This resource provides information and activities that will help you to deliver the key concepts of Democracy and Active Participation in the Local and Global Citizenship strand of Learning for Life and Work.
The Northern Ireland Assembly provides a useful context for exploring key elements of the Northern Ireland Curriculum.
The grids below shows how the activities on the website can contribute to meeting the requirements of the curriculum.
The material related to the videos consists of several activities that can be run over a sequence of sessions with a class. The first activity sets the scene for viewing the videos and can be used to preface the three themes that go on to explore issues raised in the videos in more detail:
The activities are signposted with reference to curriculum areas where they are likely to be most relevant:
Learning For Life and Work: Local and Global Citizenship
Key Concept - Democracy and Active Participation
Each of the activities follows a common format. In order to prepare pupils to engage with the video materials there is a context setting introduction. This invites pupils to consider some of the factors that influence voters on the way they choose to cast their vote.
The introductory activity includes attention to specialist vocabulary associated with elections, the Assembly, and suffrage. Suggestions are given both for key terms to understand and for online materials that can be used to exemplify the issues under consideration.
Teachers can vary the sequence to suit their own requirements.
| Suggested Sequence | |
|---|---|
| 1 |
Activity 1: How do people decide how to vote?
Setting the Scene: elections and voting as the context Whole class introduction |
| 2 |
Activity 2: Sorting out the meanings
Understanding the terminology: what do the words mean and what are the processes about? Online researching in pairs |
| 3 |
Theme 1, 2, 3
Contextualising the video materials: what is the area of responsibility the speaker is concerned with? Key questions to bear in mind when watching the videos |
| 4 | Whole class view the selected video |
| 5 |
Class Discussion: What issues are raised in the video?
Class pools their reflections and findings on the content of the videos in response to the key questions. Supplementary questions and issues for further investigation are identified. |
| 6 |
Pairs or small groups re-watch the video with specific questions to answer.
Teacher allocates responsibilities for further investigation to pairs or small groups. |
| 7 |
Online research: pairs or small groups investigate more about the topic.
They make notes on their findings and observations and identify the main issues they will communicate back to the rest of the class. |
| 8 |
Group Feedback
Pairs or small groups present their findings to the rest of the class, summarising what they’ve discovered and explaining the gist of the issues they’ve been asked to investigate. |
| 9 |
Class Plenary
The class reflects on the issues that have been considered. Conclusions and responses recorded. |
