Lesson video

Hello, everybody.

My name is Miss Wyatt.

And welcome to today's lesson on, "What is the democratic community" from the unit, "Citizenship, what's it all about?" I'm really happy that you could join me here in today's lesson.

By the end of this lesson, you will be able to explain what a democracy is and what key features democratic communities have.

Some of the learning will be new to you today.

But I am here to help you.

We have a set of keywords for today in our lesson.

And they are democracy, community, human rights, and suffrage.

Democracy is a system of government in which citizens vote in regular, fair elections for representatives, who then make laws and decisions on their behalf.

Community is a group of people living in the same place or having a particular characteristic in common.

Human rights are the basic rights and freedoms that all people are entitled to.

And suffrage means the right to vote.

Today's lesson will be broken up into four parts.

The first part of today's lesson, we are going to explore the question, what is a community? I would like you to look at the images on the screen.

There are three.

These images will give you a clue about what a community is.

So there are three pictures.

Some have hands on in the word human rights.

One is the picture of the lady justice.

And there is a diagram of some people, like a crowd.

A community is a group of people living or existing together sharing common values, interests, and ways of doing things.

Where you live is one example of a community.

Some people live in small villages and may have a very close community where everyone knows each other.

In larger towns and cities, there are also communities which would be much larger.

Laura says, "School is another example of a community." There's an example that you might belong to.

Jacob says, "In our school communities, we wear a uniform to show that we belong to a school community.

We also follow the rules in school and are part of a class." Now, you can belong to lots of different communities all at the same time, okay? For example, you could belong to your school community, maybe a local club, or like a society, like Scouts or Guides.

You could belong to a religious community or a sporting community.

Okay, so lots of different communities.

So let's check our understandings so far.

Which one best describes the community? Is it A, a group of people, B, democracy, C, rights and responsibilities, or D, a group sharing a place or characteristic? Pause the video and make your choice.

Hopefully, we said D, a group sharing a place or characteristic best describes the community.

Some of you might have said A.

But a group of people could be relating to anything.

He says, "I'm proud to be part of my school community as we look out for each other." Okay, you did really, really well with that last one.

Let's try this one.

Which two of the following are examples of a community? Is it people waiting at a bus stop? Is it Scouts or Guides, or a religious group? Pause the video and have some time to think and make your decision.

Okay, hopefully, we said Scouts or Guides and religious groups.

Well done, if you got that correct.

Lucas says a group of people waiting at a bus stop, they have a shared interest.

But they're not a community.

It doesn't make them a community.

I would like us to think about all the different communities that we personally belong to.

Once you've thought about this, I would like you to draw a mind map to show all your community connections.

So one community connection to get you started could be your school, okay? Remember, this could be religious groups, sports clubs, local clubs, okay? So pause the video and have a go at the task where I would like you to draw a mind map to show all of your community connections.

I'm really looking forward to hearing about them.

Good luck, guys.

Okay, Laura had a go at drawing a mind map to represent all the different communities she belongs to.

She said, church, gardening club, horse riding, Girl Guides, school, choir.

These are some of the communities that she belongs to.

I wonder if any of the same as yours.

We have now looked at the question, what is a community? And the next part of our lesson, we're gonna be exploring, what is democracy? Democracy comes from a Greek word.

Demos means people.

And kratos means strength or power.

The word democracy, therefore, means rule by the people.

Democracy is a system of government in which citizens vote in regular, fair elections for representatives who then make laws and on their behalf.

In a democracy, you have more rights.

And you can influence decision makers and those in power.

Let's check our understanding quickly.

Which of the following is the definition of democracy? Is it a system where citizens vote to elect representatives who make laws and decisions? Is it a Greek word which refers to all the freedoms that you are entitled to? Or is it someone who works towards making a positive change in society? Pause the video and make your decision.

Well done, everybody.

We should have said a system where citizens vote to elect representatives who make laws and decisions best fits our definition of democracy.

Amazing job, if you got that right.

We're gonna look at some of the key features of democracy now.

So one of the key features of democracy is that they are fair and they are free elections.

