Delivering democratic education in Northern Ireland | FE Colleges

Why the Democratic Engagement Framework matters in post-16 settings in Northern Ireland

Northern Ireland's distinctive political and civic context offers valuable opportunities for democratic learning. Young people are growing up within a devolved system of government and a society shaped by power-sharing institutions, and ongoing conversations about identity, rights, equality, and community relations. Further education colleges therefore have an important role in helping learners understand the democratic structures that affect their lives, including local councils, the Northern Ireland Assembly, the UK Parliament, and the range of elected representatives who serve their communities.

At this stage, learners are increasingly forming their own political perspectives and critically engaging with social and political issues. Colleges can support this process by providing safe, inclusive and balanced opportunities for discussion, debate and democratic participation.

Further education settings can provide authentic opportunities for engagement through activities such as student representation structures, consultations, campaigns, community action projects, and engagement with councillors, MLAs, MPs and other public representatives. These experiences help build the knowledge, confidence, skills and dispositions needed to participate effectively in democratic life and to vote with confidence when eligible.

A key challenge is ensuring that democratic education reaches all learners, not just those who are already interested in civic and political life. By embedding democratic learning across college life, tutorial programmes and vocational pathways, colleges can help young people recognise their capacity to influence change and become informed, confident and active citizens.

My approach

Colleges bring together learners from diverse backgrounds and with diverse lived experiences. Additionally, learners will have a wide range of academic experience engaging in politics. With all of this in mind it is important to acknowledge that learners will be encountering contested and potentially sensitive topics. They should understand that they do not need to disclose any part of their identity or beliefs, and should only do so when they want to.

What to prioritise: 

• Build community and empathy. Before beginning any significant political education work to create an environment where learners feel supported and understand the rationale for engaging in democratic education. When learners share their experiences also encourage others to listen to understand first.  
• Build critical thinking. Learners need to be able to think critically as they move into democratic society. This applies to the media they consume and their interactions with politicians and policies.
• Consider multiple perspectives. This should include exposing learners to alternative views and opinions. Teachers should encourage reflection on how they view others, challenge them to think why ‘others’ in society hold different views and build respect for ‘them’. Allow learners to explore and express community, identity and constitutional perspectives.
• Facilitate challenging conversations. For many learners college may be the only place they can have structured, critical, and thoughtful conversations about politics. Teachers should not shy away from these conversations. However, they should build up to challenging topics by beginning with low stakes conversations to ensure learners understand rules and procedures. The teacher should take an active role in facilitating to ensure the conversation is respectful but robust. Disagreement is natural in a democracy, but should happen civilly.
• Register eligible voters. Helping to guide young people through the registration process can happen in one session and ensures they meet the basic requirement for participation.
• Provide learners authentic opportunities to practice the skills of democratic citizenship. Have them participate in debates and deliberations, simulate the process of government through mock elections or committee hearings, and meet with politicians or decision-makers.
• Utilize/capitalise on/ current events: Big political moments and national and international events are an excellent opportunity to naturally bring politics into the classroom. Use moments of high attention to build democratic knowledge.
• Create real opportunities for learner voice. School councils are an excellent way to show democracy in action. They also tend to include only the most engaged learners. Find additional ways to involve learners in decision making processes with real action and consequences.  

If you can only do one thing…

Ensure that learners know that democracy is more than just voting. Living in a democratic society requires us to engage with those we disagree with, and that there are many and varied approaches to creating change. Democracy can demand a lot of its citizens, but also allows participants to actively create the society they want to live in.

Where this fits into the curriculum

In Northern Ireland's further education colleges, tutorial and enrichment programmes provide valuable opportunities to reach all learners. Short, regular sessions can help learners develop their understanding of democracy, voting, representation and active citizenship over time.

Democratic education can also be embedded within vocational courses. Examples include:

• Health and Social Care learners exploring how decisions made by the Department of Health, Health Trusts and the Northern Ireland Assembly affect healthcare provision, mental health services and social care policy.
• Early Years and Childcare learners examining children's rights, the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC), and how policy decisions impact families and education.
• Public Services learners investigating democratic accountability, policing, emergency services, local government, and the role of public institutions in Northern Ireland.
• Business, Enterprise and Hospitality learners exploring local economic development, tourism strategies, city and growth deals, and how government policies influence businesses across Northern Ireland.
• Construction and Built Environment learners considering planning decisions, regeneration projects and the role of local councils in shaping communities.
• Media, Creative Industries and Digital Technologies learners examining misinformation, media literacy, freedom of expression and the role of digital platforms in democratic participation.
• Apprenticeship and Skills Programmes learners exploring employment rights, trade unions, workplace representation and how legislation affects working life.

Beyond the curriculum, colleges can use:

• Student councils and learner representative systems.
• Student governor schemes where learners contribute to governance discussions.
• Voter registration campaigns ahead of local, Assembly and Westminster elections.
• Visits from MLAs, councillors, MPs and community leaders. This could also include a hustings.
• College-wide debates on issues affecting young people

Key resources

Make sure to check out the Electoral Commission’s Welcome To Your Vote Week. This is a yearly event, usually in March, where young people are encouraged to learn about, and get involved in, democracy in the UK.

