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Passport to Democracy:
Engaging young people through student-centred,
issues-based and active Civics and Citizenship
education
James Fiford
James Fiford is the Education and Inclusion Officer
at the Victorian Electoral Commission. An experienced
history and civics and citizenship educator, James
manages the Passport to Democracy, a program of active
citizenship which engages with people about democracy,
and their rights and responsibilities, in the Victorian
(and Australian) political context.
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THE VICTORIAN STATE ELECTION took place in
November 2018. The federal election is likely to be called
sometime in May 2019. If there was ever a time to take
advantage of the resultant upsurge in attention on our
democratic processes, and introduce students to topics such as
levels of government, preferential voting and elections, then
perhaps this year is it!
The Victorian Curriculum mandates the delivery of Civics
and Citizenship Education (CCE) in all government schools
across Victoria, while many Catholic and independent schools
also engage with CCE either via the Victorian or Australian
Curricula. CCE promotes students’ participation in Australia’s
democracy by equipping them with the knowledge, skills,
values and dispositions of active and informed citizenship.
It helps students familiarise themselves with Australia’s
democratic heritage and traditions, political and legal
institutions and the shared values of freedom, tolerance,
respect, responsibility and inclusion.
To support its vision of “All Victorians actively participating
in their democracy”, the Victorian Electoral Commission
(VEC), an independent and impartial statutory body,offers
young people the opportunity to learn about democracy and
the Australian electoral system via a program that directly
engages with the CCE curriculum. Now in its 11th year, the
VEC’s Passport to Democracy (PTD) program consists of
an interactive website and comprehensive lesson plans and
supporting resources, as well as a school incursion program
that is delivered Victoria-wide. PTD is free and can be easily
tailored to suit the varied needs of students and teachers.
It is widely acknowledged that teachers are often time poor,
which can affect their ability to plan comprehensive units of
work. Furthermore, teachers are sometimes asked to work
outside the areas of their specific curriculum knowledge
and financial limitations can preclude expensive external
consultancy or commercial solutions. PTD is a one-stop shop
to help teachers meet their curriculum requirements – and
at the same time offer something to their students that is
informative, relevant and engaging. For students, while they
often engage strongly on issues of social justice, topics such as
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‘elections’ may not be a particularly exciting subject. This is
why PTD takes an issues-based and student-centred approach
which values a broad range of learning styles.
The program regularly works with schools across Grades 3
to 6 (primary), and Years 7 to Year 12 (secondary), as well as
tertiary institutions. The active civics and citizenship concepts
underpinning Passport to Democracy aim to develop critical
thinking skills in students. It prompts them to consider
how they can make an impact on issues they care about
and, ultimately, how they can engage with the community
and participate meaningfully in the democratic process.
Research suggests that providing young people with a positive
experience of democracy in a school setting can set them up
for a lifetime of civic participation.
An overview of the Passport to Democracy
program
Passport to Democracy is divided into four modules: Decide,
Research, Activate and Vote. Each module has a lesson plan
containing learning activities with detailed instructions,
online content and activity sheets. It can be delivered over six
to eight weeks, or a smaller version is available if required.
VEC Education Officers support teachers through on-site
professional development sessions. They also offer a mock
election for students as part of the Vote module.
1. Decide
The lesson plans in Decide expand on students’ existing
knowledge of community issues. In groups, students choose an
issue they care about and an aspect stemming from this issue
that they want to change. Before deciding, they are supported
to understand the complex notions of issues, communities,
power and influence, rights, government, responsibility and
points of view.
Students should ideally be supported in selecting their own
issues to enable genuine student-centred inquiry learning.
If teachers are delivering course content in upper primary
or lower secondary, focusing on school-based issues is a
good starting point. Middle secondary schools can focus on
Victorian state-based issues, and in senior classes on either
national or global issues. Any combination of these can, of
course, work at any level if well supported.
2. Research
The Research lesson plans guide students to understand the
social context of their issue, to discover what others have
done about it and to test their own assumptions and possible
solutions. Student research into an issue can have multiple
goals. The activities in this unit elevate students to complete
the entire research process, and assist them to develop critical
literacy skills, while considering how their local political
representatives might help.
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3. Activate
The aim of the Activate lesson plans is to support students to
choose actions that are achievable, appropriate and that can
have an impact upon their chosen issue. These lessons contain
many examples of active citizenship for inspiration, and they
guide students to delegate tasks and campaign for awareness
and support. Students can then use their research findings to
plan and carry out an effective action.
4. Vote
The Vote lesson plans allow students to evaluate the impact
of their action and reflect upon any change it has sparked, as
well as their own active citizenship learning. Students also
experience the electoral process through a complete sequence
of electoral activities including candidate nominations, party
platforms, campaign speeches, how to vote cards, a mock-
election (including printed ballot papers) and a preferential
vote count. Teachers completing a Passport to Democracy unit
can request a free mock-election incursion run by the VEC
(statewide, including metro and rural areas) to demonstrate
and celebrate students’ democratic participation. Vote lesson
plans can also be used independently of the Passport unit, if
teachers wish to focus only on elections and campaigns.
All lesson plans that comprise the Passport to Democracy
program are aligned to the Victorian Curriculum and
the Australian Curriculum for the teaching of Civics and
Citizenship content across Years 5-10. In addition, the
Passport to Democracy website, passport.vec.vic.gov.au,
offers summative and formative assessment resources. It
includes assignment instructions, a submission checklist
and curriculum-aligned rubrics, plus a list of assessment for
learning Passport activities.
VCAL-related materials
Passport to Democracy also contains an additional resource,
Partner Up, which has specifically been designed to be
used in VCAL classes. The VCAL unit of work covers all
outcomes for Unit 2 Personal Development Skills, and five
outcomes pertaining to Literacy Skills. The program’s four
phases support VCAL students to form a partnership with
a local organisation and take practical action on an issue in
their community. The Partner Up resource includes quality
assurance templates, teacher guides, student workbooks and
supporting video resources. The VEC is currently updating
the hard copy VCAL Partner Up student workbook and
teachers will be able to request FREE copies for their classes.
It is hoped that this new resource will be available during
Term 2 of 2019. Copies of the current student workbook and
sample lesson plans can also be downloaded/printed from the
Passport to Democracy website.
https://passport.vec.vic.gov.au/teachers/lessons/
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New features for 2019

Passport to Democracy will have two exciting additions in
2019. To celebrate the start of the school year, the website
has been optimised to be mobile-friendly. This means that
teachers can now utilise the student interactives on the
website, and watch the embedded videos, with their students
on either tablet or via smartphone. This will be useful to
teachers operating one-to-one, or in a Bring Your Own Device
(BYOD) environment, in their classrooms. Another important
addition to the Passport to Democracy online offer (available
in Term 2 of 2019) will be a suite of teacher professional
learning materials. Consisting of small videos and information
sheets, this advice will help teachers new to the resources, as
well as assist regular users with extra ideas and tips.

Booking PTD for your school

By completing a booking form (available online at http://
passport.vec.vic.gov.au/teachers/bookings/) teachers can
order resources and/or book a VEC education officer who can
deliver teacher professional learning, and/or a mock election
session to their class. All of the resources, and school visits by
a VIT registered education officer, are offered free of charge by
the VEC.
For more information about Passport to Democracy, please
contact the VEC via email education@vec.vic.gov.au or by
telephone on 03) 8620 1184.

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