Active citizenship in practice
Active citizenship blends voting with everyday actions like volunteering and campaigning that shape decisions between elections too.
Part of your national curriculum
- Democracy and government: Understand the different ways a citizen can participate actively in democratic and electoral processes, including through community volunteering and campaigning
Lesson overview
What you'll learn in this lesson
Understand the different ways a citizen can participate actively in democratic and electoral processes, including through community volunteering and campaigning
Key learning points
- • Beyond the ballot box
- • Volunteering as participation
- • Campaigning for change
This lesson at a glance
- 22 minutes
- 14 parts to scroll through
- 3 quick checks
- Marked quiz at the end
- Gentle pace: short sittings with pauses
Words to know
Scroll down — the lesson carries on below
Watch & discover
Part 1 of 14
Watch first
Active citizenship in practice
An English teaching video on this topic from TEDx Talks. Watch it, then scroll down for the lesson.
In a nutshell
Understand the different ways a citizen can participate actively in democratic and electoral processes, including through community volunteering and campaigning
Learning cycle
Part 2 of 14
Learning cycle 1 of 2
Part 1 · Beyond the ballot box
A short piece of teaching, then a check to make sure it has landed.
Explore the idea
Part 3 of 14
Learn
Beyond the ballot box
Democracy relies on more than casting a vote every few years. Joining a political party, attending council meetings, or becoming a school council representative are all ways of practising democracy actively.
Explore the idea
Part 4 of 14
Learn
Volunteering as participation
Volunteering with local charities or campaign groups builds skills in organising and persuading others, and it often directly supports the causes that matter to a community, from the environment to homelessness.
Quick check
Part 5 of 14
Quick check
Which of these counts as active citizenship?
Reset break
Part 6 of 14
Pause
That's sitting 1 of 2 done
Stretch, get a drink, look out of the window. There is no timer and nothing is counting down — your place is saved, so you can come back in five minutes or tomorrow.
Quick check
Part 7 of 14
Quick check
What skill does volunteering with a campaign group often build?
Learning cycle
Part 8 of 14
Learning cycle 2 of 2
Part 2 · Campaigning for change
A short piece of teaching, then a check to make sure it has landed.
Explore the idea
Part 9 of 14
Learn
Campaigning for change
Campaigns can be local, such as petitioning for a safer road crossing, or national, such as raising awareness of an issue through social media, marches or media coverage, keeping decision-makers accountable between elections.
Quick check
Part 10 of 14
Quick check
What is an example of a local campaign?
Challenge round
Part 11 of 14
Game · Sort it
Which of these are true?
Drag each card into the right column. Tap a card first if dragging is fiddly.
True
Not true
Challenge round
Part 12 of 14
Game · Fill the gaps
Finish the sentences
Choose the word that belongs in each gap.
Joining a political party, attending council meetings, or becoming a school council representative are all ways of practising democracy ____.
Mastery quiz
Part 13 of 14
Marked quiz
End of lesson quiz: Active citizenship in practice
3 questions, marked with the reasoning shown. No timer.
1. Which of these counts as active citizenship?
2. What skill does volunteering with a campaign group often build?
3. What is an example of a local campaign?
Lesson round-up
Part 14 of 14
Lesson round-up
Ready when you are
Quiz score
Not sat
Games
Not played
Points this lesson
0
Best run
0 in a row
Luna: 0 out of 3 on the practice checks. Only if you feel up to it — one more?
Ask LunaDo the work
Your written work for this lesson
This is the part you'd do in your book at school. Pick the pieces below, write here or on paper, and photograph anything you draw or work out.
Should the town centre have a curfew for under-16s?
After a rise in reported vandalism, Harbrook council proposed that under-16s should not be in the town centre after 9 pm without an adult. Police recorded 62 incidents last year, most between 9 pm and midnight. Shopkeepers signed a petition supporting the plan.
A youth council objected. They pointed out that most young people in town at night were going home from sports clubs or work, that the plan punishes a whole group for the acts of a few, and that the library and the bus interchange are in the town centre. They asked instead for a late bus and a youth space.
The council voted to trial the curfew for six months and to publish the crime figures at the end.
Written for Good Learning Co.
Reading questions
- Give the strongest point on each side of the argument, using a fact from the case.
- Whose rights and whose responsibilities are involved here? Explain both.
- Write your own view on the curfew with reasons and one example.
Reading and response
ReadingRead the case in the lesson again and write what you think should happen, and why it is fair. Use one fact from the case as evidence.
2 paragraphs (PEE)
Extended writing
WritingWrite your answer to the lesson's big question in full: the strongest point on each side, then your own view with reasons and an example.
250–350 words
Reading log
ReadingFind one news story this week that links to this lesson. Note the headline, where you read it, and how it connects.
1 story, 4–5 sentences
Two sides of the argument
WritingWrite the strongest point for, the strongest point against, and then your own view with a reason.
3 paragraphs
Poster or leaflet plan
DiagramPlan a leaflet that explains this right or responsibility to someone your age, then photograph it.
1 planned page
Saved as you type.
Part 1 of 14 · Watch & discover
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Understand the different ways a citizen can participate actively in democratic and electoral processes, including through community volunteering and campaigning