Skip to main content

DEMOCRACY 3 - ASSIGNMENT IN MIDDLE SCHOOL POLITICS AND ECONOMICS



Since 2007 when I first started teaching, I have sought to create opportunities to implement economic activities into a range of my classes. As such, I have managed to introduce economic thinking into business, accounting, careers, personal finance and even information technology.

However, I have always wanted to create a middle school subject based upon two of my biggest passions: economics and politics.


In mid 2016 I had the opportunity to propose a new middle school elective at the High School I teach at. The goal; to encourage students to become engaged in politics and economics.

Throughout 2017, I have had the opportunity to work with a graduate teacher in bringing my vision to reality. This process has been extremely rewarding and enjoyable.

As I designed the subject, I had in mind an end point, a task that I could use to determine whether my students had developed an awareness of the strong and unbreakable links between economics and politics. This end point is Positech Games' Democracy 3 -
This game has enabled me to let my students loose in a simulated democracy, a world where they can implement the policies and actions that we have discussed in class throughout the year.

Yesterday, I was finally able to allow the students to test out their theories and experiment in playing this game.

The results were fantastic, after a 45 overview of the game (it has a very steep learning curve!) I allowed the students to simulate the role of the Australian government, trying to balance the political decisions that they wished to make, against the economic constraints and their level of political capital.

For 45 minutes, the class were fully engaged in the activity, making decisions and discussing their progress with their peers.

Tomorrow I will test out the new assignment that I have written for them, and see if they are able to explain and justify their actions coherently.

I can't wait.

PS - Find out how the activity went with our subsequent blog post - Here


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

A GUIDE TO CONDUCTING A CLASSROOM WASTE AUDIT A classroom waste audit is a great way to engage your students in a discussion about waste management. By collecting waste samples from around your school, students undertaking this process are able to gain a valuable insight into their collective waste management practices. It also provides the opportunity to open up a dialogue with your school about ways that waste management practices can be improved.  Our students exist within the throw-away culture of the 21 st century, where it’s far easier to buy a new product than to replace, repair and regenerate existing items. However, it’s not all bad news. With more recycling options available than any other time in history, it is becoming easier and easier for individuals to make simple - yet hugely beneficial - changes to their waste management practices. Ideally, this activity will get your students thinking about their decision making processes in regards to disposing ...
Post a Comment
Read more
We live in a world where fashion retailers can, if they choose to, take a design from paper to the store in under a month. Whilst this means that we can gain access to on-trend items quickly, cheaply and easily, it also means that clothing is being produced, and disposed of, at an alarming rate. In 2014 over 100 billion items of clothing were produced worldwide, equating to around 4 items of clothing per person living on Earth. Traditionally, 'seasons' of fashion were limited to two a year- warm weather and cold weather. It then expanded to the four seasons of the year that most temperate climates experience. In 2017, some retailers are looking between 9-11 'seasons', with clothing being removed from stores as early as a month after going on the shelves. Herein lies the origin of the term fast fashion , goods that are produced quickly and cheaply, and often of a poor quality. The advent of fast fashion has resulted in a throw-away culture emerging in the west...
Post a Comment
Read more