Lesson video

Hello, everybody, and welcome to another citizenship lesson with me, Mrs. Baker.

Today, we're going to be looking at a really important issue.

It's all about how citizens like yourself and myself can and why they should take action in a democracy.

It's thinking about the things that we should do and why it's an important responsibility that we have in order to take some action to make a situation better.

So, hope that you're ready to learn.

Hope that you've found a nice, quiet place with a little bit of space that you can call your own for a little while.

And I'm going to meet you in just a moment to tell you what you need for your lesson and get that learning started.

So, see you very soon.

Welcome back, everybody.

So hopefully, you've got that nice area.

And if you're working on your phone, you've turned off your notifications and any apps, et cetera, that might distract you, just so we've got some good focus while we're doing our learning.

So, what will you need to get through today's lesson? Well, as always, that mind of yours working in questioning mode, ready to answer and ask questions as we go through, something to write on, so your exercise book or some paper and a pen to write with.

There's the list, I've got that there ready to go.

We will be starting in just a moment.

If you haven't and you need to go and get any of those things, please pause the video now, go off and get them and join us in little while.

Okay, let's get ready to start.

So, we'll be exploring today, the article 21 of the United Nations Declaration of Human Rights.

Now, you may have looked at this before within a citizenship lesson, but we're going to make some links today in this idea of how and why we should take action.

Following that, we're going to look at the methods that citizens can use to get involved in democracy.

Moving on to learning about a select committee.

And these are things that often people don't realise they can get involved in.

So hopefully, by the end of the lesson, you'll know exactly what a select committee is and how you can play an important part of being involved in a select committee.

And then we'll think about why as a citizen we should be able to get involved in select committees.

And finally, we will be learning all about the process of how to give evidence at a select committee, so really important part of democracy here.

And hopefully, by the end of the lesson, you guys will be experts should you want to take part in any select committees in the future.

Okay, so as we said, the first part of our lesson is going to be looking at this idea of article 21 of the Universal Declarations of Human Rights.

So, I'll just tweak it through with you.

You've probably seen the words before.

We all have the right to take part in our country's political affairs, either by freely choosing politicians to represent us, or by belonging to the government ourselves.

Government should be voted for by the public on a regular basis, and every person's individual vote should be secret.

There's a few important bits there that we should think about.

The one, I think, that's really important that sometimes people forget is the one in the middle.

And that's about saying that we should be able to be part of the government if we want to.

Let's see if we can identify that part again.

It says, politicians to represent us, or by belonging to the government ourselves.

And the important thing here is remembering that that's what politicians are.

They're citizens like you and I who have been part of a political party and been voted for.

So, they are citizens that have support from people and have been elected.

That's what we all need to take a part of.

We're allowed to vote in a democracy, and our vote should be in secret.

And many, many years ago, a group called the chartists asked and campaigned that those votes should be in secret, so no one should feel under pressure when they vote, and they're allowed to vote for who they like.

So, all of these things are very important in a democratic country.

And every citizen of that country should be able to take part in this form of government.

So, in a democracy, citizens have the political power to choose who governs them by voting in elections for those who they think will run the country most effectively.

In this way, citizens give those in government permission to take decisions on their behalf.

The permission is called a mandate.

This is called a representative democracy.

So, what that means is that we have elected citizens like you and I to represent us when it comes to making important decisions.

Does anyone know where those decisions are made? Can you remember? That's right.

They're made at the House of Parliament and the House of Commons for our MPs.

Elections can take place locally or for the entire country in a general election.

This is an important part of citizens taking action and having power, as once elected, councillors and MPs make decisions on our behalf.

We give them that power.

That's really important to remember, I think.

That yes, councillors and MPs, they do have power, but they only have it because people have voted for them.

So, if we voted for them, we also have a right to take part in the decisions that they make and ensure that the decisions they make are based on evidence and information that involves us, as well.

And this is what we're learning more about as our lesson continues.

