Lesson video

Hello, my name's Ms. Willow, and I'm going to be your teacher for today's lesson.

Today's lesson is called Democracy, and it fits into the unit Communities: What does it mean to be British? I'm really excited to be your teacher for today's lesson, so let's make a start.

By the end of today's lesson, you'll be able to explain what democracy means and why it is important.

Before we get started with today's lesson, we need to go over some ground rules.

These help to make sure that everyone feels safe and comfortable during today's lesson.

We have our friends from Oak National Academy to help us remember these rules.

Laura says that we need to listen to others.

This means that if someone else is speaking, we're not going to interrupt them.

Next we have Andeep.

Andeep says that we need to respect each other's privacy, and this means that we're not going to ask anyone any personal questions, as this can make some people feel uncomfortable.

Next, Jacob says we need to not have any judgment.

This means if someone chooses to share a story, a feeling, or an experience, we're not going to judge them for it.

And finally, Izzy says that we can choose our level of participation.

This means that it's up to us how much we want to join in.

We're now going to take a look at the keywords for today's lesson.

These are gonna pop up quite a few times in today's lesson, so it's really important that we have a good understanding of what each of these words mean.

First of all, we have the word democracy.

This is when people vote to choose leaders who make laws and decisions for everyone.

And finally, we have vote.

This means to choose someone or something in an election, like picking who you want to be your leader or what rule you want.

As we go through today's lesson, keep an eye out for these keywords, and when you spot them, see if you can remember what they mean.

Today's lesson is split into three learning cycles.

Our first learning cycle is called, What is democracy? Our second learning cycle is called, How might democracy work in everyday life? And our final learning cycle is called How does democracy work in our country? Let's make a start on our first learning cycle, What is democracy? Britain has four fundamental British values.

The first fundamental British value is democracy.

Next, we have rule of law.

Next, we have individual liberty.

And finally, our last fundamental British value is mutual respect and tolerance.

Ms. Walsh says that democracy is one of the fundamental British values.

It means that everyone has a voice in decisions, not just one person.

This makes choices fairer because everyone gets to share their ideas.

In Britain, democracy is seen as the right way to make decisions that affect everyone.

Ms. Walsh says that in Britain, adults vote to choose leaders who make decisions for the whole country.

This voting is how democracy works.

It gives everyone an equal say.

Voting helps us to make fair choices, as everyone gets the same chance.

Let's do a check for understanding to see how you are doing so far.

I'd like you to decide if this statement is true or false.

Democracy means that one person makes all the decisions.

What do you think? Is this true or false? Pause the video, talk to the people around you, tell me or have a think to yourself.

Well done if you said that this is false, but why? You might have said that democracy means that everyone has a say, not just one person.

This means that it's a fair system to decide something.

Well done if you said this or if you had something similar.

In a democracy, the majority wins.

This means that the choice that gets the most votes is the one that happens.

Even if your choice didn't win, we follow what most people voted for because that's fair.

Most people then get what they want.

Laura says, "My family voted to decide the name of our new pet.

I voted, but my choice didn't win.

At first, I was upset, but then I realized that three people in my family voted for the same name, so it was fair that the majority won." Sam says, "Our class voted on which book to read together.

I really wanted the adventure story, but only two of us voted for it.

Most of the class, so 15 people, voted for the funny book about animals.

I was disappointed at first, but then I realized that more people wanted the animal book, so it was the fair choice." Let's do a check for understanding to see how you're doing.

I'd like you to decide, is Jacob right? Jacob says that democracy means that everyone always gets what they want.

Is Jacob correct? Pause the video, talk to the people around you, tell me or have a think to yourself.

Well done if you said no, Jacob is not correct, but why? You might have said that democracy means that everyone has a say, but not everyone's choice will win.

Well done if your answer was something like this.

Let's talk now about the history of democracy in Britain.

Long ago, only kings and queens made all the decisions for everyone in Britain.

Over many years, more and more people were allowed to have a say.

Today, all adults aged 18 and over can vote.

This makes it fair for everyone.

Britain's democracy took hundreds of years to develop into what we have today.

We're now going to take a look at a timeline of democracy Britain.

So before 1832, only kings and queens made all the decisions about the country.

In 1832, some wealthy men were allowed to vote.

This means men who had lots of money.

In 1928, all men and women aged 21 and over were able to vote.

In 1969, all adults aged 18 and over can vote.

Let's do a check for understanding to see how you are doing.

Can you remember how long did it take for Britain to become the democracy it is today? A, a few months, B, about 10 years, or C, hundreds of years.

