This resource provides support for teachers to incorporate learning related to understanding our constitution, across the curriculum. The materials use fact sheets and conversation cards produced for the ‘Constitution Conversation’. It is envisaged that the teaching and learning can be integrated into current classroom programmes.
Download a PDF version of this resource:
Understanding the constitution: Using key competencies (PDF, 1,024 KB)
A list of teaching resources and information about New Zealand's Constitution:
When planning consider:
These aspects of planning are integral and reciprocal. They naturally overlap, so learning tasks and activities incorporate all three aspects.
What skills and knowledge do the students (and their whānau/family, hapū, and iwi) bring to the learning?
What support will the students need to fully express their social sciences understandings?
To enable students to participate in a changing society as informed and responsible citizens through:
Thinking – by promoting students’ critical and independent thinking.
Participating and contributing – by considering students’ participation in school life and the community.
Relating to others – by listening actively, considering other people’s points of view, and sharing ideas.
Our Constitution external links
Social studies – level 4
Social studies – level 5
English – level 5
Support students to identify their strengths and weaknesses, and to consider ways in which they can progress and monitor their progression.
To support critical thinking about the constitution, students could use one of De Bono’s six hats and share their thinking.
To enable students to think critically about how the constitution is documented, have them draw two consequence wheels. Label the wheels ‘written constitution in one document’ and ‘status quo’. The students then consider the possible consequences of these and record their ideas in an outer section of the wheel. Continue this process as students think of related consequences, and use this information to make an informed opinion on how the constitution should be documented.
To introduce thinking about citizenship, students could develop a concept wall showing what citizenship is, what it isn’t, and any practices associated with citizenship. This IAWGCP resource, Children as Active Citizens (pdf) may assist with this activity. Students could then identify who they think is a responsible citizen and why, and what activities people do that are participatory.
Drawing on their knowledge of the constitution and citizenship, students could debate the question: ‘Do we have the responsibility to engage in conversations about our constitution?’
To relate ideas about participation to their own lives, students could explore ways in which they contribute and participate in school and outside of school (for example, a cultural group or scouts), and the reasons for this.
To explore how they can contribute in their own schools, students could be involved in the creation of rules and protocols for the classroom. In this process, students could analyse what needs to be considered when creating these rules. To extend this further, students could then compare the democratic approach of rule-setting to the concept of democracy in our constitution.
Encourage students to consider ways in which they could make a practical difference in their communities. They could identify a need in the community, which they could contribute towards, (for example, volunteering to support an environmental group). Students could work together to formulate an action plan to work with a group and then share their ideas.
Possible deliberate acts of teaching related to the social inquiry process
Ask questions to promote the development of students’ critical and independent thinking.
Model ways in which students could apply their critical thinking, for example, “I wonder what I need to find out to explore my hat more?” Consider ways in which this could be communicated.
In order to extend the students’ thinking, give construction feedback about the possible impacts of the consequences they have identified for having the constitution in one written document or the status quo remaining.
Prompt students to consider how ideas related to citizenship underpin involvement in the constitution.
Direct students to a range of opinions related to the review of the constitution, for example, James Allan, NewstalkZB, and videos.
Give feedback to the students related to their progression of understanding.
Ask questions to explore participating and contributing.
In what ways do you, and could you, participate and contribute as a:
Model how students could assert their own opinion/ point of view while actively listening to others.
Prompt students to consider what it means to be critical and informed citizens.
Give feedback to support students to:
Prompt students to consider how they could participate in conversations about the constitution, for example, by writing to an MP or submitting on legistlation.
Direct students to look at www.empoweryouth.org.nz (an example of constitution writing by young people).
Appropriate activities (such as creating concept maps, walls, and circles) can help to draw on students’ understandings and build upon these, make connections between contexts, and transfer understandings from one context to another. Further explanation of these activities can be found in the approaches to building conceptual understandings resource.
Interpretation of these words can vary within learning areas, so exposing students to questions associated with command words will help their understanding.
Co-construct meanings with students, and within learning areas with teachers, to develop a holistic view of these words.
For example:
How the key competencies form an integral component of The New Zealand Curriculum.
How constitutions work in other countries that are similar/dissimilar to ours, drawing on the experiences of the students and their families where possible.
The principles underpinning the constitution.
Key Competencies Online provides material on what key competencies may look like in leading teaching and in learning.
The UK has a constitution that is in multiple areas.
The USA has one written constitution.
The Constitution Conversation resources and instructional guide 1 will be useful to refer to.
With the focus of these support materials being on the development of understanding of the constitution, use the ideas to help students:
Published on: 03 Oct 2013