So, how else can you get involved in a democracy? Voting is not the only way to take part.

You can influence your school by being part of a student council or forum.

You can create change through your actions in the community, for example, by joining a youth council or local action group.

You can have your voice heard, for example, through contacting the media, setting up an online petition or joining a national group.

You can engage in political action, for example, by persuading others to vote or joining a political party.

And most political parties have a youth wing or youth branch that you can join if you're interested in politics or want to find out more about that political party.

It's a great way to get started if you're thinking that you might like to become a politician.

So, all of these options are available to you even though you aren't old enough to vote yet.

You can still play an active part in our democracy.

And that's what this whole unit's been about, hasn't it? Learning about what change you can make and the kind of power you have in being part of the democracy to cause change.

So, let's think a little bit more about power.

Political power is really important.

The ability to influence decisions, people or a course of actions.

In politics we often talk about people in positions of power, like councillors, MPs, or the Prime Minister.

So, we know that people make important decisions.

We often say, they have the power.

So, that's what we're talking about.

Those that can influence people and make decisions that affects our lives.

You might want to make a note of that term right now and pause the lesson.

And also, the term influence.

Because for citizenship when we talk about the term influence what we mean is the ability to get your message across to people in positions of power and as such become powerful yourself.

So, if you can influence the politicians, if you could make the politicians believe what you do, then actually you're as powerful as they are.

If they start to act on your ideas or your beliefs, then you are helping to inform our democracy.

And that's a really powerful thing.

So, if you'd like to, make a note of those two important concepts.

You may find them useful as you continue your learning.

And finally, something that we encourage all of our students of citizenship to be, and that's an active citizen.

It means somebody who cares enough about their community to try and improve it for everybody.

And there's so many different ways you can be an active citizen.

All of our citizenship lessons have normally a link to how to be an active citizen and how to use the ideas you've learned in an active way.

It's not all about fundraising.

There's so much more behind being an active citizen.

Right, so, what I'd like you to do now is write a list of the reasons why citizens might want to take action.

You can think about the different reasons and different organisations they could support.

Perhaps you've got some examples of action you've taken in the past or action you're aware of in your local area or your school.

So, pause the video now and complete your task.

Welcome back, everybody.

Hopefully, you've got a nice long list of the different kinds of action people can take.

Here's some ideas I've come up with.

You can make a note of them along with yours, if you want to.

And I expect you've got more than me already.

Somebody or a group is being treated unfairly, might want you to take action.

There was a new law that you want to share your views on.

There's an organisation that you want to support.

You feel your views are not being heard by other people.

You want to support an idea that somebody has.

You want to support a political party.

All of these things could cause you as an individual citizen to take action.

Now, we're going to think in a little bit more detail about how citizens can take action as part of the democratic process, without being able to vote.

And remember, that includes you guys because you're not old enough to vote yet, but it doesn't mean that you can't take part and take action in the democratic process.

What is a select committee? Parliament is made up of the House of Commons, the House of Lords and the Monarchy.

The work of government needs to be monitored and a select committee is one way this takes place.

There are select committees for the House of Commons and the House of Lords.

They check and report on many different areas of Parliament's work.

Sometimes looking at how much money is spent, sometimes investigating a particular issue like education or the environment.

Can you remember how to tell the difference between the House of Commons and the House of Lords? I'll give you a hint.

It's something to do with the colour of the seats inside what we call the chambers, the room that they sit in.

Have you remembered? Yeah, that's right.

The House of Commons has green seats where our MPs sit because they are just normal citizens like you and I, and green wasn't such an expensive colour in order to dye things with.

Whereas the House of Lords has a red coloured seat which used to be a very expensive and regal colour associated with the nobility.

And this shows that these people come from higher levels of society.

Okay.

So, your second task then, everybody, is to watch this video and be ready to answer the questions on it.

It does go quite quickly.

So, you might want to watch it for a second time.

There is a select committee set up to examine the work of every government department.

There are also committees that look at topics like science and technology or how the government spends its money.