What do you think? How long did it take for Britain to become the democracy that it is today? Pause the video, talk to the people around you, tell me or have a think to yourself.

Well done if you said that the correct answer is C, hundreds of years.

It took Britain hundreds of years to become the democracy that it is today.

Well done if you said the same thing.

Let's move on to our first practice task, and you can put all of your learning so far into practice.

I'd like you to complete the following sentences.

Number one, in a democracy, people.

Number two, even if your choice doesn't win, it is still.

Number three, democracy means.

And number four, democracy is a fundamental British value that has been around for.

I'd like you to complete the sentences that I just read out loud to you.

Pause the video and we'll go through some potential answers in a few minutes.

Okay, let's have a look and see what your completed sentences could have looked like.

Number one, in a democracy, people vote to make fair choices.

Number two, even if your choice doesn't win, it is still fair.

Number three, democracy means that everyone has a voice in decisions.

And finally, number four, democracy is a fundamental British value that has been around for hundreds of years.

Well done if your completed sentences look anything like this.

We're now moving on to our second learning cycle, how might democracy work in everyday life? Ms. Walsh says that democracy is not just for countries.

We can also use it in schools and clubs.

Families sometimes use voting to make fair choices together too.

Let's do a check for understanding to see how you're doing with this learning cycle so far.

Is this statement true or false? Democracy is just for countries.

What do you think? Is this true or false? Democracy is just for countries.

Pause the video, talk to the people around you, tell me or have a think to yourself.

Well done if you said that this is false, but why? You might have said that democracy isn't just for countries.

We can use it in schools, clubs, and within our families too.

Well done if your answer was something like this.

This person says, "Our basketball team sometimes votes for captains during practice games to keep it fair." This person says that "We are part of a book club and we vote to choose which book to read together." This person says, "We use democratic voting to help us decide where to go on our family days out." These are all examples of how democracy can work in everyday life, not just in countries, but in communities, schools and families too.

Let's do a check for understanding to see how you are doing.

Let's take a look at this scenario.

The Johnson family wanted to choose where to go for their day out by having a democratic vote.

Mum voted for the zoo, Dad voted for the beach, Emma voted for the beach and Jenny voted for the park.

So where did the Johnson family go if they've used a democratic vote to decide where they're gonna go for their day out? Pause the video, talk to the people around you, tell me or have a think to yourself.

Well done if you said that the Johnson family went to the beach because this option got the most votes.

Both Dad and Emma voted for the beach, whereas Mum and Jenny voted either for the zoo or for the park.

This means that two people overall voted for the beach, and this won the democratic vote, so this is where the Johnson family is going to go on their day out.

Well done if you said the same thing.

Classrooms and schools can use democracy too.

Some examples of some classroom voting might be choosing a name for the class pet, picking which story to read together, deciding what game to play at break time, or selecting school council representatives to speak for the class.

Voting is a really good way to make these choices because everyone gets a fair say, and the choice with the most votes win.

This means that most people are happy with the result.

Amara says that "We were voted for by our classmates to share their ideas as part of the school council." School councils can make changes by listening to pupils' ideas.

Some examples of what these changes could be are choosing new playground equipment, deciding on a charity for fundraising, or improving school lunches by suggesting new meal options.

Not every decision in school, at home or in a club is made by democracy.

For example, Ms. Walsh says that some rules are about safety and they must be followed, even if pupils vote against them or disagree.

Similarly, parents and carers might decide bedtimes to keep children healthy, and club leaders might set safety rules that everyone must follow.

Let's do a check for understanding to see how you're doing so far.

A school is going to update their playground, which way involves democracy? The head teacher choosing the new playground equipment without asking pupils, or all pupils voting for the playground equipment that they want and the majority choice being followed.

Which of those are ways that involve democracy? Pause the video, talk to the people around you, tell me or have a think to yourself.

Well done if you said that the second option is correct.

All pupils voting for the playground equipment that they want and the majority choice being followed is an example of democracy.

Well done if you got this right.

It's now time to move on to our second practice task, and well done for your hard work so far.

I'd like you to read each example, and I'd like you to explain if it shows democracy or not.

Here are the examples.

Number one, the head teacher chooses the charity the pupils will fundraise for.

Number two, the whole class votes for the end of term reward.

Number three, a parent always picks the book for bedtime.

Number four, pupils vote to choose school council representatives.

And number five, the leaders of a club choose the new kit colors.

For each of those examples, can you explain whether it shows democracy or not? Pause the video and we'll go through the answers in a few minutes.

