Two options here that I’ve used, depending on the context. The first is a ‘Media’ module that will be based around my recently published student booklet (here), the second around some other key concepts that are relatively easy to work in a digital environment.

I’m including both an MS Word and PDF format version of the documents for the second option so that teachers can easily adapt the contents for their own needs. Please remember, nothing here is designed to be prescriptive. These are only suggestions and my goal in presenting them here is to make a potentially chaotic return to online teaching a little bit less daunting and difficult.

TY Politics & Society 8 Week Taster Module (pdf)

TY Politics & Society 8 Week Taster Module (MS Word)

This is based upon an 8-week module, 3 periods per week (one ‘single’ and one ‘double’). It aims to give students some insight into what studying Politics & Society at Leaving Cert level might be like. It hopes to facilitate students to investigate valuable material that will (hopefully) be interesting and have contemporary relevance, while also being of some use for students who will not be pursuing the subject at a later date. The course is also structured so that more motivated students, or classes, that move through the material more quickly will have plenty of ‘extension exercises’ to allow them to engage with key concepts more fully. It can’t cover everything, and doesn’t try to…

The overall goal is to introduce the subject structure in general and then engage in four main areas of study (Human Rights, Children’s Rights, Civil Disobedience, and the Use of Violence against Undemocratic States) in sufficient detail as to making the experience worthwhile and illustrate to students where they could further engage with the course ideas, beyond just the materials covered in online class. It integrates materials already available on www.polsocpodcast.com and introduces a number of new resources that I’ve tested in (on-site) class this term. Obviously, if you don’t have a TY ‘taster’ module, these materials should also be useful for 5^th years who are already studying the content. I hope you find them useful. Please remember, that nothing here is designed to be prescriptive and should be adapted to meet your needs and the needs of your students. I know, from a personal perspective, that if one of my classes became particularly interested in one specific topic covered in the course, then I’d be more than happy to do a ‘deeper dive’ into that area at the expense of some other aspects of the course. I think that’s the way the subject should work, particularly while the dreaded LC exam is still far off in the distance

P.S. The ‘Google Form’ assessments (linked in the document) “should be” set up to be ‘self-correcting’ and give instant feedback, but individual teachers might want to adapt them to their own purposes (I always like to add in a short paragraph answer to get bit more engagement and insight, but I sure as heck won’t be marking them for ye all!), so feel free to make a copy of the quiz and adapt it as you see fit!

Best of luck in the inevitably chaotic weeks ahead and please all, keep safe and distant!

JD 05/05/2021

(if you missed my recent post on Sylvia Walby and the Patriarchy, you can find it here: https://polsocpodcast.com/2020/12/30/sylvia-walby-and-patriarchy/)