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Be the change

Learning objects Be the change

TLF ID M020977

This is an interactive about becoming an effective agent of change through civic action in a local community. Users learn a number of practical ways to take democratic action on issues. The context is an abandoned block of land located in an area with a range of issues, such as youth unemployment and environment concerns. The interactive steps users through a research process to explore the underlying issues and options for action. Users select a strategy to convince the local council that their chosen option is the best. The interactive tests community support for the chosen strategy providing feedback on the results. Finally, users see whether the council adopts their chosen option; and simulation guides them to reflect on the entire process. The interactive is supported by several Word documents, including a community benefit checklist and a reflection on action planning and tackling local issues. Intended for students in upper primary and secondary schooling, the resource is designed for use as a whole class, small group or individual activity or as an assessment task.

Tags: AT2 Civics 2017
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Educational details

Educational value
  • This is an outstanding resource for civic learning and action within both strands of the humanities and social sciences (HASS) curriculum in the primary years and the civics and citizenship curriculum in the secondary years. In year 5 HASS it provides valuable support as teacher guided activity for the knowledge and understanding content description about how people with shared beliefs and values work together to achieve a civic goal, and the skills content description about using criteria to make decisions and judgements and consider advantages and disadvantages of preferring one decision over others.
  • Civic action within a local government context as experienced in the interactive strongly connects to those year 9 civics and citizenship content descriptions in the knowledge and understanding strand that refer to the process through which government policy is shaped and developed, and how individuals and groups participate in and contribute to civic life. The context is also relevant to the skills content description for the same year level that refers to considering multiple perspectives and using strategies to resolve contentious issues.
  • The resource is also of value for year 8 civics and citizenship, particularly for content descriptions about how citizens can participate in Australia's democracy, and about critically analysing information and ideas in relation to a civics and citizenship topic or issue. Many of the strategies set out in the action planning section of the resource rely on the freedoms Australians enjoy and so this section has an indirect but useful connection to the year 8 content description referring to the freedoms that enable active participation in Australia's democracy within the bounds of law, including freedom of speech, association, and assembly. The interactive is very likely to appeal to its intended audience. The graphics are appealing, the text easily understood and age appropriate, while the strategy outcomes and feedback are true to life and provide considerable food for thought.
Year level

5; 6; 7; 8; 9

Topics Communities Direct action Civic responsibility Politics Active citizenship Activism Decision making Beliefs Right angles Artefacts Maps (Geographic location) Minority groups Parliamentarians Attitudes Religious faiths Political parties Civil rights Global citizenship Freedom of speech Voting rights Critical thinking Conversations Democracy Social equality Elections Fair play Evaluation Government policy Political leaders Action projects Opportunity costs Social role
Learning area
  • Humanities and social sciences
  • Civics and citizenship

Other details

Contributors
  • Contributor
  • Name: Education Services Australia
  • Organization: Education Services Australia
  • Description: Data manager
  • Address: VIC, AUSTRALIA
  • URL: http://www.esa.edu.au/
  • Copyright Holder
  • Name: Victorian Electoral Commission
  • Organization: Victorian Electoral Commission
  • URL: https://www.vec.vic.gov.au
  • Publisher
  • Name: Victorian Electoral Commission
  • Organization: Victorian Electoral Commission
  • Description: Publisher
  • URL: https://www.vec.vic.gov.au
  • Resource metadata contributed by
  • Name: Education Services Australia Ltd
  • Organisation: Education Services Australia Ltd
  • Address: AUSTRALIA
  • URL: www.esa.edu.au
Access profile
  • Unknown
Learning Resource Type
  • Interactive
Rights
  • © State of Victoria (Victorian Electoral Commission) 2016. This material may be used in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 (CC BY 4.0) licence https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.