their reasons why?

Ask students, if they feel

comfortable, to feedback their

thoughts. This can be extended

into a discussion topic (see

extension)

Extension

• * If there is time, you may wish to refer to the process of

enfranchisement in the UK (e.g. originally only wealthy, male

landowners could vote, women did not have the vote until

1918).

• Using the individual activity at the end of the classroom,

identify the reasons why the students feel they will vote or

why they think they won’t. What will be the impact if they

choose not to vote on i) themselves ii) on society in general?

• What would be the consequence if all 18/19 years old

decided not to vote in the next election i) straightaway ii) in

2/3 years time?

Assessment/ Assessment

for Learning (AFL)


X Peer Assessment X Communication Skills

Self Assessment Individual work

X Oral feedback X Written feedback

Key words: Bill, law, government, official opposition, debate


Voting Worksheet 7 - Feedback

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Parliament’s Education Service

Resources and support for schools

Parliament’s Education Service works with schools and Members of both Houses ofParliament to support young people in developing their understanding of Parliament anddemocracy:

• Informing young people about the role, work and history of Parliament through educational visits, tours, publications and outreach.

• Engaging young people to understand the relevance of Parliament and democracy today through active learning.

• Empowering young people to get involved by equipping them with the knowledge and skills to take part.

To achieve this, we offer resources and support for students and teachers including:

• an exciting range of visit programmes catered to learning needs

• an outreach programme, including teacher training and student workshops

• online, print and DVD classroom resources on the work of Parliament.

Our services are FREE and have been designed to support the political literacy andcitizenship education requirements of the national curricula in the United Kingdom.

Contact Details

Education Service

Houses of Parliament

London, SW1A 2TT

tel: 020 7219 4496

fax: 020 7219 0818

[email protected]/education

SQT Politics and Parliment Toolkit

Documents

Transcript of SQT Politics and Parliment Toolkit