Teachers

Passport to Democracy is an active citizenship resource which aims to develop critical thinking skills in students by prompting them to consider how they can make an impact on issues they care about and ultimately, how they can engage with the community to achieve positive change. All activities are linked to the VCEVM and VCAA 2.0 Curriculum.

Get a copy of the Passport Map

Download the Passport to Democracy map to help you and your students conceptualise their learning journey.

Download Passport Map PDF | 73 KB

Lessons

The Passport lesson plans are divided into 4 modules:

Decide
Research
Activate
Vote

Each lesson plan contains detailed activities, ICT and assessment opportunities

What do your students care about? What do they want to see change in their community?

Which level of government makes decisions about these things and how can students influence decision makers? By the end of this unit, students will have chosen an issue which matters to them.

Decide lessons

What are the facts behind the issues that the students have identified?

What does critical thinking and reading involve, and why does it matter? Who are our democratic representatives and how can students get in touch with them?

Research lessons

Students develop an action plan to make an impact on the issue they have selected.

Students work in “parties”, delegate tasks, and organise a campaign to spread their message.

Activate lessons

Election time! Students will present their campaigns to their “electorate”, trying to win the votes of their classmates.

This hands on experience will help students understand how voting works, from choosing who to vote for, to seeing how votes are counted. Get in touch to book a FREE VEC Incursion.

Vote lessons

Further Information

Learn more about Mini-Passport, Assessment, VCE-VM and Curriculum.

The 8 lesson Mini-Passport unit of work guides students through the 4 modules and is shorter in length, making it perfect for a tightly packed curriculum, and time poor schools.

Mini-Passport lessons

8 lessons
50–75 minute duration
Students take action on a community issue
Assignment with summative assessment

Download Mini-Passport lesson plans DOC | 7 MB

You can edit this resource to ensure it meets your assessment needs. It includes ideas for both formative and summative assessments, submission checklists, curriculum align rubrics and a list of Assessment for Learning activities which can be found throughout the resources.

Assessment resources

Student assignment task with instructions
Curriculum-aligned summative assessment rubrics
A list of assessment for learning Passport activities
A student submission checklist
You can edit this document to suit your cohort and reporting needs. It can also be used for Mini-Passport!

Download Assessment resources DOC | 2 MB

An integrated Senior unit covering outcomes in PDS and Literacy. Its four phases support VCE VM students to form a partnership with a local organisation and take practical action on an issue in their community.

VCE-VM

The Passport to Democracy resources are aligned to both the Victorian and Australian Civics and Citizenship curriculum across years 3-10. VEC resources can also be used in VCE VM classes and as a part of a Year 12 “life skills” course.

VCE VM

“Partner Up” is an integrated Senior unit covering outcomes in PDS and Literacy. Its four phases support VM students to form a partnership with a local organisation and take practical action on an issue in their community. Resources are free, and can be adapted for Intermediate level.

Download VCE VM DOC | 57 KB

Australian Curriculum: Civics and Citizenship

Passport to Democracy aligns well at Level 8 and 9, but there are opportunities to incorporate the resources from Level 3 to Level 10. Please get in contact if you’d like assistance mapping the resources to your specific needs!

Download Australian Curriculum Civics and Citizenship DOC | 44 KB

All teacher resources

If you’d like to download all of the resources for teachers in one go, please use the link below.

Download All Teacher Resources ZIP | 37 MB