So, there's a committee for every possible political interest.

You might find a committee looking into prison safety or clean energy, transport problems or international trade.

If you find a committee is looking into something you've experienced firsthand, we might well want to hear from you.

We want to know how the government's policies are working in the real world, and we want to know what needs to change to make things better.

When committees start their inquiries, we call out for views and comments from the public before we ask people to come to Parliament to speak to us in open sessions.

These can be scientists, charity workers, economists senior officials, business chiefs or government ministers.

They might be people who've got personal experience of using public services like job centres, schools, and hospitals.

They've got one thing in common, there's lots we can learn from them to help us in our work.

And we don't just stay in London.

If we need to travel to find out more then we will.

Then the members of the committee, who are all MPs, sit down and write their report.

Each report makes recommendations to the government to change things for the better.

And the government must publicly respond to each and every one.

Each committee has a Chair, whose job it is to coordinate the views of the other members of their committee.

These MPs represent the spread of parties in Parliament itself.

So, each committee has MPs from different places in the UK and with different political opinions working together.

Find us all now at committees.

parliament.

uk.

Take a look and see if we are investigating something that is close to your heart.

So, here, come your questions on the film.

Who were the members of the select committee? Which political parties are represented on select committees? Can the government ignore the reports from select committees? Name two topics a select committee may look into.

How can the public citizens like you and I become involved in a select committee? List three groups of people who make give evidence at a select committee.

Pause your video now and complete this task.

How did you get on, everybody? Don't forget, if you found it difficult you can correct your answers here with me now.

And you can also rewind the video and watch the film clip again.

So, who are the members of select committee? It's the MPs.

Which political parties are represented on select committees? All parties are.

Can the government ignore the reports from select committees? No, the government must respond to the recommendations of the select committee.

Name two topics a select committee may look into.

You could have had science and technologically, prison safety, transport, industry, and international trade.

How can the public citizens become involved in a select committee? They can give evidence and their opinions on things they have experience on.

List three groups who may give evidence at a select committee.

And you can have any of the three below, which includes scientists, charity, workers, business chiefs, and government ministers.

How did you get on? Do you want to give yourself a mark out of six? So, select committees play an important role in democracy.

And it's very important that the government is scrutinised and held to account for its actions and decisions.

Although MPs lead select committees, citizens can also play an important part in this democratic process by giving evidence and sharing opinions with them.

In this way, people with power and influence hear how citizens are affected by their decisions, and citizens are able to influence decision makers and explain how their policies affect them.

And remember, when we talk about citizens, we're talking about you and I.

You don't need to be a team in order to give evidence to a select committee.

So, this is our chance to actually say to people that hold the power, make the laws and make important decisions that we want to hold them to account, and we want our views heard, even after we've elected them.

So, in this next clip, you're going to understand why select committees need citizens like you and I to give evidence to them.

You don't need to make any particular notes because there's no questions afterwards.

But if you'd like to, you can.

If the video goes a bit fast and you think you've missed something, don't forget you can always pause it, rewind it and play it again.

Let's find out why select committees need our help.

Select committees choose topics to investigate and then make recommendations to the government for improvements.

We always need evidence to help us understand what's happening right now and what changes might be needed.

We like to hear from a wide range of people who know about the topics that we're looking into.

The more ideas we hear, the better our work will be.

You might know about a topic because of the work that you do.

You might have researched or studied it, or you might have something to say because you've got personal experience of a subject like using health services, using public transport, or claiming benefits.

All of these different kinds of expertise are really valuable to us.

It's pretty easy to give us your thoughts.

If you go to our web pages, there is always information about the topics we're investigating and how you can write in.

It doesn't have to be long and you don't have to answer all the questions we're interested in.

We publish most of our evidence online so that other people can see it, too.

If there's anything you are worried about, you can get in touch with us and we'll be happy to help you.

Bear in mind that we're not just trying to tell the government what the problems are.

