Hello, everyone.

My name is Miss Wyatt and I am so pleased that you could join me here today for our citizenship lesson.

Welcome to today's lesson on "How can we make change happen?" from the unit: How can young people play an active role in democracy? By the end of today's lesson, you will be able to explain how we evaluate methods that create change and what helps a campaign succeed.

We will be using the following keywords throughout today's lesson, and these are change and campaign.

Change is to make something different or alter it and modify something.

Campaign are actions or events organised by an individual or a group of people to achieve an aim.

Please don't worry if these words are new to you today, as I am here to guide you.

Our lesson on How can we make change happen? is broken up into two parts today, with the first part exploring How do we evaluate methods that create change? and then looking at What helps a campaign succeed? So when you are ready, let's begin today's lesson.

Active citizens strive to create change to improve local, national, or global communities.

By using Citizenship skills and campaigns like collaborative working, critical thinking, and problem solving, active citizens have been successful at improving communities across the world.

Methods of campaigning that create change includes: creating or signing petitions, engaging with local government, joining or supporting campaign groups, meeting with Members of Parliament or MPs, lobbying decision-makers, completing surveys, taking part in consultations, organising marches and demonstrations, being elected to be part of a Youth Council or School Council, speaking out at a local community meeting and sending evidence to a National Select Committee at UK Parliament.

There are so many methods of campaigning that you can get involved in to create change.

Campaigning can take many forms, but each method works in different ways and is better suited to different goals.

Now, most campaigns involve a variety of different methods.

For example, June Eric-Udorie, who began campaigning as a teenager.

She wanted feminism to be part of the school curriculum in England.

Instead of using just one method, she used several, which made her campaign more powerful.

For example, June wrote blog posts and articles to explain why feminism mattered in schools.

She organised an online petition and met with Members of Parliament and education officials.

June's methods became more successful because she makes personal storytelling with policy arguments, showing both emotional and logical reasons for change.

June's campaign worked because it got national attention, gained public support, and led to conversations in Parliament, which resulted in change.

The success of June's campaign was seen in 2016.

The A-level Politics syllabus was updated to include feminist thinkers like Simone de Beauvoir.

This is what June had campaigned for and proves that with determination and the right selection of campaign methods, real change is possible.

This example helps us evaluate how combining emotional appeal, facts and formal routes to power and influence can lead to a campaign's success.

Now, this paragraph I'm about to read to you contains five mistakes.

We need to identify the mistakes and correct them.

June Eric-Udorie led a company to add feminism to the Politics timetable.

She met with chefs to argue her case.

Her campaign was successful because she used facts and paintings.

As a result, changes were made to A-level cooking syllabus.

So there are some mistakes.

In fact, there are five.

So let's go back through it and correct them.

Okay, everyone.

So the mistakes we should have corrected are: June Eric-Udorie led a campaign to add feminism to the Politics curriculum.

She met with MPs, not chefs, to argue her case.

Her campaign was successful because she used facts and storytelling.

As a result, changes were made to the A-level politics syllabus, not the cooking syllabus.

So well done if we've identified those mistakes and corrected them.

Another method that creates change is writing to MPs or holding meetings with decision-makers.

This method is powerful because it takes the issue straight to someone who might be able to influence decision-making, especially if that person sits in Parliament or in the local government.

For example, in 2019, pupils involved in the Youth Select Committee, supported by the British Youth Council, wrote and presented evidence to MPs in a formal Parliamentary inquiry into knife crime.

Pupils used surveys, testimonies, and statistics to argue for better education and support services for young people.

This method was effective because it combined direct engagement with clear evidence and reached MPs through formal democratic processes.

It shows that when young people write to or work with MPs using well-prepared arguments, they can shape national debates, influence policy discussions, and encourage change.

As a result, their MP raised the issue in Parliament during a debate on urban pollution.

This method worked well because it used evidence, showed community support and went through formal democratic routes.

The campaign did not end there.

The pupils were invited to take part in a local council review on green spaces, and this shows that one method like writing to an MP can lead to other opportunities to influence decision making and contribute to lasting change.

Some campaigns rely on protests and demonstrations, which can be powerful because they show how many people care, and they often get media attention.