Now, elections are things that are held regularly.

In the UK, we have a general election at least every five years.

What other key features of democracy are votes that cast using a secret ballot.

So you do not put your name on them.

They are anonymous.

Izzy says, "What is the secret ballot?" Laura's gonna tell us more about this.

She says, "A secret ballot is a voting method in which a voter's identity in an election is kept anonymous." So you don't know who has put that piece of paper in the ballot.

Everyone that is entitled to can vote.

And this is known as universal suffrage.

One of our key words, which means the right to vote, if you remember.

Now, true or false? Universal suffrage means that all people can vote.

Is that true or is that false? It's false.

Why is it false? Universal suffrage means that almost all adults in a country have the right to vote.

But it doesn't mean that everyone can vote.

You have to be eligible.

For example, in the UK, you have to be old enough.

And you have to be legally a citizen of the UK.

Well done, if you got that right.

What's a secret ballot? Can you remember what Laura said? Is it a voting method in which a person's identity is not kept secret? Is it a voting method in which a person's identity is kept a secret? Or is it a voting method in which a person's identity is sometimes kept secret? Pause the video and make your choice.

We should have said B.

It's a method to vote where your identity is kept a secret.

It's kept anonymous.

So you don't know who has voted what.

Now, another key feature of democracy is the protection of our basic human rights.

And Andeep says, "Human rights are the basic rights and freedoms that all people are entitled to." A strong democracy should protect our human rights, such as the right to have freedom of speech, freedom of association, practise any religion or no religion.

So a democracy should protect the rights of all individuals, okay? The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child is a law that protects your rights.

Now, Article 12 of this law says that you should be free to express your views in all matters that affect you.

So if you disagree or agree with something, you have the right to.

In a democracy, all people are treated equally under the law.

The law protects our rights and treats all people equally.

All people within a community are expected to uphold the law no matter who they are.

Let's test our understanding.

Which of the following is not a key feature of democracy? Is it the protection of our basic human rights? Is it all that are entitled to can vote? Is it all people are treated equally under the law? Or is it a group of people living in the same place? Which of the following is not a key feature? Pause the video and make your decision.

Good job everyone.

We should have worked out that a group of people living in the same place isn't a key feature of democracy.

It might be one of the key features of a community, perhaps, but not democracy.

Lucas has explained why democracy matters to us as members of the community.

What we're gonna do is we're gonna read Lucas's response.

And then we're going to give one more reason why democracy matters in communities.

So Lucas says, "As we live in a democratic country, democracy is really important and matters to us in a community.

It means we vote for our leaders and have freedom to do so.

Our votes guide the decisions of the government.

This shows that our voice matters.

And this helps us to feel valued as an individual and in our communities." So pause the video and have a go at giving one more reason to why democracy matters in communities.

Good luck and have fun.

Well then, everybody, so we should have had a go at giving one more reason why democracy matters in communities to add to Lucas's response.

You might have included some of the following that I'm about to read.

So, "Another reason why democracy matters in communities is because it is also about how we live together, and how we make decisions together, even while disagreeing.

It is both a way of life and a system of governance.

To remain peaceful and stable, disagreement must be grounded in mutual respect and tolerance.

So maybe you thought of other individual reasons of why democracy matters within a community.

But you might have also put some of the similar.

We have now looked at what is a democracy, okay? The next part of our lesson, we're gonna look at how we can recognise a democratic community.

So you've looked at, what is a community? We've looked at, what is democracy? Now, to put them together, how do we spot and how do we recognise a democratic community? So we know a community is a group of people who live or exist together and share common values or characteristics.

A democracy is a system of governance in which citizens vote for representatives who then make rules, laws, and decisions on their behalf.

A democratic community is a safe place with rules or laws in place, which makes sure that everyone is treated fairly.

June says, "My community is democratic because we work towards a society where everyone is respected and free.

We have rules in place that help us to do this." Below are three examples of communities.

Which of the communities are examples of democratic communities? So let's read through the options first.

So A says, "In this community, they work towards a society which everyone is free and respected.

