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The Children's Parliament

An Educator's Resource Kit

Elementary

Description

The Children’s Parliament resource kit teaches democracy and citizenry skills to students while giving them an official forum to voice their own concerns and solutions to local and global issues. The aim of the project is to inform youth about political processes and get them involved in their schools and communities. Students learn how decisions are made and are also responsible for making some decisions themselves. Through the Children’s Parliament program, students organize a variety of social and educational activities in their schools such as health and fitness events, environmental activities or multicultural events. The resource helps students learn about their rights and responsibilities as citizens of the world.

The resource is designed to help teachers organize:

  • a Children’s Parliament within a group of schools in the area.
  • a Children’s Fair to launch the Children’s Parliament for the school year
  • an evening social gathering for elected members of parliament and their parents,
  • five parliamentary sessions with elected students
  • a trip to the Provincial Legislative Assembly.

 

The resource suggests a number of activities that students can organize and participate in such as:

 

  • Adopting a local charity and work to gather the resources, funds, and/or volunteers that it needs
  • “Lights-off” challenges, within schools and between schools
  • Holding awareness campaigns in schools on topics like water conservation, biodiversity, or climate change
  • Collecting school supplies to be donated to local and overseas charities who can distribute them to kids in need
  • Organizing lunch hour activities that encourage physical activity
  • Celebrating festivals from different cultures
  • Organizing fundraisers for worthwhile projects overseas

This is a year-long activity where students meet on a bi-monthly basis to discuss issues effecting their school and  community including the environment, children's rights and responsibilities, democracy and decision-making processes.

 

 

 

 

General Assessment

What skills does this resource explicitly teach?

  • building consensus
  • oral communication
  • express a point of view

Strengths

  • The Parliament is modeled on the Canadian democratic system.
  • Students are encouraged to choose local and global problems, and come up with their own solutions.
  • Good suggestions of action components to promote change in the home and community are included.
  • Activities motivate and keep the students engaged.

Weaknesses

  • The resource offers little attention to assessment so teachers will need to create their own instruments and rubrics.
  • There are few opportunities presented to integrate technology.

Relevant Curriculum Units

The following tool will allow you to explore the relevant curriculum matches for this resource. To start, select a province listed below.

Themes Addressed

Citizenship (1)

  • Community-Building and Participation

Governance (2)

  • Democracy
  • Government Regulations

Waste Management (1)

  • Rethink, Reduce, Reuse, Recycle

Sustainability Education Principles

Principle Rating Explanation
Consideration of Alternative Perspectives Very Good

  • The activities encourage students to look at local and global problems and come up with their own solutions. The aim of the project is to inform youth about political processes and get them involved in their schools and communities. Students learn how decisions are made and are also responsible for making some decisions themselves. The students are not influenced to any particular point of view.

Consideration of Alternative Perspectives:
  • Satisfactory: absence of bias towards any one point of view
  • Good: students consider different points of view regarding issues, problems discussed
  • Very good: based on the consideration of different views, students form opinions and  take an informed position
Multiple Dimensions of Problems & Solutions Good
  • The activities integrate the environmental, social and economic dimensions of the different issues explored in the resource.
Multiple Dimensions of Problems & Solutions:

Effectively addresses the environmental, economic and social dimensions of the issue(s) being explored.

  • Satisfactory: resource supports the examination of  these dimensions
  • Good:  resource explicitly examines the interplay of these dimensions
  • Very Good:  a systems-thinking approach is encouraged to examine these three dimensions
Respects Complexity Good
  • Through role play the activities promote dialogue between the students. They take a look at local and global problems, and come up with their own solutions.
Respects Complexity:

The complexity of the problems/issues being discussed is respected.

Acting on Learning Satisfactory
  • The resource suggests a variety of action projects to choose from. The students organize a variety of social and educational activities in their schools.
Acting on Learning:

Learning moves from understanding  issues  to working towards positive change — in personal lifestyle, in school, in the community,  or for the planet

  • Satisfactory: action opportunities are included as extensions 
  • Good: action opportunities are core components of the resource
  • Very Good: action opportunities for students are well supported and intended to result in observable, positive change
Values Education Satisfactory
Values Education:

Students are explicitly provided with opportunities to identify, clarify and express their own beliefs/values.

Empathy & Respect for Humans Good
Empathy & Respect for Humans: Empathy and respect are fostered for diverse groups of humans (including different genders, ethnic groups, sexual preferences, etc.).
Personal Affinity with Earth Good
Personal Affinity with Earth:

Encourages a personal affinity with -the natural world.  

