The Tikkun Project
Lesson
8
Learning With Experts
Concept
A direct conversation with someone who works inside government turns abstract civic structure into a concrete, actionable understanding of how change actually happens.
Focus Question
What can a government official teach us about how change actually happens, and how citizens can be part of it?
Knowledge & Understanding Goals
Language, Strand B (Oral and Non-Verbal Communication), Grade 5: Formulate and pose purposeful, increasingly complex questions to elicit information from a knowledgeable source.
Social Studies, People and Environments Strand B — The Role of Government and Responsible Citizenship, Grade 5: Describe ways in which individuals and groups can influence government decision-making.
Thinking & Learning Skills
ATL — Communication: Posing purposeful questions to an expert; active listening.
ATL — Social Skills: Engaging respectfully and appropriately with a community or civic guest.
Learner Profile: Communicators, Open-Minded.
Context
The unit's central expert-consultation lesson everything from Lesson 3 ("Who is Responsible?", the narrowed issue list) feeds directly into this conversation, and everything after it (finalizing and implementing an action plan) depends on what students learn here. It also gives students a real audience to test the letter/petition drafts started in Lesson 7. The official comes to the class (in person or virtually) before students choose their issue; the field trip to City Hall or Queen's Park, where students observe government at work and pitch their chosen issue, comes later in Lesson 10.
Lesson Outline
PREPARING FOR THE GUEST
Invite a government official to speak with the class, in person or virtually. A city councillor, MPP, MP, or a staff member from one of their offices all work well; if possible, invite the school's own councillor or MPP, since the class may meet them again in Lesson 10. Speak with the guest in advance about the Critical Challenge and the specific issues and questions students have researched, so they can provide targeted, useful information and possibly connect students with appropriate follow-up contacts. Ideally the official agrees to a follow-up discussion as students prepare to implement their action; if students create a petition, the official might advise on the process and/or present it on their behalf.
As a class, draft an initial list of questions for the official: What is your role in government? How does a law get made? What are the most important issues being discussed in government right now? What is the government doing about [issue]? What role do citizens have in the process of making fair laws? What can be done if a law is unfair? How do issues get brought to the government?
SHARPENING THE QUESTIONS
Introduce the criteria for a powerful question: it will help us understand the best way to take action to resolve a specific challenge; it will increase our understanding of the government's responsibility for resolving a specific issue; it will provide important information about a specific problem and how progress might be measured. Ask students to revise their questions against these criteria — for example, turning "What is the government doing about it?" into "What do you think are the most important actions for the government to take to ensure we're on track to meet [specific goal] by 2030?" or "How might we as students have our ideas considered by people with the power to make change about [issue]?"
WELCOMING THE GUEST OFFICIAL
Structure the session with ample time for students to pose their researched, revised questions, focused on strengthening their "Thinking About Problems" answers from Lesson 3. At this point students have not yet chosen their issue, so the conversation is exploratory: students are learning how change happens and which issues the official sees as possible to move forward. Students might learn, for instance, that a petition would be effective for one issue, while a letter to a Member of Parliament would carry more weight for another — and can test their Lesson 7 draft letter or petition directly against the official's advice. Students will see government at work in person, and pitch their chosen issue, during the visit to City Hall or Queen's Park in Lesson 10.
Notes for Teaching and Evaluation
Question-revision against criteria (TC_-style): the same underlying move as the question-crafting in Lesson 2 — testing a question against explicit criteria before using it — applied here to a live interview rather than a written brainstorm. Naming that connection for students reinforces that this is a transferable skill, not a one-time exercise specific to this guest visit.