Lesson video

Hello, everybody, and welcome back to the unit, "How Can Citizens Create Change." We're on lesson three already, very exciting, because today is all about influence and influencing people; it's so important.

In fact, we do it every day, probably without even realising.

So we're going to learn about how in citizenship we can influence people for good.

So hopefully by now you've found yourself a nice, quiet space to do your learning in for today, you've got what you need, turned off any alarms or notifications if you're using your phone, so you can concentrate on the work that we're doing, and I am going to meet you in just a moment so I can tell you what we need for today's lesson! So, see you in a moment, everybody! Welcome back, everybody, and hopefully now you've got that nice space ready to learn.

And we are just going to check you've got everything you need.

So, what have you got? Have you got that mind all ready to answer questions and be thinking hard? Have you got your exercise book or some paper to write down your ideas, answer the tasks, and make notes of any important concepts that we talk about, and obviously your pen, so you can write all these things down.

If you haven't got them, then please pause the video now and come and join us when you have.

For those of you that are ready, let's get going with our lesson today.

So we're going to start off by talking about what the word influence means and how we manage to influence people.

Then we're going to talk about what a campaign is and how we can campaign.

We're also going to be looking at the idea of lobbying.

We've mentioned it in lesson two and we're going to go through it in a little bit more detail today.

And we're going to look at what online campaigns are, and how effective these can be.

And before you know it, we're going to be at the exit quiz and you're just going to be showing me what absolute superstars you are and just how much learning you've done from today's lesson.

So, let's get on with the first task, and let's go.

Citizenship concepts that we'll be looking at today, then, and as they come up, you might want to.

Excuse me, you might want to make a note of them, are campaign and influence.

So when they arrive on the screen, you might just want to pause the video and make sure you understand those and have a note of them.

Okay, task one, everybody.

I bet some of you are really good at doing this.

So, when you want to change someone's mind, how do you do it? When you want your friends to do something you want to do but they don't, what do you do? How do you convince your parents to let you have something they're not so sure about? Write a list of things you may do or try to change people's minds.

Now I know that I'm always trying to change Mr. Baker's mind about things.

Sometimes it's about what to have for dinner, sometimes it's about where to go on holiday, and I have to try all kinds of things to change his mind.

So what do you do to try and change people's minds? Pause your video now and complete the task.

Welcome back, everyone.

What did you get written down? Did you have lots of ideas? Were your ideas for talking to your parents or carers the same as they were for when you were talking to your friends, or do you use different strategies and different ideas for talking to different people? Well, another way to describe trying to change a person's mind is to try and influence them.

In citizenship, when we talk about having influence, we mean making positive difference or change in communities or wider society through our campaigns and actions.

There are many different methods people can use to influence people with power.

And just really importantly, influencing people with power is how we tend to make a difference in our communities, because people with power are the ones that have the ability to change things, so influencing them in different ways is so important, and something that all of us can do.

So, in order to influence people, we often start a campaign.

And a campaign means to work in an organised and active way towards a particular goal, typically a political one or a social one.

Now you might want to pause the video now and make a note of that, because this is one of our important citizenship concepts, okay? So we often talk about people that are involved in a campaign or a particular campaign that has been organised about an event.

So if you've organised a campaign or if you're taking part in a campaign, we call this campaigning.

So campaigning is the process of people to support a cause or to change their behaviour.

And the other example or definition of campaigning is actions or events organised to achieve this aim.

So, at the moment, a lot of people are very worried about the environment.

So there's lots of campaigning going on about the environment.

Now this could be to get people to change their behaviour.

For example, trying to get people to recycle more or trying to get people to use less plastic.

So we could say there's a campaigning issue around using less plastic, and that would be encouraging people to change their behaviour.

There's also a way that we could use this as an example of actions or events being organised.

So we could be campaigning in the form of a meeting or campaigning in form of a march about the environment.

So it's a way of showing people's views about that issue.

So this is what the word campaigning means in the citizenship concept.

Now people have campaigned for change for many years, and throughout history there have been groups that have campaigned for change.

Both the Chartists and the Suffragettes campaigned for equal voting rights.

