Understanding Consensus (Part Two)
Teaching & Learning Package 4
A teaching resource from the Jean Monnet Teacher Education Project – University College Dublin, Ireland
AUTHOR, 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 a consensus. [If this is NOT a stand alone lesson then the activities below can be revisited to see if students, having simulate the Council and Commission have different responses than they did previously.]
Activity 1.
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, have the PP and video ready to show to the class
A Note for a Teacher:
Estimated Time: 5 mins
PowerPoint
Teacher Guide
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 1.
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
PowerPoint
Teacher Guide
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 teach the Core Values of the EU and to establish a Democratic Classroom in order to simulate those values in the classroom. In groups, the students will be practicing the skills of consensus building that is found in the EU.]
Activity 3. EU Core Values:
Video on how the EU passes legislation in response to dissatisfied member states.
Preparation for Activities: Have the video link set up to watch.
A Note for a Teacher:
Estimated Time: 5 mins
Citizenship Reference: 1.3; 2.3; 2.4; 3.2; 3.3; and 4.3
Description
- Show the video.
- Could our own chocolate ever be considered so “inferior” to another country’s chocolate that we aren’t allowed to export it to other EU countries? Why or why not?
Activity 4.
Preparation for Activities: PP ready to go over the role of EU Commission, Council of Ministers and Parliament.
A Note for a Teacher:Explain that a change in legislation has been passed by the Council and Commission and will now go the Parliament.
Estimated Time: 15 mins
Citizenship Reference: 1.3; 2.2; 3.2; 3.7; 4.2; 4.3
Description
- Do you think any countries 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”?
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 3 onwards. Organise the classroom as recommended in the Guidelines.
A Note for a Teacher:It is imperative that the guidelines are read in advance of the class.
Estimated Time: 40 mins
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.
- Read the RTE news article celebrating that Irish chocolate can now be exported to other European countries – in 2000 – even though we have been a member since 1973!
Follow-Up
The key aim of this activity is to de-brief and reflect on what has been learned by the simulation/role-play
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: [this field is filled with any extra instruction, if required. Can be erased]
Teacher Reflection
Activity 5. Reflection
This is directed at students to reflect on their learning and the democratic classroom they created. It will allow the teacher to check on knowledge, skills and attitudes
Description
- Show students the Google Doc and go through it with them to check for understanding of all questions.
- Assign the Google Doc making sure the students understand it is to reflect on the understanding of the terms learned in class and the democratic classroom they have established as a group.
- This also allows the teacher to check whether the majority has succeeded or whether minority voices have been “drowned out” or ignored by “bigger players”. If the latter is the case this offers the teacher to re-visit the classroom charter and explore how this can simulate how in the EU some smaller countries can sometimes feel their concerns are subordinate to the larger (louder) EU countries. The challenge for the teacher is to try and find a whole class resolution to the problem in a subsequent lesson. This would mimic what happens in the EU.
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