05.+Parliament+at+Work

=Parliament@Work=

Description of Resource:
Parliament@Work website provides information for teachers and students about current parliamentarians and electorates of the Commonwealth and States of Australia. It supports the //Discovering Democracy// teaching and learning units in the Discovering Democracy kits produced by the Curriculum Corporation and distributed to schools in November 1998. It is also a companion to the CD-ROM //Parliament at Work//, which provides interactive activities that allow students to explore aspects of parliamentary processes and the interplay between people and parliament.

Parliament@Work is designed for use by teachers and students and provides information about all nine Australian parliaments (state, Territory and Commonwealth parliaments) and their members and their electorates, as well as Australian political parties. For each electorate census data and the latest election results are provided. There is also information about every parliament in Australia and about major political parties.

The site provides a powerful search facility that allows users to search for information about parliamentarians and electorates using a number of categories at the same time or separately including name, parliament, party, position, former occupation, locality, postcode, and products or industries.

Click on the link below to find current information about the Australian Parliaments, their members and electorates by selecting and searching a parliament. [|Information about Australian Parliaments]

Search:
You can search for a specific parliamentarian or a specific electorate. Click onto the link below to go to the search page [|Search]

Political Parties:
You can find out more about each political party click onto the link below: [|Political Parties]

Age & Stage Appropriate:
The Parliament@Work website is an excellent resource to use for upper primary students and their teachers because it gives the basic facts about the current parliamentary system in Australia. These basic facts and background information are invaluable for a teacher who is going to be teaching this subject to their students. As a resource for both the teacher and students it is easy to read and user friendly.


 * === Curriculum Documentation – Every Chance to Learn Outcomes === ||
 * ** ELA 1 ** : Uses a range of strategies to think and learn || / || ** ELA 10 ** : Writes effectively ||  || ** ELA 19: ** Understands and applies scientific knowledge ||   ||
 * ** ELA 2 ** : Understands and applies the inquiry process || / || ** ELA 11 ** : Critically interprets and creates texts || / || ** ELA 20: ** Acts for an environmentally sustainable future ||  ||
 * ** ELA 3 ** : Makes considered decisions ||  || ** ELA 12 ** : Takes action to promote health ||   || ** ELA 21 ** : Understands about Australia and Australians || / ||
 * ** ELA 4 ** : Acts with integrity and regard for others || / || ** ELA 13: ** Is physically skilled and active ||  || ** ELA 22: ** Understands and values what it means to be a citizen within a democracy || X ||
 * ELA 5: Contributes to group effectiveness ||  || ** ELA 14: ** Manages self and relationships ||   || ** ELA 23 ** : Understands world issues and events ||   ||
 * ** ELA 6 ** : Uses Information and Communication Technologies effectively ||  || ** ELA 15: ** Communicates with intercultural understanding ||   || ** ELA 24: ** Makes informed choices about money and finance ||   ||
 * ** ELA 7 ** : Creates, presents and appreciates artistic works ||  || ** ELA 16: ** Understands and applies number ||   || ** ELA 25 ** : Designs, makes and appraises using technology ||   ||
 * ELA 8: Listens and speaks with purpose and effect ||  || ** ELA 17: ** Chooses and uses measures ||   ||   ||   ||
 * ** ELA 9 ** : Reads effectively || / || ** ELA 18: ** Recognises and represents patterns and relationships ||  ||   ||   ||


 * === Quality Teaching Model === ||
 * **Intellectual Quality** |||| **Significance** |||| **Quality Learning Environment** ||
 * Deep Knowledge || X || Background Knowledge || X || Explicit Quality Criteria ||  ||
 * Deep Understanding || X || Cultural Knowledge || X || Engagement || X ||
 * Problematic Knowledge ||  || Knowledge Integration ||   || High Expectations ||   ||
 * Higher-order Thinking || X || Inclusivity || X || Social Support || X ||
 * Metalanguage ||  || Connectedness ||   || Student’s self-regulation ||   ||
 * Substantive Communication ||  || Narrative || X || Student Direction || X ||

X || Aural X || Kinaesthetic X || Real World Connections X ||
 * === 21st Century Learners === ||
 * Visual

There are many resources and teaching strategy suggestions on the Parliament@Work website

 * Students can research and do written and verbal account of factual information.
 * Students can research and write reports about Australia's current political system.
 * Students can choose as aspect of the political system to do a project and/or presentation about.
 * Students can research facts on certain aspects of the current political system and become peer experts - relay facts to other class members
 * ======Students can write a poem. legend, short play script or news articles about some aspect of politics======
 * ======Students can research background information and statistics about an aspect of the topic and create a graph to represent the information======
 * The teacher can instigate a Parliamentary Club in their class (or combined with all upper primary students) that students can participate in to gain a deeper understanding of the parliamentary process.