Teaching Sequence

Work through this resources material in the following sequence:
20 mins - Introductory activity - class brainstorm about democracy
40 mins - Medieval England and the Magna Carta (including role-play)
40 mins - Video, discussion and shield design
20 mins - Bright ideas in the Age of Enlightenment
60 mins - Origins of Australia’s parliamentary system
40 mins - Rights and freedoms in Australia today
20 mins - Classroom Charter of Rights and Responsibilities

Introductory activity - Class Brainstorm

As a class, begin the lesson by creating a mind map on the board about the concept of “democracy” and what it means.
You may wish to prompt class discussion with the following questions:

What makes a democracy?
What is the opposite to democracy?
Why is having a democracy important?
How does democracy have an impact on people’s lives?

Explain to students that the word “democracy” means “rule by the people”. The idea of democracy comes from Ancient Greece and the work combines the Ancient Greek words - “demos” meaning the people, and “kratia” meaning rule or authority.

Medieval England and Magna Carta

The Middle Ages was a period of European history from the fall of the Roman Empire (476 AD) until the fall of Constantinople in 1453 AD. It is also known as the Dark Ages, because it is historically regarded as a period when Western civilisation went “backwards” in cultural and economic terms. At this time in England, the political system that existed was known as feudalism or the feudal system. The feudal system was a rigid hierarchy where peasants served wealthy landowning lords, in exchange for their protection. At the top of this hierarchy was the monarch, who held absolute power.

Absolute monarchy is the term used to explain when a ruler holds total power, and can make any laws or decisions without having to consult the people or a representative assembly (such as a parliament). Explain to students that in this time and place, the common people did not have any say in decision making processes. Only the wealthy nobility could do this. And the King had the power to overrule everyone.

Role play activity: Absolute Monarchy

This activity is design to explore the concept of absolute monarchy. In this activity the teacher plays a “despotic monarch” who introduces a series of arbitrary rules to the class.

Discussion questions:

Do you agree with the new rules?
Are the new rules unfair? Why/why not?
How could you ensure that these new rules are not introduced into the class? (e.g. go to the school principal or Student Representative Council)
What would fair rules be like? Should students be free to do whatever they want?

Acknowledgement: This activity has be adapted from activities in the following resources: Right Here, Rights Now, Teaching Citizenship through Human Rights, UK Ministry of Justice and British Institute of Human Rights, p25; and Magna Carta for Schools - Key Stage 2, The Magna Carta Project, p.5.

View activity: The Story of Our Freedom

As a class watch The Story of Our Freedom video.

Having viewed the video and discussed the key facts of the story, ask the class to share why they think Magna Carta was so important at the time and why it is still significant today. Draw out the following:

It established for the first time that the king is not above the law.

It gave rights to (a select group of) people, including the right to a fair trial.

It started a process that led to democracy as we know it today

Extension: design a shield

Allow students to design their own shields. Explain that the knights in medieval times often wore a coat of arms, which was an artistic design that illustrated which noble family a knight came from. This was often displayed on the knight’s shield. Instruct students to incorporate visual elements into their shields design that represent:

Their family
Their likes and interests
Include a motto that reflects their values (e.g. showing kindness to all, always respecting others).

Bright ideas in the Age of Enlightenment

Significant development in the thinking about equality and rights took place in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. This found expression in the American Declaration of Independence (1776) and the subsequent Bill of Rights written into the American Constitution (1791), and the French Declaration of the Rights of Man and the Citizen (1789).

You may wish to point out to students that there are clear echoes of Magna Carta in some of the important documents that emerged in this time period, for example, the American Bill of Rights and the French Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen.
For example:

Class Discussion: Emerging Ideas of Equality

Ask students to identify the significant ideas about rights and freedoms that emerged in this period. Ask students to explore the Magna Carta interactive infographic, focussing specifically on the sections relating to the Age of Enlightenment through to the United States revolution. Remind students to click on the red diamonds for additional information.

Ask students to identify the significant ideas about rights and freedoms that emerged in this period. An important idea that emerged during the Age of Enlightenment was the idea that there is a ‘natural law’ that stands above the law of rulers. In previous times, the focus had been on the absolute and unquestionable power of rulers. Now the emphasis starts to shift to the rights of the individual in relation to the State. This means that individuals have certain fundamental rights and freedoms simply because they are human beings.

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Make sure to point out to students that despite this shift there were still large groups of people, such as women, who were not seen as having these rights and freedoms.

An important idea that emerged during the Age of Enlightenment was the idea that there is a ‘natural law’ that stands above the law of rulers. In previous times, the focus had been on the absolute and unquestionable power of rulers. Now the emphasis starts to shift to the rights of the individual in relation to the State. This means that individuals have certain fundamental rights and freedoms simply because they are human beings.

Make sure to point out to students that despite this shift there were still large groups of people, such as women, who were not seen as having these rights and freedoms.