B, in the community, they have a democratic voting system where votes are held regularly.

C, in this community, they lack commitment to respect and don't follow its voting system." So which of the three communities below are examples of democratic communities? Pause the video and make your choice.

Okay, everyone.

We should have said A.

In this community, they work towards a society where everyone is free and respected.

And we also should have said B.

In this community, they have a democratic voting system where votes are held regularly.

But C, it says in this community they lack commitment to respect and don't follow a voting system.

That doesn't sound like a democratic community to me.

A key feature of a democratic community is that citizens can make their voice heard by those in power on important things.

A democratic community will hold elections where citizens decide who they want to represent them within the community.

To make your community more democratic, you could hold a vote if you had different views about a rule or a law.

So let's check how can we make a community more democratic? Is it by saying one person has the final decision? Is it pull straws to see who has the longest, and then decide what happens? Or is it hold a vote on.

Hold a vote, sorry, on important decisions.

Pause the video and make your choice.

Hopefully, we've said C.

You can make the community more democratic by having votes on these important decisions, rather than pulling straws to see who has the longest.

And then lucky you, you get to decide what happens.

That's not very democratic.

So well done if you said C.

Lucas says, "Holding a vote would be the fairest way to make a decision." I agree, Lucas.

We're gonna have a go at task now, which I would like you to pick one of the communities that you listed in task A.

So think back to the start of the lesson when I asked you to mind map, like Laura did on the screen.

Mind map all the different communities that you belong to.

When you've done that, I would like you to discuss with a partner if this is an example of a democratic community.

Do the communities that you look you belong to, do they look like a democratic community? Once you have discussed this with your partner, I would like you to write a short paragraph to summarise your decision, okay? So three things to do here.

Pick one of the communities that you listed in Task A.

See whether it is an example of a democratic community by discussing it with your partner.

And then write a short paragraph to summarise your decision.

Pause the video and have a go at the task.

Well done, everybody.

Great efforts.

Andeep chose to write about the idea that he belonged to a tennis club, okay? And that was one of his communities.

So we're gonna read through his and see if, perhaps, that has similar features as yours.

So Andeep says, "I belong to lots of communities.

One of them is my local tennis club.

The tennis club is an example of a democratic community because they have a board who decide the rules.

The board is elected every two years.

Every couple of months, the board holds a group meeting where all members can come and discuss anything they are unhappy about or want to change.

When we first join, we have to sign a letter to say we will stick to the rules of the club." So there is a certain way in Andeep's tennis community that they make decisions and they have rules, okay? It's not just, oh, one person decides all of this.

There's group meetings.

People can come and discuss anything that they are happy with, or unhappy with and they want to change, okay? So I wonder if your community that you picked, I wonder what features you found of that that make it a democratic community.

Well done, everybody, and great efforts.

Okay, we are onto the last part of our lesson.

Well done, everybody, for getting through to this part.

The last part we're going to look at, how can we create a democratic community? So how can we create a democratic community? So let's imagine that you have been cast away on a desert island.

You have had to form a new community.

One of the most important decisions you have to make first is how to feed everybody.

So one of the communities suggests that everyone should get an equal amount of food.

Other members of the community are not so sure that this is the fairest way though, as they argue that some people work harder than others.

So the community decides to hold a meeting to discuss the issue of food, okay? Which of the following characteristics would help make the meeting more democratic? Would different members of the community are given a chance to explain the views, make it more democratic, or community members listen to all views, even those they do not agree with, or only a few members of the community get a chance to have their say? What do you think? I thought so too.

So different members of the community are given a chance to explain their views.

And community members listen to all the views, even those that they aren't happy with and they don't agree with.

Well done, everybody.

So during the meeting, the community could discuss lots of things, like the amount of food the community has available, the different types of jobs people in the community will have to do, the different health conditions that the people in the community that they will have, and the different ages of the people in the community.

So Lucas says, "The only fair thing to do is to give everyone the same.

We're a democracy.

Everyone must be treated equally.

Otherwise, it's just not fair." Sophia says, "I'm not sure that will work.

