Lesson Plan //
Politics - Who Rules
Regional and Local Government
Suggested Timescale
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10–15 minutes: Individual students playing online game
- Students play the online game first, to discover where decisions are made.
Resources: Online game from the 'Regional and Local Government' section of the website
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40 minutes plus homework: Individual or groupwork Class discussion
- Explain to students that they are going to produce a 'how to' guide for young people about how they can change the area they live in.
- Students read through the local government sections of the website and read the case studies carefully.
- Discuss who can get involved in local politics and how.
- Students should use the website of the local council to find information relevant to their area. In their guides they should include sections on what the local council does, how people can get their opinions heard and how they can get involved.
Resources: 'Local Government' section of the website and own council websites
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20 minutes: Active Citizenship work
- Students look at the website of their local council. What can they find out about opportunities for young people to participate in local decision–making? Is there a youth council? What has the council done for the area? If there isn't a youth council, do students think there should be one? They should find out the names of the local councillors and get emailing and writing.
- If there's already a youth council and/or mayor, the students can find out what they're up to. Is there anything they feel that the area could benefit from? If so, they should let the youth council and/or mayor know.
Resources: Own council websites
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30 minutes plus homework
- Should there be further devolution? Ask if students know what is meant by devolution. They then read the sections on devolution and look up arguments for and against devolution on the internet.
- Students should write up their arguments, or produce campaign posters, either in favour or against devolution.
- Vote in the online poll.
Resources: 'Devolution' section of website
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10 minutes
- Complete the quiz.
Alternative Activities – Extension Activities
ICT opportunity: If time and resources permit, students could design a website about how young people can get involved in local government decisions. They should include links to other relevant sites. If they are unable to actually construct the site, they could design it all on paper.
Devolution debate – half the class researches arguments in favour of devolution and the other half researches arguments against it and a debate is held.
Assessment:
- Students' 'how to' guides should be assessed according to clarity of information and quality and relevance of research.
Active Citizenship Opportunities:
As specified in the plan – emailing and writing to local councillors about involvement of young people in local decision–making.
Teacher Guidance
The address of your own council website is usually www.nameofcouncil.gov.uk You simply insert the name of your council. If this doesn't work, conduct a search on the internet.
Two of the activities in the lesson plan involve homework. These are the 'how to' guide and the poster. Students should do as much of the research and discussion in class as possible.
The timescales are given purely for guidance. Some activities may take longer or shorter depending on your class. The way the activities are organised is also for guidance. All the activities can be done individually, in small groups or as a whole class. It is intended that the role of the teacher is that of facilitator with the website doing the actual 'teaching'. Students should be able to explore the website and find out more about what interests them from the variety of information contained on each section of the site. Where discussion questions have been suggested, these can also be done as written questions or used to guide extended writing on the issues raised within the body of the text on the website.
