Aims
To help students understand the process for passing new laws, and amending existing ones.
To make students aware of the role of the different parts of Parliament in making laws, including the House of Commons, House of Lords, committees of both Houses, and the monarch.
To introduce students to Parliament’s role of scrutiny, and to encourage critical thinking about issues of enforcement, public support, economic impact, and more.
To make students aware of the importance of law-making by introducing them to key legislation from UK history, on the subjects of welfare reform, educational reform, voting rights, and changes to working hours.
To encourage students to debate issues relevant to their lives and improve their ability to give reasoned arguments, provide evidence to support them, and consider the validity of others’ arguments.
Learning outcomes
This front-of-classroom resource supports the teaching of political literacy for students of Government and Politics, Citizenship, General Studies and other subjects, by focusing on Parliament's role in making laws.
Specific learning outcomes from the Citizenship curriculum at key stages three and four include:
Participating actively in different kinds of decision-making and voting in order to influence public life (KS3 and 4 Citizenship, 1.1a)
Understanding and exploring the roles of citizens and Parliament in holding government and those in power to account (KS3 and 4 Citizenship, 1.1d)
Engaging with and reflecting on different ideas, opinions, beliefs and values when exploring topical and controversial issues and problems (KS3 and 4 Citizenship, Critical thinking and enquiry, 2.1a)
Expressing and explaining their own opinions to others through discussions, formal debates and voting (KS3 and 4 Citizenship, Advocacy and representation, 2.2a)
Teacher's guide
Easy-to-use walk-through guides will be available shortly to help you make the most of the resource at each level.
Usage
This resource is designed as a classroom presentation tool. It has been optimised for use on interactive whiteboards, but can also be used on a standard projector.
Requires Flash player 9 or above and Javascript to be enabled.