Understanding consensus within the EU
Teaching & Learning Package 3
A teaching resource from the Jean Monnet Teacher Education Project – University College Dublin, Ireland
ANNE O’BRIEN, UCD CONOR GALVIN, UCD
UNIT PLAN & ACTIVITIES
Start-Up
The key aim of this activity is to activate student’s understanding of how difficult it can be to reach consensus
Activity 1. Reaching a consensus
Trying to reach a consensus of who produces the most (best) chocolate
Preparation for Activities: Teacher should have read thoroughly the Teacher’s Guide to this lesson and the simulation activity, the document explaining the Battle of Chocolate and have the PowerPoint and video ready to show to the class
A Note for a Teacher: Refer to the Battle of Chocolate resource sheet to provide an engaging example that illustrates the decision-making process in action.
Estimated Time: 10 mins
Citizenship reference: 1.2;2.1;2.6;3.2; 3.3
Description
- Have students rank the top 10 countries for chocolate production
- Is there a consensus reached for even the top 3? How many students ranked on what they believed to be the country that had the “best” tasting chocolate?
Activity 2. Thumbs Up or Thumbs Down
Trying to reach a consensus of who produces the most (best) chocolate
Preparation for Activities: Go to slide 3
A Note for a Teacher:
Estimated Time: 5 mins
Citizenship reference:2.5; 3.2
Description
- Ask students to give a thumbs up (for true) and thumbs down (for false) on whether Irish chocolate was ever banned from being exported to other EU countries.
Development
The key aim of this activity is to introduce how the EU passes or amends legislation in response to requests from member states using a video and an explanation of the rationale for possibly changing legislation. This activity is the first stage of the simulation role-play that will follow.
Activity 3.
Video on how the EU passes legislation in response to dissatisfied member states.
Preparation for Activities: Make sure video link is ready to be shown. Have photocopies of The Great European Chocolate Battle ready to be distributed after watching the video.
A Note for a Teacher: Use the video to introduce the topic in an engaging way, setting the stage for the discussion and activity.
Estimated Time: 15 mins
Citizenship Reference: 1.3; 3.2;3.3; 1.3; 4.3
Description
- Show the video.
- Could our chocolate ever be deemed so “inferior” compared to another country’s chocolate that it would be banned from export to other EU countries? Why or why not?
Activity 4.
The Great European Chocolate Battle
Preparation for Activities: Make sure to have photocopies of The Great European Chocolate Battle for students.
A Note for a Teacher:After reading and quick discussion walk through the slides 5, 6 and 7 on the EU Commission and Council of Ministers.
Estimated Time: 10 mins
Citizenship Reference: 1.3; 2.2; 3.2; 3.7; 4.2; 4.3
Description
- Read with class The Great European Chocolate Battle.
- Do you think we have been treated unfairly? Should there be legal requirements for ingredients in a product in order to be called a certain product? Why might other countries have issues with us calling our product “chocolate”?
- How can we change legislation and begin to export our chocolate and call it chocolate?
- Show and explain slides 5, 6 and 7.
Consolidation
The key aim of this activity is to consolidate the student’s understanding of how the EU passes legislation to address concerns from member states and promote fairness and equality through role-play/simulation. This activity will also showcase the difficulty in reaching consensus.
Activity 5.
Role play/simulation of the EU Commission and Council of Ministers introduce and pass legislation.
Preparation for Activities: Make sure to have read the Teacher Guidelines. You will be using Pages 2 and 3 parts A and B. Organise the classroom into small groups.
A Note for a Teacher:It is imperative that the guidelines are read in advance of the class.
Estimated Time: 30 mins
Role-play EU decision-making: Teacher’s guide
Citizenship Reference: 1.3;2.2; 2.4;3.3;3.2; 3.7; 3.8; 4.3
Description
- Follow all directions in teacher guidelines.
- Below, in Follow up are some suggested questions you might consider asking at the end of the class.
Follow-Up
The key aim of this activity is to de-brief and reflect on what has been learned by the simulation/role-play
Activity 6. Reflection
This is directed at students to reflect on their learning. It will allow the teacher to check on knowledge, skills and attitudes
Preparation for Follow-up Activities: Instruct students how to access the Google Doc. This can be done at home on their phone or for students who do not have access to internet hard copies should be made available.
A Note for a Teacher: Reflect on what has been learned by the simulation/role-play
Estimated Time: 10 mins
Description
- Why can it be difficult to reach consensus to pass legislation?
- Can legislation ever be fair to everyone?
- Why might some countries still feel aggrieved?
- Would you consider the EU’s method of passing legislation to be fair to all countries involved?
- Do you think it is representative democracy in action or could it be improved?
- Some smaller countries in the EU feel that the bigger countries “get their way” – did you feel that was happening in our simulation?
Disclaimer
This website reflects only the views of the authoring team. It does not represent the view of the European Commission, or its agencies, and the European Commission is not responsible for any use that may be made of the information it contains.
Call: ERASMUS-JMO-2021-OFET-TT
Project: 101048011