Okay, let's see what you might have said.

For example, number one, the head teacher chooses the charity that the pupils will fundraise for.

This is not democratic because only one person, the head teacher, made the choice, and pupils had no say.

Number two, the whole class votes for the end of term reward.

This is democratic because everyone had a chance to vote, and the majority decision will be followed.

Number three, a parent always picks the book for bedtime.

This is not democratic because the parent decides alone each time without the child getting their say.

And number four, pupils vote to choose school council representatives.

This is democratic because everyone is able to vote fairly and the most popular choice will be chosen, so most people will be happy.

And finally, number five, the leaders of a club choose the new kit colors.

This is not democratic because the children who go to the club were not given the chance to vote or to share their ideas.

Well done if your answers were anything like this.

It's now time to move on to our final learning cycle, How does democracy work in our country? In Britain, we live in a democracy.

Adults who are 18 or older can vote in elections, and elections are special times when everyone gets to choose who they want as their leaders.

Adults vote for people called Members of Parliament, often called MPs for short, to represent them.

MPs meets in Parliament in London.

Parliament is the place where MPs come together to make decisions for our country.

In Parliament, MPs discuss new laws and vote to decide what should happen.

This shows democracy in action.

Let's do a check for understanding to see how you're doing with this learning cycle so far.

Who do adults in Britain vote for? Can you remember? Is it A, doctors, B, the king or queen, or C, Members of Parliament? Who do you think adults in Britain vote for? Pause the video, talk to the people around you, tell me or have a think to yourself.

Well done if you said that C is correct.

During elections, adults in Britain vote for Members of Parliament, often called MPs for short.

Well done if you got this right.

In a democracy, every adult has one vote.

This means that each person's voice counts equally and is equally important.

During an election, adults go to special places called polling stations to vote in private, which keeps their choice secret and fair.

This means that no one else knows who they voted for.

When adults vote, they put a cross next to the person that they want to choose or vote for.

They do this on a special piece of paper called a ballot paper.

After everyone has voted, all of the votes are counted to see who won.

As you can see in this example of a ballot paper, this person has voted for candidate A because they've put a cross next to the person that they've chosen.

Let's do a check for understanding.

Which of these images shows Parliament? Take a look at the images on the screen and decide which image shows Parliament, A, B, or C? Pause the video, talk to the people around you, tell me or have a think to yourself.

Well done if you said that image B shows Parliament.

Democracy is a fundamental British value, but not all countries around the world work the same way as Britain.

In some places like North Korea, only one person or a small group makes all the decisions for everyone.

And in other countries like Saudi Arabia, they have monarchs who make the laws instead of having people vote.

We're now going to do another check for understanding to see how you're doing with this learning cycle.

I'd like you to decide if this statement is true or false.

Not all countries have democracy like Britain does, so not everyone around the world can vote.

What do you think? Is this true or false? Pause the video, talk to the people around you, tell me or have a think to yourself.

Well done if you said that this is true.

We're now moving on to our final practice task, and well done for your hard work in this lesson.

In this practice task, I'd like you to discuss the following with a partner.

Number one, who do adults in Britain vote for? Number two, how do adults vote in Britain? Number three, why is democracy fair? And number four, do all countries have democracy? Can you discuss each of those questions with a partner? Pause the video and we'll go through what you might have said in a few minutes.

Okay, let's see what you might have said.

For question number one, who do adults in Britain vote for, you might have said that adults in Britain vote for Members of Parliament, often called MPs for short.

For the question number two, how do adults vote in Britain, you might have said that adults go to polling stations, and they put a cross on a ballot paper next to the person that they want to choose or vote for, then all the votes are counted to see who wins.

Question number three, why is democracy fair? Democracy is fair because everyone has one vote and all votes are equal.

And number four, do all countries have democracy? You might have said that no, not all countries have democracy like Britain does.

Well done if your answers were anything like this.

We're now going to summarize the key learning from today's lesson.

In today's lesson, we've learned that in Britain, we live in a democracy.

This means that everyone has a voice in decisions by using their vote.

Democracy is fair because every adult gets to vote, and all votes count the same.

Adults vote for MPs who make decisions in Parliament.

Sometimes your choice doesn't win, but democracy is still a fair system because the majority decision is followed, and most people will be happy at the outcome.

We can use democracy in our everyday life, like at home, school and clubs to make fair choices.

And not every country has democracy, but in Britain, it's seen as a fundamental value.

Well done for your hard work in today's lesson.

I've really enjoyed teaching you, and I hope to see you in another lesson soon.