Class 1 - Part 2: Irish History Lesson

We talked about the different kind of laws that exist, and discussed which ones the class were most interested in. We came up with criminal, human rights, tort "suing people!!", environmental law. Then we discussed the 'basic rules' that exist for citizens, to be found in the Constitution. I wanted to explain the development of the Irish Legal system, starting back in the 12th Century with Brehon Laws and working all the way up to the drafting of the Constitution, in order for the class to realise how important it is that we have the power to make our own laws.

I wasn't really able to find a fun way of doing this, so I just tried to make it short and snappy, while inviting commentary from the class, asking questions (based on what they would have known from the national school curriculum) and telling funny or shocking stories. There is definitely room for improvement in this lesson. Consider a cartoon or a video, or even allowing each student to read rather than the teacher reading. Below, find a slideshow of the Irish History lesson. (To see the slideshow in larger form, click on view on Slideshare in the lower left corner. You'll be taken to slideshare.com and you should be able to see it there.)

At the end of the history lesson, we talked about the importance of rules in society, and decided to make a classroom constitution. I asked every student to come up with a rule for class which, at the beginning of the next lesson, they could inscribe onto our classroom constitution.