But not all protests lead to change unless they are organised with a clear message and purpose.

For example, in September, 2023, students at the University of Brighton occupied the Pavilion Parade Building in response to the University's decision to make some academic stuff redundant and plans to sell the building.

The protest highlighted concerns over job cuts and selling off the University assets.

It raised awareness and built solidarity, but it did not stop the redundancies or property sale.

It's a useful example of how protests can highlight issues, but do not always lead to immediate policy change.

The protest was time during the examination season, so the topic was already in the news.

What made this method so powerful was that it was public, it was visible, and it was hard for politicians to ignore.

After the protest, the University agreed to consult students in the next review, which demonstrated change.

This campaign shows that protests can work, even if it is just to raise awareness, if they're peaceful, legal, well organised and linked to specific asks.

A protest without a clear goal or follow up often gets attention but does not lead to action.

So let's explain how we can evaluate methods that create change.

Izzy says, "Include the story of June and what she can teach us about how we can evaluate methods that create change." Okay, so you may have included some of the following points that we have included.

So we said we can evaluate methods that create change by looking at how effective they are in achieving real results, such as influencing decision-makers, raising awareness, or changing policies.

For example, June Eric-Udorie's campaign was successful because she used a mix of methods, writing articles, starting a petition and meeting with MPs.

The combination of methods helped her reach different audiences and led to changes in the A-level Politics curriculum.

Writing to MPs can be powerful when backed by strong evidence and clear solutions.

Evaluating each method means thinking about whether it reached the right audience, made a difference, and matched the goal of the campaign.

So well done on explaining how we can evaluate methods that create change.

We have now explored the first part of our lesson, and we're going to move on to the last part, which is What helps a campaign succeed? Campaigns succeed when they are based on real experiences and clear, simple goals.

That's what makes them work.

People support causes when they understand the problem and can connect with it emotionally.

For example, The Changing Places campaign is a national UK initiative that aims to improve accessibility in public buildings by ensuring that fully equipped toilets are available for people with disabilities.

Unlike standard accessible toilets, Changing Places facilities include extra space, hoists, and adult-sized changing benches, meeting the needs of every individual.

The campaign has successfully influenced government policy leading to changes in building regulations in 2021.

The policy now requires all new large public buildings in England like shopping centres, hospitals, and transport hubs to include these facilities.

Supported by disability organisations and Government departments, the campaign continues to push for more widespread access to ensure everyone can use public spaces with dignity and independence.

Campaign methods included personal stories from people with disabilities, which connected with others.

So let's explain why the Changing Places campaign was so successful.

Pause the video and have a go at this task.

Okay, let's see what we've put.

So we said Changing Places was successful because it had a clear target and a simple message.

This was to improve accessibility in public buildings by ensuring that fully equipped toilets are available for people with severe disabilities.

It used real personal stories from a group of pupils with disabilities to demonstrate why the change was needed.

This helped people connect with the issue emotionally and made it easy for local government to understand the problem and take action.

As a result, the campaign led to a change in building policies in 2021.

So all new buildings have to contain these facilities.

Campaigns are also more likely to succeed when they are based on research and planning, not just passion.

For example, the End Period Poverty campaign, which was started by Amika George in 2018 in schools and colleges and continues today, used real statistics to show how many girls were missing school due to a lack of sanitary products.

The campaigners met with counsellors, shared health data, and pushed for funding.

As a result, several local governments in England agreed to provide free products in school toilets without the need to ask staff.

Their success came from using evidence, showing the scale of the problem and finding a solution to fix it.

Jacob says, "I think if a campaign has not got a clear aim, it will be less successful as people will be confused.

They also need evidence because it will be easier to convince people to support your concerns if there are lots of reasons for it." Sofia says, "That is why you always need to plan campaigns carefully and efficiently, Jacob." Now, partnerships and teamwork are also key to campaign success.

Campaigns grow faster when schools, charities, or local groups work together.

For example, many pupils in schools across the country work with the environmental charity Keep Britain Tidy to reduce plastic waste in their schools.

The campaigns usually involve science teachers, local counsellors, and canteen staff, as well as pupils.

Working together helps them achieve changes like installing water fountains, removing single use plastics in their schools, and clearing up the site to recycle.

