Friday, April 25, 2008
Strictly Come Debating..
The power league website offers safe and structured experience of live debating and voting on topical issues with others.
Voting is part of the lifestyle of young people more today than for any past generation. Turn -out in political elections may still be low amongst the young, but casting a vote has become a feature of many leisure time activities.A young person may vote on which contestant ina television show has the most talent, vote in an opinion poll on their wii and enter a vote in a survey application on their friend's Bebo or Facebook site all in an afternoon. And this voting habit is not exclusive to teenagers, sites for children as young as 8 have voting as part of the structure of their entertainment. Remember, the Blue Peter cat ..?
How much does this experience inform children of the importance of democracy in all aspects of life? There seems to be a gap in making the connection between the outrage of viewer phone-polls being fixed and National Elections being rigged. Maybe this is partly because their is a gap in the reality of the young people's experiences. They may vote for leisure but unless they are given the same opportunities to vote on the things that impact on their lives, voting will remain a frivolous activity in their minds.
Schools are in a perfect position to bridge that gap. Pupils in this context are no longer likely to feel empowered by the opportunity to vote once a year/term for a representative on the school council. Innovative schools are building student democracy into their everyday practices and making the decision-making real. (We have included articles on this in previous newsletters)
A new website 'Power Leagues' is designed to bring the enjoyment and responsibility of live voting into the classroom. The web-site is designed for Key Stage 3 and 4 pupils , allowing them to vote for a speaker arguing for and against a certain issue or viewpoint. The records of the number of votes taken are displayed to demonstrate opinion within the age-group. Topics move up and down the League depending on the number of votes cast. Using a style similar to leisure voting makes this attractive and accessible to the pupils, whilst the topics voted on are serious, establishing a link between choosing to make your view count and political/real life issues.
The Power Leagues site is free to use and secure.Click here to visit it.
Power league is based on the original World Power League concept developed by Lucy Kinbell, Barby Asante, George Grinstead and Rachel Collinson in collaboration with Futurelab. More information on the initial project can be found here.