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Citizenship at key stage 4 (Year 10-11)
Unit 11: Europe - who decides?
Section 2: Euro versus pound - an example issue for the European Union
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Objectives |
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- about the arguments for and against the European single currency (the euro)
- about the issues involved in implementing a single currency, and some of the effects of these on individuals and organisations
- to devise a set of questions to use as they investigate the issue
- to use a range of information from primary and secondary sources, including ICT, in their investigation
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Activities |
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Outcomes |
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Children: |
- Using the map on which they identified the EU member countries, pupils mark the members of the EU that have adopted the euro and those that have not. They investigate the advantages and disadvantages for EU members of the single currency, using a range of sources of information, eg textbooks, websites, information from the government, information from the European Commission.
- Working as individuals or in pairs or small groups, pupils find out how the introduction of the euro might affect individuals and organisations. For example, individuals wouldn't need to change money to spend while on holiday, and could easily compare the prices of goods in different countries; businesses trading in Europe would be able to see the cost differences of the same goods and services immediately (transparent pricing), and would also benefit from a reduction in transaction costs/exchange rate risk.
- Pupils devise questions for a survey of their school and wider community on the issues they have investigated, and any others they think of. This might include, for those who can remember it, a question about what happened when decimal currency was introduced. Pupils could also find out where their MP and/or MEP stands on the issue of the euro.
- Through school linking and use of the internet, pupils explore and exchange views with pupils from schools in other European countries (ideally, one country that has adopted the euro and one that has not). They find out what happened in the country that adopted the euro in the run-up to its introduction. What information was available? How were people consulted? If there was a referendum, what was the result and what was voter turnout like? What impact has the introduction of the euro had?
- Pupils could research the way the single European currency is portrayed in the media. How much coverage is there? What do different sources, including newspapers, say about the euro? Are facts being conveyed objectively, or does the media tend just to present different political points of view?
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- know some of the arguments for and against the single currency
- identify the effects of introducing the single currency, both for individuals and for organisations (including businesses)
- use their investigation to exchange different points of view, including with pupils from other countries
- recognise that media coverage of the euro may not present all the facts
- can distinguish between fact and opinion
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Points to note |
- The issue pupils investigate in this section should be topical, to enable use of media reports, UK and European parliamentary debates and other sources of information. It could be one of the issues discussed in the first section of the unit.
- Link with MFL: pupils learning a European language should be used to talking about prices in euros.
- Information about school-linking projects is provided in unit 17 'School linking' in the key stage 3 scheme of work. If the school has a link with a school in another European country, pupils may already have exchanged views with pupils in that school on the introduction of the euro.
- If internet access is available, pupils could use a discussion forum such as Speak Out! on European citizenship to exchange views with pupils overseas (see www.citizen.org.uk/speak.htm).
- Useful information on the euro is available from the Treasury's euro information website, www.euro.gov.uk.
- The countries that have adopted the euro are Austria, Belgium, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Portugal and Spain. These countries also share a single interest rate, set by the European Central Bank.
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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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