Women have campaigned for the vote to be paid the same as men for doing the same job.

And more recently, as we've spoken about, there has been campaigns about the environment and free school meals.

So this campaigning issue stands a long history in our society and in our communities, and has had some really important impacts throughout time.

So, what campaigning methods are there? For task two, what I'd like you to do is create a mind map of all the ways you think citizens can campaign about an issue.

So anything you think of, anything perhaps you've heard of, what can people do to create that campaign? This should only take you about three or four minutes, so pause your video now, and press play once you've finished.

So, what ideas did you come up with? Here's some of mine.

You could perhaps get the media involved, get some attention from the press, perhaps get a celebrity to back your idea.

You could set up an online petition and get lots of people to sign it.

You could vote in an election, you could boycott something, which means that you don't use it or you don't go somewhere.

You could go on a march, and you could lobby MPs or a local councillor, which means go to them and express your views and try and change their mind.

How many did you get? I bet you got some other different ones as well, which is fantastic.

How do we campaign for change? I'm going to show you a short video now.

Watch carefully, because I'm going to be asking you some questions after the video, and it doesn't last very long.

So you might want to pause the video when it stops and just replay it to help you get the answers for the task.

So listen carefully and watch the video so we can learn how to campaign for change.

One way to have a say in how the country is run is to use your vote.

You have to be 18 or over to vote in general elections, but you can register from the age of 16.

There are lots of other ways to get involved and have your voice heard, whatever your age.

Remember, MPs represent all of their constituents, but how? You can visit an MP in their local constituency office, or you can even travel to the houses of Parliament to lobby them in Central Lobby.

Lords have knowledge and experience in specific subject areas.

You can look them up by policy interest on the Parliament website.

Anyone can contact any Lord or their local MP by letter, phone, or email to discuss an issue that's important to them or their community.

Sometimes, though, there's strength in numbers.

So to get your voice heard, you could join the youth section of a party or the UK Youth Parliament.

If you're passionate about an issue, you could start a petition for a cause, either on paper or online, or join an existing campaign, pressure, or protest group to influence decision-making.

These groups use different methods to get their voices heard, from lobbying to peaceful protest, all designed to bring about change.

And don't forget, you can get your voice heard in school or college, too, by joining or starting a student council, a bit like a mini-Parliament.

So, Parliament sits at the heart of UK democracy, debating the big issues of the day, making and shaping laws, and holding the government to account.

By voting, petitioning, campaigning, and more, you can also get involved with the work of Parliament.

Okay, so I told you it didn't last long and it went quickly.

Please do replay that part of the lesson if you need to, to get the ideas for these questions.

So, task three then, in the video, what methods were suggested as ways to campaign for change? Write a list of the different ways citizens can campaign for change.

Remember, MPs represent all of their constituents, and that includes you.

Pause this video and complete the task now.

Right, so let's see how you get on, then.

There are suggestions made in the video.

Visit an MP in their constituency office, send a letter or email to a Lord or MP, lobby your MP or member of the House of Lords.

You could join the youth section of a political party, join a campaign pressure group or protest group, join a school council, join a youth parliament, or start a petition.

Look at all of those different ways you can use your voice and create change.

There's lots of different things that people can do.

Let's quickly remember then what the term lobbying means.

And I'm going to give you about 10 seconds to make your mind up in terms of which option is correct.

Is it option one, joining together as a group and taking to the streets to campaign? Is it option two, gathering signatures to show support for a cause? Is it option three, persuading the person who represents you, either locally or nationally, to support your viewpoint? Or is it option four, refusing to buy or use a service as a protest? So, ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one, and have we all got the answer? There we go, lobbying is persuading a person who represents you either locally or nationally to support your viewpoint, and it's one of the things you can do to campaign and create change.

So when might we go to our MP to lobby them? An individual or group of people can lobby an MP over any particular cause, so that means anything that's really important to you.

This could be connected to your local area or constituency, which they represent, or it could be something that affects everybody across the country.

Lots of charities provide advice on how to lobby your MP, offering guidance on how to write to them and what to do in a meeting.

Organisations like Amnesty International, Age UK, Action AidUK, Friends of the Earth and more rely on people supporting their cause with local MPs to get more support.

