Delivering the engage strand | FE Colleges

Key topics

• Roles and responsibilities of elected representatives and decision-makers.
• How representation works and who represents you.
• Petitions, consultations and democratic participation.
• Contacting decision-makers and holding representatives to account.

Why the Engage strand matters in post-16 settings

One of the most important aspects of living in a democracy is recognising that democracy requires participation and engagement. Representative democracy is most successful when people know who their representatives are, and know how to actively engage with them.

This is particularly important for college learners. Developmentally, college learners are forming their own political identities and critically engaging with the political world. To help learners in this process, and to provide opportunities for authentic engagement colleges can help learners understand who represents them, facilitate meetings between elected representatives, and provide opportunities for young people to take part in democratic actions such as writing petitions or contacting their representatives.

There are several challenges to consider with this strand. Having learners meet their representatives, whether through visits or hustings requires significant planning and preparation. The college may need to include several departments including the relevant academic partners and communications staff. For an event like a hustings it is important that colleges are well acquainted with the statutory requirements. The Electoral Commission has guidance about holding a hustings that is essential reading.

Another challenge is how to engage multiple types of learners. Highly engaged learners are likely to be interested and willing to attend, but colleges should also seek out young people who are more likely to be disengaged and unaware of politics. Hustings and visits are likely to be opt-in events, rather than required, thus finding ways to reach out to all types of learners is essential. This can be addressed through including democratic education in the months and weeks leading up to a hustings.

While the logistics of planning and running a visit of a hustings can seem significant, the benefits far outweigh the challenges. Young people who are able to interact with the people who represent them are more likely to feel confident to participate in the political process, including voting.

My approach

Impartiality is crucial when planning and hosting a meeting. There should be clear guidelines in place on who gets invited and why. Learners should be given time to investigate the person and the policies they represent, but should also be presented with a diverse range of perspectives and ideas. The staff member facilitating the meeting should also ensure they are remaining impartial and guiding learners through the experience.

When facilitating meetings between learners and decision-makers, I consider what needs to happen, before, during, and after the meeting:

• Before a meeting takes place, learners need to know who they are meeting with, and the purpose of the meeting. Learners should know who the politician is and what level of government they represent. Ideally, I would also want to provide learners with time to prepare questions. They can do this by researching the policies of issues that the person supports, or they can consider their own priorities and interests. By ensuring that learners have appropriate questions you can maximize the time with the decision maker.
• During a meeting, a staff member or learner should be actively facilitating. The facilitator should be confident and understand the goals of the meeting. They should be able to call for questions and when needed prompt the politician for additional information. They also should be prepared to intervene if needed.
• After a meeting, reflection is crucial. Learners should be given time to consider what they heard and how the meeting went. They should consider new facts, opinions or concepts that came up, and how the answers given align with their own political beliefs. The teacher may also want to encourage learners to conduct additional research or to gain a broader range or perspectives. Finally, you may want to share how learners can follow-up if they have unanswered questions.

Once learners have had the opportunity to engage with decision-makers, you can also introduce them to other ways of staying involved. This could include following-up by writing a letter to a councillor or MP or starting a petition about an issue they care about.

If you can only do one thing…

Find a way to connect learners to a politician or decision maker. This could be an in-person meeting, a virtual meeting, or correspondence. Learners should feel empowered to meet with the people who represent them and make their voices heard.

Where this fits into the curriculum

• Larger meetings and events like hustings are best done during extra curricular time. Try to involve as many learners as possible, not just those who tend to be very engaged.
• Tutorial time is an excellent place to help learners learn about their representatives, and how to engage in other types of democratic action. Learners can spend time investigating petitions or learning about other opportunities to engage with decision-makers.

Key resources

If you have 30 or less…

• Contact your MP, UK Parliament and WriteToThem, mySociety - These websites will help learners understand who represents them at both a national and local levels, and what they can do to contact them. Lead a discussion about what issues learners would want to contact their councillors or MP’s about. You could assign them to write a letter to the person of their choice as homework.

1 hour…

• How to get involved, UK Parliament - Have learners explore the site individually first, then join into small groups to discuss their findings. Have them consider which methods they think would be the most effective. You can also have them consider how they would consider which methods they would be most and least likely to utilise.

1-3 hours…

• Creating a politician, The Politics Project - From At the Table Toolkit. 
• Find your MP, UK Parliament - Have learners compare what they want from a politician to the person that is representing them.

4-6 hours…

• Making a decision, The Politics Project - From the At the Table Toolkit. 
• 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 create a government petition, #iwill. Have learners consider what issues they would want to see addressed by the UK government. As an extension you could have them create their own petition and work to gain signatures.

6 hours plus…

• Hustings guidance, The Electoral Commission - Plan and facilitate either a meeting with a local MP or councillor, 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.

Considerations for learners with additional needs

It is important that all learners feel that their voices and ideas are part of the political system. While many learners may feel intimidated to talk to a decision maker or politician, clear preparation and support throughout the process is vital.

• Practice. Give learners time not only to prepare their questions, but also to stand up and ask the question. You could also model what a response might look like.
• Share with learners that controversial and contested policies and ideas may be part of the conversation. When possible, preview these subjects to prepare learners and engage them in conversations before the event.
• Allow learners space to disagree and express the impact of the event at its conclusion.
• Safeguarding. Follow your institution’s safeguarding policy and ensure that learners and staff know who to contact if they have any concerns about safeguarding.
• Provide opportunities for follow-up. Learners may have additional questions, or may not have been ready to engage during the event. Provide clear ways that they can continue to interact with decision-makers.