Learning In Action

Year 7 Humanities - Students Explore Democracy Through Class Referendums

Learning is at its most powerful when students can actively participate, collaborate and apply their knowledge. Our Year 7 Humanities students recently put democracy into action by conducting a class referendum, with students taking on a variety of important roles throughout the process.

Read on to hear from the students themselves about this memorable learning experience.

Jasmine L. and Tayla R, the class journalists, share their account of the day below.

This term, we have been learning about the constitution and about voting in referendums. We learnt what people do when they vote and what jobs everyone must have to make changes to the constitution possible.

We started by spinning a wheel to choose what roles some people would have. We had Christian letting people in through the door, two at a time; Tayla, Luca and Mackenzie crossing people’s names off after they voted, while simultaneously passing them papers that explain the opposed law. This is called the ballot paper. Each student had made one and they were handed out on the day to voters, where they either voted yes or no.

At the beginning of the referendum, we welcomed our prime minister, Spencer, to give a great speech to everybody. We had three students check each ballot paper carefully before it was handed to Ms Marcon; these students were Jasmine, Willow and Tayla. The vote counters were Alex, Zac and Gus. These students counted the votes on the ballot papers. The live whiteboard vote recorder was Archer. He put each vote directly on the whiteboard after they were announced by the vote counters for everyone to see. The official photographer was Jasmine, who also took part in many other roles.

At last, the referendum ended with every ballot being collected and reviewed, and even after some malicious vote corruption from the ballot checkers, the final votes were corrected, and the total votes from each class member was a yes! The majority of the class decided to turn Australia into a republic, and we now agree that we are no longer a part of the commonwealth.

Jasmine L. and Tayla R - 7H

Other feedback from our class included:

I thought it was really fun - Alex

I liked being the counter for the votes and I think that the class did very well – Archer

Our class held a referendum to decide whether Australia should become a republic. After everyone voted, the Yes vote won. I think the referendum was a good way for everyone to share their opinions and learn about democracy. It was interesting to hear different arguments from both sides before voting. Even though not everyone agreed, everyone had the chance to have their say. This activity helped me understand how voting works and why it is important to respect different opinions. Overall, I enjoyed taking part in the referendum and learned more about Australia's system of government – Mason

It was really fun and I liked being the Prime Minister and I liked how the Yes votes won! – Spence

It was good and I had fun. I got to vote and have a role – Luca

I thought it was fun and I’d like to do it again - Zac