So you can see that lobbying your MP is really important to lots of organisations.

Lobbying is an important campaigning method for creating change to influence our politicians.

And we know that our politicians are there because we selected them through voting, and now we still have that right and that important responsibility to influence our politicians for the good of everybody, and that can mean as part of a campaign for an organisation.

Task four already, guys.

So, lobbying MPs and the Lords is an important right when trying to create change; do you agree? So do you think it is an important right that we all have? In your answer, try to include, how a citizen can contact their MP, what citizens can lobby about, any alternatives to lobbying that can be used to influence your MP.

Now, if you're really happy and ready to write this answer, then pause your video now, and you can continue.

If you think you need a little bit of extra support in how to write this answer, then stay with me and I'll talk you through.

So, if you need some support, let's get ready to work through this together.

So, how could you start the opening to this answer? The first thing you need to do is explain whether or not you think it's important to be able to speak to your MP or the House of Lords to tell them your views.

You could start your answer like this, it's important to be able to share my views with my MP in person because.

Or another way to start is, sharing my views with MPs in person is not important, because.

So there's two options there that you could use.

And then you go on to explain how people can contact their MP.

So think back to the video for more ideas.

And remember, you can always rewind the lesson and go back if you need to.

Now you need to explain the sorts of issues you can speak to your MP or member of House of Lords about.

You could start like this.

You can lobby your MP or Lord about an issue that is important to you, like, and then you suggest an issue that you feel is really important to you.

It's also possible to lobby regarding national or international events and charities, for example.

And here you could use one of the ones we mentioned on the other side, like Amnesty International, who'll deal with human rights, Age UK, who work to protect the rights and look after the elderly, for example.

Finally, you need to suggest other ways you can make contact with and influence an MP or member of the Lords.

You could start like this.

It is also possible to contact MPs and Lords by, and you need to think about how else people in their constituency can contact their MP or could contact a member of the House of Lords.

So hopefully that's given you enough hints and some structure so you can answer your task.

So pause this video now and complete your task.

So here's some feedback, everybody.

Let's see what we're doing.

The right to lobby politicians is an important right for citizens to have their views heard.

An MP or local councillor represents all citizens in their constituency or ward, and that includes young people who are not yet old enough to vote in elections.

This means anyone can ask to see their MP or councillor about any issue or concern, and they have a responsibility to listen.

There are different ways to contact your MP or councillor.

You can arrange a meeting in their constituency or local office, or you could visit them in person.

You can also email them, send a letter, or send them a petition.

Another way to create change is to join a pressure group or protest group that has the same aims as you do.

In this way, many voices on the same issues are heard together, and this is a good way to influence change.

So you may remember that in lesson two, we spoke about pressure groups and protest groups, and if you haven't taken part in that lesson, you can find that on our website as well.

So, apart from lobbying MPs, what other kinds of campaigns are there? Well, more recently, we've seen a massive growth in social media.

So could we use social media to help us with our campaigns? Recently, on social media, an online method of campaigning have become more important to those wanting to create change.

One organisation well-known for this is called 38 Degrees.

On their website, 38 Degrees describes itself as an online campaigning organisation, involving more than 2 million people from every corner of the UK.

On their site, you're able to set up online petitions, which are shared with thousands of people to reach a huge number of signatures.

They use social media and members' email messages to share new petitions.

So if you think about an old-fashioned petition, the kind of original petition where it was written down, and everyone had to sign it and write their address, it would take you quite a long time to collect signatures.

You might need to stand in town or you might need to go door-to-door.

You definitely have to speak to a lot of people.

And if you want to speak to people all over the country, you would need to get somebody that lived in different parts of the country to help with your petitioning, or you would have to travel all over the country, and that would take a really long time.

But now, with online petitioning and social media, the message can spread really, really quickly.

Just with a click of a key, lots and lots of people can receive the same petition and sign it electronically and set their petition up and reply to that petition.

And then they share that information on their social media and the message spreads and spreads.

So very quickly, petitions that lots of people feel passionately about end up with hundreds and thousands of signatures.

