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Introduction...

Harness enthusiasm for the US elections and Obama's historic win. On a normal day pupils find it hard to muster enthusiasm for political literacy and teachers feel ill-equipped to teach it.

What we’re doing in our subject is educating for democracy and equipping our young people to play an active role in public life, making a positive contribution to society. So political literacy is a topic at the heart of Citizenship education. But how can you make democracy and justice come alive for your pupils?

HERE ARE SEVEN IDEAS FROM ACT...

Idea 1

Obama

You could start with what democracy is and how much they understand about Obama for example. You may find they already understand a lot and have lots of topical questions to get a good classroom debate going. You may also need to clarify a few points: Obama is not President of England etc. What do we have?

4-minute clip from Newsround about the elections in the USA.

ACT has agreed with the publishers of THE CITIZEN that their current issue can be downloaded and duplicated by all ACT members free of charge. They've set up a special page on their website for us The Citizen.

Why did he have to struggle more to get to the top? Why was so much money needed and where did it come from? Is politics equally accessible to all? Is it just about money? Why did so many people vote for the first time? Who were they? Is the demoratic defficit at last turning around? If so, why - is it down to policies or personality?!

Idea 2

How about a visit to (or from) our national parliament?!

They now have a new outreach team so even if you can’t arrange a school trip, the parliament can come to you. They also have a great new website with a revised set of films and new resources to support young people’s understanding of Parliament and democracy. What’s more it’s all FREE! There are separate resource packs for KS 2,3 and 4&5. Each glossy pack includes a series of animated films and a booklet of worksheets and lesson plan ideas. Some of the films are on Parliament’s new education website.

The three core areas of the Education Service are: school visits to Parliament; outreach events across the UK; and online resources. This third section includes interactive games, videos, lesson plans and print publications to download. ACT thinks these are good.

Idea 3

Show them democracy in practice

You cannot teach young people about democracy in a vacuum. You have to show them how it’s done. I hope I’m preaching to the converted here, but there’s no point telling them that they have no say in how the school is run at the same time as teaching them to understand democracy and how the country’s run. If they’re going to get any kind of understanding of democracy they need to experience it. If you don't already have a functioning and powerful school council then get one. Here's how: School Councils UK

There's a great lesson plan on putting student voice into action in our secondary resources section - accessible to ACT members only.

Or check out the resources in www.outofyourhands.com about the action young people can take in devising a mobile phone policy.

Use democratic processes in school for elections, referenda, consultations etc. Mi-Voice Participation is offering its services to ACT members for FREE (we think this is jammy). Mi-voice is a secure electronic voting and consultation tool for teachers to run democratic events in school. Once you've set-up the "event" pupils can take part online or by sending a text message. Contact ACT to sign up.

See Mi-Voice Website for details

Idea 4

Big Ben and All That! (Crash Course)

If like many Citizenship teachers you feel that you don’t know enough about this yourself then follow the link below and we'll send you a copy of ACT’s CD Rom “Big Ben and All That!” which will answer all your questions so you can pose as an expert in front of your class. It’s free and we’ve made it to help you, so take advantage of it! Order your free copy from ACT.

Idea 5

Mock elections in school

Students get into the campaigning spirit by canvassing support, running as candidates, creating manifestos, building ballot boxes, designing campaign posters and casting their first votes on the day.

Mock elections give students a first hand insight into how voting and the democratic process work. Teachers receive a comprehensive resource pack containing a step-by-step guide to running the elections.

The Y Vote Mock Election pack gives teachers step-by-step guidance and can be interpreted according to the level of students’ understanding of the political process.

Teachers should register online to take part in the Y Vote Mock Elections, and will receive extra election resources. Results are posted here following the elections.

You don't have to do a whole school election or even a whole year group election. Why not just use voting as part of your everyday lessons?! As noted above, ACT has (jammily) teamed up with Mi-Voice to allow ACT members free use of their online and text voting software! Your pupils will think you're ubercool! Mi-voice is a secure electronic voting and consultation tool for teachers to run democratic events in school Contact ACT to sign up.

See Mi-Voice Website for details

Idea 6

Hansard Society

Check out the wealth or resources offered by the Hansard Society in their citizenship education pages, including a series of forthcoming conferences for citizenship teachers about the EU.

Idea 7

Democracy Cookbook

We cannot manage to plug this resource enough. It's full of great little and large democracy excercises, games and lesson ideas. It's FREE, but you have to order it from the Electoral Commission.

It's also available online from www.dopolitics.org.uk