We also want to suggest what actions they could take to make things better.

So, if you've got an idea for change, we want to hear that as well.

We're looking forward to hearing from you.

Okay, so, onto our next task then, everybody.

You are going to give some evidence to a select committee and we're going to go through the process of how you would find out what to do.

Now you understand how important taking part in a select committee is.

You're going to be preparing your evidence to give to them.

The first stage is to find a select committee you have interest in or are affected by.

To do this, you carry out a simple search on the internet.

Please do ask a parent or carer for permission before searching the internet.

It's quite easy to find out what committees are taking place.

And you should see this screen in front of you.

Once you've found a select committee that you feel you have some interest in or some knowledge about you can look to see what they're investigating.

One that we all have experience of is education.

And currently there is an Education Select Committee.

And this screenshot here tells you what the Education Select Committee does.

It clearly says it scrutinises the work of the Department for Education.

So, the ministers that work in the Department for Education will be held accountable to the Education Select Committee.

So, select committees look into different issues around the topic, in this case it's the topic of education, which they call inquiries.

When you were thinking about giving evidence to a select committee, you need to decide if your knowledge and experience is relevant to the inquiry they're carrying out.

To do this you can look at the select committee on the Houses of Parliament website.

But again, please make sure you ask a parent or carer for permission before you start searching on the internet.

If we look at the inquiries the Education Select Committee are carrying out at the moment, we can see that there are six current inquiries.

One is about the impact of COVID-19 on children and education services.

One is about adult skills and lifelong learning.

One is about disadvantaged students.

One is about home education, so children learning from home.

And one is about education in prisons.

So, the one that most of us will have knowledge and experience of at the moment considering the recent pandemic, will be the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on education and children's services.

So, let's have a little bit more of a think about that one.

We can see that an inquiry is taking written evidence until the 20th of December, 2020 on the impact of COVID-19 on education and children's services.

Members of the committee have already heard some oral evidence where witnesses, that's just people like you and me, or sometimes experts, it might be scientists, or teachers, or school leaders have spoken at a meeting of the select committee and have been asked questions about the issue.

So, sometimes you might even find that you know someone who has given oral evidence at a select committee because people do get invited to speak to them.

But we're going to focus on the idea of giving written evidence.

That means we write into the select committee giving them our experience of what's happened.

Although giving evidence to a select committee could seem quite daunting.

There's lots of guidance available.

This video is from a previous Chair, someone in charge of the Select Committee on Education explaining how the committee works.

So, let's have a look and find out exactly what happens in a select committee.

Hello, I'm Graham Stuart and I'm Chairman of the Education Select Committee in the House of Commons.

Committee consists of 11 MPs, labour, liberal Democrat and conservative.

We're independent of government.

And in fact, holding the government to account is a central part of what we do.

The committee's job is to look at the policies, the administration and the expenditure of the Department of Education.

We mainly do this through conducting inquiries.

We gather written evidence from the public, from schools, teachers, social workers, parents, and in fact, anybody who chooses to write to us.

Then we hold oral evidence sessions where we ask questions of a wide range of witnesses.

And that all helps us finalise our report, which contains recommendations for government on how to improve what it's doing.

And the government then has to respond to us within two months.

The committee chooses which areas to look at.

So, it's not constrained by government or told what to do.

It can look at any area in the remit of the Department for Education.

So, that's education up to the age of 19, family and youth policy, children's services, and childcare.

Recent Education Committee inquiries have looked at teacher training and supply, the exam system, Ofsted and inspection, services for young people, and child protection amongst other things.

Now, as well as formal evidence, we hold seminars and private events where we meet young people, parents, and others engaged with policy at the front line.

And indeed, you have to live with the outcomes of those policies at the frontline.

And we try to get out of Westminster as much as possible.

We've had great visits to York, various London boroughs, Doncaster, Rugby, Barnsley, Lester, Birmingham and Tyneside.

Hearing from the public makes our inquiries much more valuable so that we can produce better reports.

