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Citizenship at key stage 3 (Year 7-9)
Unit 07: Local democracy
Section 2: What is my community concerned about?
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Objectives |
| Children should learn: |
- about an issue of local concern, whose interests are involved and who within the local council is responsible for dealing with the issue
- about different ways of conducting an enquiry
- where to find information about their local council/authority
- to use appropriate reading strategies to conduct research (NSE)
- to identify the key points in texts (NSE)
- to ask questions in interview to clarify meanings (NSE)
- to organise and present information (NSE)
- to communicate with a range of local people, taking on board opinions from as many sectors of the community as possible
- to analyse and reflect on the evidence they collect during their enquiry, and draw conclusions from it
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Activities |
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Outcomes |
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Children: |
- Pupils plan how they will investigate their chosen issue. They identify which members of their community have an interest in the issue, eg themselves, their parents, community-based and voluntary groups, businesses. How do members of the community take action and try and influence decision-making and policy? What types of campaigning are used? What is the role of community-based and voluntary organisations? Do any of these people's interests conflict or compete?
- Pupils then find out who in their local council/authority is responsible for dealing with the issue, and how policies regarding the issue are developed and consulted on. How is this area of work funded, eg by council tax, national government, public-private partnership? Pupils should research local spending priorities and relevant local/national policies or initiatives.
- Pupils devise and agree a way of surveying the views and recommendations of local people. Their survey could include a question on whether there is strong enough opinion on the chosen issue to affect voting at the next local election.
- Using libraries and the internet, pupils carry out research into whether other communities, at home or abroad, have tackled similar issues. What can we learn from them?
- The results of the survey could be presented as a report, which should examine the findings and make recommendations about what should be changed. It could also be used at a public meeting (mock or real) with other members of the community.
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- are aware of the different interests of members of the community and that these interests may conflict or compete
- understand some of the ways in which local policies are developed and consulted on
- know how they can have their say and be involved with, and/or consulted on, the development of policy
- know how to undertake an enquiry into an issue, devising appropriate questions, and are aware of different ways of collecting information and evidence
- know how to approach and communicate with the local council and other members of the community
- draw conclusions from a variety of sources and present these to others
- understand that local and national government policies and initiatives are related
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Points to note |
- See the Teacher's
guide (appendix 8) for more information on how to plan enquiries in
citizenship.
- Local councils all produce yearbooks and literature on
how they are financed and the services they offer. Contact the council's press
office or public relations department.
- There may be a new/proposed development in the locality
that can be used as a case study. Developers or representatives from the local
planning department could be approached, and could bring in drawings, brochures,
etc.
- Link with NSE: year
7 R2, year
7 R7, year
8 R2, year
8 R5, year
9 R2; year
7 Wr11, year
8 Wr10, year
9 Wr9.
- Link with NSE: year
7 S&L1, year
8 S&L5, year
9 S&L3.
- Link with geography: unit
23 'Local actions, global effects', unit
3 'People everywhere'.
- www.communitypartners.org.uk
is the Community Service Volunteers' online database of voluntary organisations.
- Extension activity: further work could be undertaken to
investigate how the local council/authority has changed the way it makes decisions
following the implementation of the Local Government Act 2000. Pupils could
also research how young people are involved with and/or consulted on the council's
decision-making process.
- The question of who should take part in the survey needs careful consideration.
It might be best to restrict it to other members of the school community and
people directly involved with the school.
- Local election results may be accessed on the local authority's website. Use
www.lga.gov.uk to find
your relevant site.
- The chosen issue may fit with local priorities for Local Agenda 21/community
safety/health improvement plans.
- Link with unit 14 'Developing skills of democratic participation': pupils
could go on to organise a campaign around the issue.
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This unit is divided into sections. Each section contains a sequence of
activities with related objectives and outcomes. You can view this unit by
moving through the sections or print/download the whole unit.
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