Using an election process in schools

Your school or your class is having an election.   An election provides many opportunities for teaching and learning, equipping students with new knowledge and understandings as well as key competencies that will be valuable now and for all their lives as citizens.  Elect! provides a framework, conceptual foundations, core and related activities, and assessment suggestions for doing this successfully.

Elect! is for use during an election process within a school context or to provide an overview for election processes used at local or national level in New Zealand.   Elect! could be used as part of a bigger context of learning about government systems or participation in society, or as the basis for a complete unit in itself.  It can be focused or adapted  to suit any electoral or learning situation.

Resource design

Elect! is designed to provide information to teachers working at Levels 1-8 of the curriculum who are studying election processes OR running an election within a school setting.   The resource is designed around key concepts to enable teachers to integrate the learning across curriculum areas and to provide a platform for flexible approaches to teaching and learning.   The concepts used in this resource are derived primarily from the social studies curriculum, but an election process offers many opportunities to develop understandings and key competencies across the curriculum – Mathematics and English have obvious links.

Elect! is divided into four main sections:

1. Prior to an election
2. Preparing for an election
3. Participation in the election

4. Election decision and action.

The four sections are represented on the Election Process Flow Chart below, which provides the entry point to all the activities and information within the resource.  Each box in the flow chart links you to a unit that provides information on:

• Focus concepts (the main concepts that require understanding in this unit)
• Big ideas (broad understandings based on the concepts – these are what we aim for in the learning)
• Background (information about the focus for the unit with detail provided about New Zealand)
• What you do (specific ideas for running this part of the election process in your place – with links to award winning election case studies from schools
• Related activities (provided to pursue some aspects in more depth)
• Check for… (what you can look for to check understanding as students participate in activities and learning).

Build your own unit

You can create your own focus for an election process by selecting the aspects within the flow chart that meet your specific needs depending on time, curriculum requirements, age of students and interest within your school setting

Start by reading ‘We’re having an election…’ Once the focus of the election has been considered, return to the election process flow chart and select the activities that will enable students to gain deeper understanding through their learning and participation in the election process.  The central questions to each part of the process are listed below the flow chart.  For some of the aspects that you do not cover in detail there are decisions that you will still have to make – for instance if you do not want to cover ‘registering electors’ in detail you will still have to decide what you are going to use as the electoral roll in your election.   You are reminded of any prior decisions required at the top of each section of the resource.

One important component of any election is the electoral system that is used. In the types of election section details are given for the three electoral systems that are currently used in New Zealand: MMP, STV, FPP. The electoral system that you use in your election will have an impact on some parts of the process such as and counting the votes. The implications are noted in each of these sections and also in the section on Types of Elections (link)

This resource explores the process of decision-making around an election – using voting to choose leaders who will make decisions for all - in the context of a democracy.   Whilst this resource obviously is relevant to a national-level election within New Zealand, it also applies to local-level election processes such as within a school to select representatives.   The resource can also be used to vote on a decision in the school – a referendum. For more on decision-making and activities related see Hands up!, particularly www.elections.org.nz/study/handsup_activity_4.html

Election process flow chart

An election can be represented as the process below, which each component answering a central question listed after the flowchart. 

Election process guiding questions

Each of the sections in the Election process Flow Chart has a guiding question to help you consider which aspects of the process you will need to cover.   Consider if you need to be able to answer the question related to any of the units that you are not going to cover in detail.

1. We are having an election – what/who are you going to elect? or what are you going to decide?

2. The right to vote – who has the right to vote in your election?

3. Types of elections- which electoral system will you use?

4. Electorates – how are any electorates defined?

5. Electoral administration – who will run the election and how will it be run fairly?

6. Registering electors – how will the electoral roll be created?

7. Political parties – how will political parties be created or form?

8. Candidates – how are candidates chosen?

9. News media – who will provide the news and commentary on the campaign?

10. Campaign by parties and candidates – what rules will be in place around the campaign and who will enforce them?

11. Campaign by lobby and interest groups – what rules will be in place around the campaign and who will enforce them?

12. Information about Election Day – what do voters need to know about Election Day to encourage participation and who will provide it?

13. Election Day; voting – what happens on Election Day, and at what level of detail?

14. The count – how is the counting of votes organised?

15. Analyse the result and the elected body meets – what happens after your election?

Curriculum matters

The resources provided meet aspects of the Social Studies Curriculum.   This will resource will provide a rich context for exploration of social studies achievement objectives at all levels of the curriculum (1-8).   The knowledge, skills and understandings gained by learning through the election process could also meet aspects of the following Learning Areas.

Mathematics and statistics

- gathering data(opinion polls and election results )

- analysis of opinion polls

- displaying results (% and graphs)

English

- features of political language

- use of persuasive language (speaking and examining)

- language features and meanings

Learning areas

The Arts/ Visual arts

- use of visual arts to communicate political ideas

- analyse ideas in art works

Health and physical education

- develop interpersonal skills

- building healthy communities and environments

Ideas from Science and Technology will also inform students when forming ‘policies’ as part their ‘political party’ status.   Technology can also be used in aspects of campaigning and voting.

Elect! can be used at any level of the curriculum and is designed around key concepts that are embedded in Social Studies Achievement Objectives.

These concepts include:

Rights and responsibilities – roles - free and fair elections

Participation – democracy - law and regulations

Social inquiry process approach

The process used throughout this resource is that of a social inquiry approach, derived from the Social Studies Curriculum.   The series of focus questions outlined below describe the type of questions that could be the focus on an exploration of election processes.   Adapt these to meet the needs of your election and school programme.

A social inquiry process approach: Election processes

Finding out information

1. What is an election?
2. What are the processes involved in an election?
3. How and when did men and women get the vote in New Zealand? Elsewhere?
4. What ideas about decision making do elections reflect?
5. Which current issues are relevant at the moment in New Zealand that relate to voting and elections?

Exploring values

6. Whose viewpoints, values and perspectives are expressed in decision-making and why?

Considering actions and decisions

7. Who makes decisions/actions? Who doesn’t?
8. What action do different group/parties take in response to election issues?

So what?

9. How does this election have significance for me/others?

Providers of this resource

The Electoral Commission is responsible for education and information on electoral matters.   This resource is part of the wide aim to increase knowledge of electoral matters and participation in that process by all citizens. The Commission is also responsible for registering political parties and their logos; overseeing annual donation returns and election expenses of registered parties and allocating their election broadcasting time and funds.  Bronwyn Wood was the lead writer for Elect!