I wonder if it's a thing in any of your schools.

Teamwork makes campaigns stronger because different people bring different skills.

Some are better at writing reports, whereas others are better at speaking at events.

A successful campaign is not about doing everything alone.

It's about sharing the effort and building community support.

So what is the purpose of campaigning? Pause the video, read through our options and choose one.

Hopefully we have said the purpose of campaigning is to build support.

It's not about working alone.

We need to have partnerships and work with others.

It's not about confusing the message because then people will not understand your campaign.

And it's about sharing efforts.

Well done if we got those right.

Finally, successful campaigns need persistence for the campaigners to follow up.

A compelling example of a successful campaign set up by young people that demonstrates the importance of persistence and follow up is the Bite The Ballot initiative in the UK.

Founded in 2010 by teachers and pupils at Wilmington Enterprise College in Dartford, Bite The Ballot aimed to combat political apathy among young people by encouraging voter registration and political engagement.

Since 2010, the campaign has employed various strategies including organising the UK's first National Voter Registration Day in 2014, which led to significant increases in voter registration.

Their efforts culminated in the 2015 registration of over 469,000 people in a single day.

The campaign's sustained activities like educational programmes and partnership with popular platforms show how consistent advocacy and follow up can lead to real changes in political participation.

Many campaigns fail to achieve their outcomes because people give up too early.

If you believe in your cause, sticking with it even when it's difficult, is one of the most powerful tools you have.

To get a campaign to succeed, you need to demonstrate certain values: like resilience when things go wrong, get back up again and try again.

Persistence to get your goal, to keep going, perseverance to get you through any issues.

So true or false? Campaigns need persistence and follow up to have a better chance of success.

Hopefully everyone has said true.

This is correct.

For this task, we need to list four things that help a campaign succeed and explain the importance of each one.

Now, Andeep says, "Try to include at least two examples in your answer." So when you're ready, pause the video and have a good go at this task.

Okay, everyone.

So your things that help a campaign succeed might include: having a clear and simple message, and then we explain it.

So this helps people quickly understand what the campaign is about and why it matters.

If the message is confusing or too long, people may lose interest or not know what they're being asked to support.

For example, the Changing Places campaign worked well because it clearly asked for better facilities for people with disabilities, with specific asks.

A strong message helps the public, media and decision-makers know exactly what change is being demanded.

Another thing that helps a campaign succeed is using real stories and evidence.

So personal stories make a campaign more emotional and relatable while evidence shows the scale of the problem.

This combination is powerful because it appeals to both heart and the head.

For example, the End Period Poverty campaign used both health data and real pupil experiences to get funding for free products in schools.

Decision-makers are more likely to act when they see both facts and how real people are affected.

And good timing.

Timing a campaign to connect with current events means it is more likely to be noticed and taken seriously.

When an issue is already being discussed by the Government or media, campaigners can use that moment to push for change.

Good timing can make a campaign stand out and move faster and persisting and following up in a campaign are important to keep the momentum going and continue to raise awareness.

And then strong partnerships.

So campaigns are stronger when different people and organisations work together.

Partnering with charities or schools brings extra support, experience and access to decision-makers.

For example, pupils across the country work with Keep Britain Tidy to cut down plastic use.

The charity added credibility and helped them make real environmental changes.

Teamwork allows a campaign to reach more people and increases the chances of success.

So well done on your efforts for this task on listing things that help a campaign and then explaining them.

We have now come to the end of our lesson on How can we make change happen? And I'm gonna summarise it into a few points for us.

So change can happen when people use campaigning methods like petitions, protesting, contacting MPs, and working with charities.

Each campaign method works differently depending on the goal, like raising awareness, influencing policy, or reaching decision-makers.

Successful campaigns often include clear messages, real life evidence, and strong partnerships to increase their impact and lead to lasting change.

Timing also plays a key role as linking a campaign to current events or Government reviews can improve its chances of success.

Persistence and follow up as well as persistence and perseverance help it to be successful.

Evaluating campaign methods involves looking at what the campaign achieved and how effectively the method helped create that change.

Thank you so much for joining me today.

I hope you've enjoyed this lesson.

See you in the next one.

Bye-bye.