And it also is one of the most interesting and enjoyable parts of actually being on the committee.

Please have a look at our website.

Look at our current inquiries.

And please then do let us know what you think and do do participate in any future inquiries, make submissions, however a short or long, and make sure your voice is heard.

And that way we can make better recommendations to government.

We can improve the world of education and childcare for the future.

So, time to get ready to write our task then, everybody.

We all have experience in education and the school year 2020 was like no other due to COVID-19.

The Education Select Committee needs to hear how your education was affected by COVID-19.

They will be keen to know of any changes that took place in your school and lessons, how you continue to learn while schools were closed.

You could mention these lessons from Oak National Academy if you wanted to.

How you think things could be improved if schools had to close again.

If you think something went really well in your school you should tell them that, as well.

So, Select Committees like to look for answers, as well as problems. So, if you think your school had something that worked really well, or if you think there's something that's worked really well for you when you had to learn at home, make sure you tell the select committee that.

In the worksheet section, you can find a template to help you write your evidence.

So, here's some feedback to help you see the ideas you could've included in your letter.

Remember, everyone will have really different experiences from this period, so there's no right or wrong answer.

The main thing is to give as much evidence and information as you can.

Do write Honourable Robert Halfon MP.

He's the Chair of the Education Select Committee.

I'm writing to provide evidence for the Education Select Committee on the effects of COVID-19.

As a student in year eight, my studies have been interrupted by school closures and teacher absence.

I feel this has had an impact on my progress.

I'm also very concerned that when school was closed some people in my class did not have access to a computer to carry out the work that was set online.

This was very difficult as they could not take part in the live lessons we had and they felt very isolated.

Our teachers sent paper copies of the work to them but it was not the same as being in a class talking to the teacher and taking part.

When we returned to school in September and the school had separated all the year groups to keep us safe and we now have different lunch breaks.

Even though people are careful and wear masks, there have been quite a lot of cases of COVID-19 in my year grade and people have been sent home to isolate.

This means they've fallen behind in their studies again.

We have also missed out on some Citizenship lessons because the teacher has had to isolate.

This means although we've had work set, it's not the same as having the teacher there so you can ask questions of someone who really knows us and the topics.

I'm sad about this as I would like to study GCSE Citizenship Studies next year.

If we have to isolate or close again I think I would be really important to make sure everyone has access to the internet and a computer to use to complete work and feel part of the online class.

So, there you can see it's response that covers different things that happened to the student and ideas that they've had.

And at the end, they've given an idea to the Select Committee about how if something like this happens again things could get better by allowing everyone to have access to online learning.

And suddenly, we're at the end of our lesson again today.

So I'm hoping that you've really understood how important select committees can be.

As part of carrying on your work and to learn more about citizenship, please feel free to investigate and find out more about other select committees and see if you can watch anybody presenting oral evidence.

So, these are often available as recorded programmes.

Select committees do change but there's always a committee on education.

You can monitor their inquiries and make suggestions about issues they should look into in the future and give evidence.

What issue do you think the committee should look at in 2021? If you've got any really good ideas, you could send them off to the Chair of the Education Select Committee if you ask your parents or guardian first.

And perhaps they might investigate your issue.

That would be really having power and influence over our politicians and taking part in democracy.

Excellent learning for today, everybody.

Very well done.

I'd be really pleased to see your ideas and responses for giving written evidence to the select committee.

So, if you'd be happy to share those with me please ask your parents or carer to share your work on Instagram, Facebook, or Twitter, and tagging @OakNational and #LearnwithOak so I can see all your brilliant ideas and experiences about education during the pandemic.

We're really nearly at the end of the lesson.

There's just one final thing I need you to do for me.

And that is complete your exit quiz now.

I know you'll have learned loads from today's lesson.

You'll be really successful at that quiz.

So, just go over to do that, and I will see you for our next lesson, which is the final one in this unit.

So, until I see you next time, take care.

Bye-bye.