In the lead up to, and during, this week, the Electoral Commission promotes and shares a range of learning resources, activities and programmes to engage young people in democracy. These are available year-round, but the week itself is a good focus point in the year to spotlight learning about voting and elections.

Navigate:

• Navigating mis and disinformation: mini lessons, The Electoral Commission and Shout Out UK - This lesson explores misinformation, disinformation and democracy in Northern Ireland. Learners critically evaluate information and examine the importance of informed democratic participation.

Understand:

• Conversation starters about democracy, The Electoral Commission - Short, activities to get young people talking about democracy, elections, and voting. Ideal for lesson starters, tutor time, or youth group sessions.
• The Assembly and Executive, Northern Ireland Education Services - An animation that explores the role of the Assembly and Executive in the Northern Ireland Assembly. There are also supporting videos.
• Evolution of Devolution, Northern Ireland Education Services - An activity that allows learners to explore the history of devolution, including key events.

Take Part:

• Northern Ireland single transferable vote video, The Electoral Commission - This short video explains the voting system used in Northern Ireland.
• Getting involved in democracy in Northern Ireland, Northern Ireland Youth Forum - This group of videos explains key aspects of democratic participation for young people in Northern Ireland. Produced by the Northern Ireland Youth Forum, the four short films cover why voting matters, registering to vote, voting for the first time, and getting involved in democracy more broadly.
• Elections in your area, The Electoral Commission – Learners explore upcoming elections in their local area, identify what the election is for, who they can vote for, where they would vote and what they need to participate. This can be paired with the above resources.
• Understanding voting - assembly, The Electoral Commission - This assembly presentation introduces young people to politics, democracy and elections in Northern Ireland. Learners explore why democracy matters, how elections work and the importance of participating in democratic life through an interactive assembly. This lesson can be delivered as part of the Welcome to Your Vote scheme of work, as a standalone session or during an off-timetable or drop-down day.
• Hosting a voter registration drive, The Electoral Commission - This guide covers how to hold a voter registration drive for students, to help colleges in Northern Ireland increase student voter registration. It walks through guidance on ensuring registration drives are impartial and non-political.

Engage:

• TheyWorkForYou, mySociety - Have learners look up who represented them in the Northern Ireland Assembly.  This can then lead to further research about that person, their policies, and their voting history.
• How to start a petition, UK Parliament - Use this video to introduce learners to the process of creating a petition.  Then have them explore active petitions to better understand what petitions look like and what is included.
• How to research a politician, The Politics Project. Before meeting with a politician or decision maker it is essential for learners to understand who they are meeting with. This resource is a primer about how to begin the process of researching a politician.
• Hustings guidance, The Electoral Commission - Plan and facilitate either a meeting with a local MP or MLA, or plan a hustings. If you are not able to host your own hustings you can also find hustings that are hosted by charities that young people are able to attend.

Experience:

• Votes at 16: Short lesson, VotesForSchools - This resource aims to ensure that young people understand the purpose of voting, the differences in the voting age across the UK, and some of the reasons given in favour and against lowering the age of enfranchisement. It encourages learners to reflect on whether they feel ready to vote, whether they would like to vote, and what they might like to learn before they are able to vote.
• Debating - secondary resource pack, UK Parliament - Following the above, allow learners to discuss/debate key human rights they have learnt about. Use this pack to assist. If learners are struggling to come up with their own examples, the pack provides some debate topics, which learners can argue for/against, linking back to human rights to support their arguments.
• Run an issues based vote, The Electoral Commission: This lesson covers how to run a meaningful issue-based vote in your school, tailored for schools in Northern Ireland. Students will decide on an issue important to them, campaign and advocate for their chosen issue, then take part in a vote. This lesson can be delivered in one or across a number of lessons.

Influence:

• FixMyStreet, mySociety - This website allows learners to see what issues other members of their communities have identified. They can also submit their own issues that they would like to see addressed. Have learners input their postcodes and explore. You could also use your institution's postcode and see what others have suggested needs improvement.
• How to write a petition, iWill : A simple explainer to guide learners through the process of creating a petition.

Considerations for learners with additional needs

All learners will become members of democratic society, thus it is imperative to consider the needs of all learners when designing democratic education opportunities.

• Experiential learning. Visits to the Northern Ireland Assembly, councils and other public institutions, alongside meetings with elected representatives, can make abstract structures and roles more concrete. Where visits are not possible, virtual tours, videos and classroom simulations can provide alternative opportunities for experiential learning.
• Flexible approaches: allow learners to demonstrate understanding through discussion, presentations, visual tasks or practical activities, with additional processing time where needed.
• Build cognitive routines. Use consistent questions to support understanding, building familiarity with key concepts.
• Provide opportunities to revisit and apply knowledge. Learners may benefit from returning to the same institution or process in different contexts, rather than being expected to remember all the information after one engagement.
• Use varied resources. Use graphic organizers, images, and other visual supports to enhance learning.
• Political vocabulary. Explicitly teach vocabulary, use simple language and explanations. Use multiple examples to help learners understand context and build understanding.