Students As Active Citizens: In the School

1
Students As Active CitizensIn the School In
the Community

• Burnett Heads State School

2
Planning approaches to enhance student
participation in Civics education.
3
Holdsworths 3-way test of value

• Any project needs to show that
• It has value to students students see its
  relevance to their interests
• It has wider community value meeting real and
  purposeful ends
• It has educational value- it meets or exceeds
  curriculum objectives.

4
Getting Started establishing the School
Parliament

• What is Democracy?
• Where does it come from?
• What are the underlying values?
• How is the Australian Parliament structured?
  
• What are the responsibilities of the Australian
  Parliament?

5
Using the Federal Model, what would a School
Parliament look like?

• Parties
• Portfolios
• Elections
• Constitution
• Opening
• Meetings

6
What it looks like

• Principal is Governor General
• Teachers are the Senate
• 3 Political parties

7
What it looks like

• Prime Minister leads a coalition of the 2 smaller
  parties.
• Presided over by Speaker and Serjeant in
  Arms/Clerk

8
What it looks like

• Ministers and Shadow Ministers for
• Health and Safety
• Environment
• Student Welfare
• Sport and Leisure
• Treasury
• Media and Communication
• Technology
• Years Preschool to Year2
• Years 3 and 4
• Elected reps from years 5 and 6.

9
Connecting with the Real World on a political
level

• Opened by Trevor Strong, State Member for
  Burnett, who presented Ministerial badges.
• Event spoken about in Parliament and all students
  mentioned in Hansard and on Parliamentary site
• Addressed by visiting Speaker, Fred Hollis
• Visit to observe Burnett Shire Council
• Visits from Shire Councillors
• Participating in Student Virtual Parliament.

10
Working with Woongarra Marine Watch

• stencilling drains
• communicating with surrounding residents through
  student published leaflets.

11
Participating in Tidal Pool Watch

• collecting data near stormwater drain outlets at
  Oaks Beach.

12
Minister for Environment realised school rubbish
contributed to the problem so he

• established Investigating Committee
• developed survey
• collected data over a 3 week period
• Planning for student based school wide approach
  to litter control.

13
Taking responsibility for maintaining Woongarra
Scrub area.

• raised money for saplings
• negotiated with Landcare
• worked with representatives from each class to
  plant and mulch

14
Ministers for Media and Communication and
Ministers for Years Preschool to yr 2

• Concerned that discos, movie pizza nights did not
  include younger children.
• Organised all aspects of a pizza / movie
  afternoon for Years 1 and 2 in the last week of
  last term.
• Teachers were appreciative, it was a great
  success and it made a profit!

15
Minister for Student Welfare

• Concerned with reports of bullying
• Has established Parliamentary Committee
• Has developed survey what kinds of bullying,
  where, how often?
• Training of Peer Mediation team is under way.

16
Still to come in 2003

• Ongoing data collection and interpretation with
  Tidal Pool Watch
• Further interaction with Burnett Shire Council
• Visit to Parliament House and Government House in
  Brisbane during November

17
Still to come in 2003

• Culminating Activity Public sitting of
  Parliament during Celebrating Democracy Week, to
  debate a real matter and to make recommendations
  to the staff and PC as a result of this.
• Positive Input into many aspects of school life.