Origins of Australia’s Parliamentary System

Ask students to identify how the American and British models of government influenced Australia’s democratic system of government.

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You may also instruct students to do some additional online research on US Federalism and the UK Westminster System in order to answer this question.

For a detailed teacher overview of how the Australian Constitution borrowed from the American and British models of government refer to the Discovering Democracy webpage: “The Australian Nation: Constitution Making”.

Refer students to the section of the Magna Carta interactive infographic that depicts three groups in Australia who historically have struggled to receive recognition of their rights: women, migrants and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples. Some topics for investigation could be:

Women:

Migrants:

Aboriginal and
Torres Strait Islanders:

The Suffragette movement

The bar on married women working

The equal pay movement

The Sex Discrimination Act 1984

Assimilation policies

Anti-discrimination legislation

Mandatory detention

Poor pay and working conditions

Controls on movement and residence

The forcible removal of children from their
families leading to the Stolen Generations

The 1962 right to vote federally

The 1967 referendum

Using this as a starting point for an online investigation, ask students to select one group and research their experiences of Australian democracy and citizenship. Then assign specific topics for investigation.

In summarising their research findings, ask students to provide information on the following points:

What rights and freedoms did your chosen group have to fight for?
List some of the reasons why your chosen group was historically denied these rights and freedoms.
Explain how your chosen group achieved recognition of their rights, with reference to one key historical event.
Are there any rights that your chosen group are still fighting for?

Discussion activity: Australian Democratic Values

Beyond the political systems and governance structure of a parliamentary democracy there are other elements to living in a democracy, such as respecting certain values and ideas.

Pose the following question to the class: We say Australia is a democratic society, what does this mean?

Discuss with the class what values might come our of living in a democracy. You may wish to write the four following headings on the board to prompt student discussion: freedom, equality, fairness and justice.

Rights and freedoms in Australia today

In Australia today, we are fortunate to hold many rights and freedoms, some of which have been passed down from as far back as Magna Carta, 800 years ago!

The Magna Carta interactive infographic illustrated some of the rights and freedoms that we enjoy today, such as: freedom of speech, the right to vote, freedom of religion (the right to worship) and the right to a fair trial.

Ask students if they can think of any other rights and freedoms that they are entitled to. Some suggestions include: freedom of association, equality before the law and the right to non-discrimination.

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Point out that may of these rights overlap with the democratic values of freedom, equality, fairness and justice in the previous discussion.

Emphasise to students that just because we have certain rights and freedoms, doesn’t mean that they are always protected and upheld. Refer students to the image showing the group of people advocating for a range of human rights issues.

Pose the following questions:

Have you heard of any of the slogans shown on the signs before? What rights and freedoms are the people advocating for? (If students are not able to identify a particular human rights issue, ask them to do some research and find out what it is about)
Do any of these placers have any relationship to the struggles experienced by women, migrants, and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples, which were explored earlier? (for example, the Close the Gap campaign shows that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people still experience forms of inequality).
What other important human rights issues in Australia can you thing of, that aren’t shown here? (for example, efforts to tackle racism, issues surrounding asylum seekers and refugees homelessness).

Summative activity: A ‘Great Charter’ for your classroom

Remind students that as individuals everyone has the power to stand up and demand rights for themselves and others. They can do this at home, in the community, the playground and even in the classroom!

Ask students to consider: if you had to make a Magna Carta for your classroom, what rights and freedoms would you include?

As a class, brainstorm ideas for a Classroom Charter of Rights and Responsibilities.

To do this, ask students to think about things they think they have a “right” to expect as members of the class (e.g. the right to be treated fairly, the right to express their opinion). Write these down in a list labelled “Our Classroom Rights”.

After students have created their list of classroom rights, ask them to rephrase each in terms of a responsibility and write these down in a separate list labelled “Our Classroom Responsibilities” (e.g. “Everyone has the right to express their opinion” might be rewritten as “Everyone has the responsibility not to say things that hurt the feelings of someone else”).

Ask students if there are any ideas or principles from Magna Carta that they would include in their new charter. Remind the group of just how different our world is today, compared to 1215. Ask students if they would want to include rights that relate to the modern world, such as the right to internet access?

To inspire the students, you may want to show them the rights and freedoms contained in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, depicted in this poster from Zen Pencils.

After finishing their Classroom Charter of Rights and Responsibilities, the class may choose to put the poster of their new Charter on display or make a presentation about the Charter at a school assembly, in order to begin a wider discussion about rights and freedoms in the school.

Reflection

Invite students to complete the Student Worksheet, which contains a reflection activity. Students can re-watch the Magna Carta - The Story of Our Freedom video and complete an 'unfinished sentences' thinking routine. This will help structure their understanding and encourage students to dig deeper into areas they still would like to learn more about.

Magna Carta - The story of our freedom

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