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| Questions/instructions: Put photo 1 (group of MPs) in front of student. These people are members of parliament. Sometimes they are called MPs. |
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%
responses
|
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y8
|
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1. How do people get to be an MP? |
build
reputation with public, electorate
|
8
|
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build
reputation with political party
|
6 | ||||||||||||
|
win
party nomination
|
2 | ||||||||||||
| win position through election: |
mentions
both “a” and “b” below
|
1 | |||||||||||
|
a.
win most votes in electorate
|
3 | ||||||||||||
|
b.
be high enough on party list
|
1 | ||||||||||||
|
vague
notion of being elected
|
41 | ||||||||||||
| Overall understanding: |
strong
|
1 | |||||||||||
|
moderate
|
11 | ||||||||||||
|
weak
|
88 | ||||||||||||
| Put
photo 2 (group of MPs in debating chamber) in front of student. This is a photo of the MPs in parliament. |
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2. Try to tell me the most important things MPs do when they are meeting in this room. |
discuss/debate
what is good for county
|
63 | ||||||||||
|
discuss/debate
proposed laws
|
15 | ||||||||||||
|
vote
on proposed laws
|
3 | ||||||||||||
|
discuss
and vote on budget details
|
7 | ||||||||||||
|
celebrate
good news, react to bad news
|
4 | ||||||||||||
|
try
to build or damage political reputations
|
3 | ||||||||||||
| Overall understanding: |
strong
|
0 | |||||||||||
|
moderate
|
15 | ||||||||||||
|
weak
|
85 | ||||||||||||
| Put
picture 3 (party seats in debating chamber) in front of student. This is a diagram of the seats in parliament. |
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3.
Try to explain what this diagram tells us. PROMPT: What do you think the different colours mean? |
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Representation:
|
colours
represent parties
(including idea of government and opposition parties) |
9 | |||||||||||
|
just
says colours represent different parties
|
41 | ||||||||||||
|
Seats:
|
shows
how many seats each party has and therefore who is government/coalition
|
6 | |||||||||||
|
shows
how many seats each party has
|
33 | ||||||||||||
|
Votes:
|
mentions
that seats represent potential votes
(more seats, more votes) |
7 | |||||||||||
|
Overall
understanding:
|
strong
|
4 | |||||||||||
|
moderate
|
25 | ||||||||||||
|
weak
|
72 | ||||||||||||
| Commentary The results show that, by Year 8, only a small percentage of students have a reasonably clear understanding of how MPs are elected and what they do. |
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