And that means people with power and influence, like our MPs or councillors, really do have to start paying attention, and thinking, okay, this is a bit of an important issue, because everybody's got something to say about it.

So the 38 Degrees website says, "38 Degrees provides people with more ways to make their voices heard on issues they care about.

From signing petitions and emailing our representatives, to crowdfunding groundbreaking research and meeting politicians face-to-face, together, we make sure we're heard.

We run campaigns to make Britain a better and fairer place to live, and we make a difference, from saving local libraries to tackling plastic pollution and standing up for our NHS so that we can care for generations to come." So that shows you just how broad the ideas are of 38 Degrees, because anyone can set up a petition and find people who care about the same idea as them.

So lots of campaigns can take place on that website, and you can quickly find people who support your campaign and will help you.

So, on to task five, then, everybody.

What methods of influence and campaigning do 38 Degrees use? So write me a quick list of the methods that 38 Degrees use to campaign and influence people.

It's all there.

Pause your video now and complete your task.

Okay, so hopefully, you spotted the different methods like the petitions and the emails and the crowdfunding.

They were all on that slide.

So, over to task six, then.

Online campaigns or lobbying, which do you think are most effective in creating change? Thinking about the examples we've looked at, which form of campaign do you think would be the most effective and why? Can you think of examples to support your ideas? Add them to your answer.

So, this is down to you to make a decision.

No right or wrong answer here, as long as you can explain why you think one is more important than the other, then you guys have got it right! Pause your video now and complete your task.

Okay, so because there's no right or wrong, it's down to you to assess your answer! It's all based on your opinion.

How can we do this then? Well, you can use the assessment form that I've designed here for you, and you can find this attached to the lesson as well.

Have you chosen one method over the other? Now that was the point of the question, wasn't it? You were asked which you thought was most effective.

So you need to really do that to answer the question well, so there should be a tick in that column.

Have you included why you think either a media campaign or lobbying is more effective? So, a tick or a cross there, have you actually explained why you think one or the other is more effective? And finally, have you given examples of how these campaigns could be used in different situations? So perhaps you've decided that, actually, for some campaigns, the idea of lobbying is more effective, but for other campaigns, the idea of a social media campaign would be more effective? And that's a really good answer.

If you can show the difference between these campaigning methods and find out why some may be more effective than others, then that's showing really advanced skills, guys.

Well done.

So, again, we've come to the end of our lesson.

I'm not quite sure how we get here so quickly, but you guys do amazingly every time, so really well done.

Time for you to extend your learning with a takeaway task.

I always like to think that you're out there doing more about citizenship, 'cause it is such an exciting subject, and just a chance for the idea that you can go and do something with your communities and skills that you're going to use for the rest of your life! So try and research any publicity stunts that have caused change to happen.

So a publicity stunt is something that we haven't talked about in the lesson, but it's something else that people use as a form of a campaign.

So see if you could find out about publicity stunts and the effect they have.

See if you think they were effective at creating change or not.

And your second form of action then, is this something you would like to lobby your councillor, MP, or a member of the House of Lords about? If there is, find out how you can do it, and maybe you might even want to go ahead with that lobbying.

So, we're at the end of another lesson, and as always, I would love to find out about the work that you're doing.

So perhaps you'll want to send me information about a publicity stunt that you'll find out about.

Perhaps you want to tell me the issue that you're going to lobby your councillor about, or your MP or House of Lords.

Maybe you'll even get a reply from them, and I would really love to see how they reply to you.

So if that's the case and you'd like to share something with me here, Mrs. Baker, your citizenship teacher at Oak National Academy, please ask your parents or carer to share your work on Instagram, Facebook, or Twitter, and tag in @OakNational and #LearnwithOak, and I'm really looking forward to seeing some of those answers and some of those ideas that you've got.

Well done, guys, for today's work.

You've done really well and learned some extremely important skills for things that you might feel passionately about as you go through life.

Just one more task to do before it's time to go, and that's to complete your exit quiz.

I'm sure you're going to surprise yourself with how brilliantly you've done for today.

And as always, it's been a complete pleasure to work with you.

So do take care of yourselves until I see you again, and have fun learning.

Bye-bye for now.