Different people have different needs.

For example, small children will eat less than the adults.

People involved in the building our shelters may need more food to give them more energy.

Does fair always mean the same?" What do you think? Does fat always mean the same? So Lucas thinks the food should be split equally.

Everybody ends up getting the same.

Sophia has just suggested something different.

She thinks the food should be split based on the idea of equity.

Now, if you've never come across this word, equity means giving everyone what they need based on their needs and their individual situation, rather than treating everybody the exact same.

So let's test our understanding.

Which of the following would be an example of splitting the food using the idea of equity? Would it be everyone gets a fair share of food based on their needs and contributions, or would it be all members of the community get the same amount of food, or would it be all children get the same amount of food, and all adults get the same amount? Pause the video and read back through the options.

And try and think, which of the following would be an example of equity? Okay, A fits it best.

It says that everyone gets a fairer share of food based on their needs and their contributions, rather than splitting it equally between the whole of community.

Some people need more than others, and some people need less.

For a community to be democratic, people need to be listened to.

Should this apply equally to everybody though? In a democracy, people are listened to.

But often certain age limits apply before this happens formally, okay? So in the UK, you do have to be 18 in order to vote in a general election.

But in Scotland and Wales, you can vote at 16 in certain local elections.

So do you think all people on the island get a say in how the food is split.

Should they? Should they get a say? Everyone gets a say in how the food is split.

What do we think? Okay, you have been tasked with the planning and the chairing of the desert island food meeting, a very big job.

You need to make sure the meeting is democratic.

I would like us to write an answer explaining your approach to each of the questions below.

I would like you to give us reasons to try and justify your answer.

So why have you came up with that answer, okay? So I would like you to have a go at answering, how will you structure your meeting? Who will be able to speak at the meeting? And how will the final decision on food division be made? Remember, you are trying to make sure your community is following the democracy, and making sure that people get the right things that they need.

People have the the chance to voice their opinions.

People have the chance to listen to those, even if they don't agree with them.

It's a big job, so good luck.

Okay, I hope you had lots of fun having a go at that task.

Your answer may look something like this to the first question.

So it says, "How will you structure your meeting?" So you might have said, "I will make sure everyone understands what the purpose of the meeting is, so we don't go off topic.

I'll also make sure I leave enough time for different people's opinions to be listened to and discussed.

At the start of the meeting, we will set some ground rules, like not interrupting and respecting other people's ideas in order to make sure everyone's ideas are heard." Maybe you put some of the similar ideas as I did to the first question.

Okay, let's look at the next one.

So, "Who will be able to speak at the meeting?" So I said, "I think it's really important that everyone gets a chance to speak, young and old people.

However, I do think it's important the people at the meeting are old enough to understand the issue fully so that we will not invite every young member of the community to the meeting.

Each person who wishes to speak will be given a set time to share, so that there is time for everyone to contribute their ideas." And the last question, "How will the final decision on food decision," division, sorry, be made? I said, "I think the only fair way to decide is by a vote.

This is the most democratic way.

We will summarise the different ideas we discussed at the end of the meeting.

And each person will be asked to write down their preferred option and place it in a secret ballot box.

To make sure they are old enough to fully understand the decision that they are voting on, we will only allow community members age 16 and over to vote." Maybe you disagree with some of the decisions that I think should be made in order to split up the food.

Maybe you do agree with me as well.

We have now come to the end of our lesson.

So I would like to summarise what we have learned.

So a community is a group of people living or existing together sharing common values, interests, and ways of doing things.

A democracy's system of government in which citizens vote in regular, fair elections for representatives who then make laws and decisions on their behalf.

Democratic communities have many features, such as the protection of human rights and access to free and fair elections.

We can create more democratic communities by listening to others and allowing views to be shared, even if we disagree with them.

I have really, really enjoyed today's lesson on learning about what is a democratic community, and how can we make communities more democratic? I hope you've enjoyed it as much as I have.

And thank you for your hard efforts in the answers that you've put in this lesson.

Well done, everybody, and see you soon.