  • Satisfactory: connection is made to the natural world
  • Good: fosters appreciation/concern for the natural world
  • Very Good: fosters stewardship though practical and respectful experiences out-of-doors 
Locally-Focused Learning Very Good

  • The Children’s Parliament is an official forum for students to look at local and global problems, and come up with their own solutions. The aim of the project is to inform youth about political processes and get them involved in their schools and communities.

Locally-Focused Learning:

Includes learning experiences that take advantage of issues/elements within the local community. 

  • Satisfactory: learning is made relevant to the lives of the learners
  • Good: learning is made relevant and has a local focus
  • Very Good: learning is made relevant, local and takes place ‘outside’ , in the community 
Past, Present & Future Satisfactory
Past, Present & Future: Promotes an understanding of the past, a sense of the present, and a positive vision for the future.

Pedagogical Approaches

Principle Rating Explanation
Open-Ended Instruction Very Good
  • The activities in this resource encourage the students to brainstorm, question, discuss, observe, and reflect about local and global problems.  They come up with their own solutions.
Open-Ended Instruction :

Lessons are structured so that multiple/complex answers are possible; students are not steered toward one 'right' answer.

Integrated Learning Good
  • Science
  • Language arts
  • Social studies
Integrated Learning:

Learning brings together content and skills  from more than one  subject area

  • Satisfactory: content from a number of different  subject areas is readily identifiable
  • Good:  resource is appropriate for use in more than one subject area
  • Very Good:  the lines between subjects are blurred 
Inquiry Learning Good
  • Students are provided with many opportunities as well as intriguing questions that allow them to discover and build knowledge independently.
Inquiry Learning:

Learning is directed by questions, problems, or challenges that students work to address.   

  • Satisfactory: Students are provided with questions/problems to solve and some direction on how to arrive at solutions.
  • Good: students, assisted by the teacher clarify the question(s) to ask and the process to follow to arrive at solutions.  Sometimes referred to as Guided Inquiry
  • Very Good:  students generate the questions and assume much of the responsibility for how to solve them.  . Sometimes referred to as self-directed learning.

 

Differentiated Instruction Good
  • Lessons provide a good variety of discussion and brainstorming activities, individual and cooperative learning assignments, field trips, and reflection opportunities.
  • The activities address a wide range of learning styles, visual, auditory, kinesthetic but do not include specific accommodations for students with learning difficulties.
Differentiated Instruction:

Activities address a range of student learning styles, abilities and readiness.

  • Satisfactory:  includes a variety of instructional approaches
  • Good: addresses  the needs of visual, auditory &  kinesthetic learners
  • Very Good: also includes strategies for learners with difficulties
Experiential Learning Good

  • The Children’s Parliament is an official forum for students to look at local and global problems and come up with their own solutions. The aim of the project is to inform youth about political processes and get them involved in their schools and communities. Students learn how decisions are made and are also responsible for making some decisions themselves.

Experiential Learning:

Authentic learning experiences are provided

  • Satisfactory: learning takes place through ‘hands-on’ experience or simulation
  • Good: learning involves direct experience in a ‘real world context’
  • Very good: learning involves ‘real world experiences’ taking place’ beyond the school walls.
Cooperative Learning Good
  • Cooperative lesrning skills are explicitly taught and practiced.
Cooperative Learning:

Group and cooperative learning strategies are a priority.

  • Satisfactory:  students work in groups
  • Good: cooperative learning skills are explicitly taught and practiced
  • Very Good: cooperative learning skills are explicitly taught, practiced and assessed
Assessment & Evaluation Satisfactory
  • Some reflection questions are provided.
Assessment & Evaluation: Tools are provided that help students and teachers to capture formative and summative information about students' learning and performance. These tools may include reflection questions, checklists, rubrics, etc.
Peer Teaching Good
  • An opportunity is intentionally created to empower students to teach other students and community members.
Peer Teaching:

Provides opportunities for students to actively present their knowledge and skills to peers and/or act as teachers and mentors.

  • Satisfactory: incidental teaching that arises from cooperative learning, presentations, etc.
  • Good or Very Good: an opportunity is intentionally created to empower students to teach other students/community members. The audience is somehow reliant on the students' teaching (students are not simply ‘presenting')
Case Studies Satisfactory
  • The aim of the project is to inform youth about political processes and get them involved in their schools and communities.
Case Studies:

Relevant case studies are included.  Case studies are thorough descriptions of real events from real situations that students use to explore  concepts in an authentic context.

Locus of Control Good
Locus of Control: Meaningful opportunities are provided for students to choose elements of program content, the medium in which they wish to work, and/or to go deeper into a chosen issue.

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