EU: Understanding the European Union

Is it the final countdown for Europe...


I've gathered several resources below which should help you get to grips with the EU, a complex organisation which has a major influence on life in the UK but about which we tend to know very little.

Of course there is a Wiki you can use, but you should try to avoid relying on a single source.

Creating a CV and application letter

TASK: Over the course of two lessons you will:

1. create a CV
2. select a job to apply for from the vacancies provided (below)
3. write a formal letter of application for this post
4. email the CV and letter to me (other teachers will use Showbie) at david.burrowes@ilkleygs.ngfl.ac.uk, with the email subject 'class Surname Initial CV-letter' (eg 10Y/Cz1C Simpson H CV-letter)

STEPS:
LESSON ONE/HOMEWORK: CREATE A CV

1. As a class we will discuss what we think a 'C.V.' is and what purpose/function it serves.
2. In small groups (4-5), brainstorm and list what you think should feature in a good CV. What information should you provide?
3. Compare your list to the example you can see below.
4. Update your list with a clear heading: What I Should Include in My CV
5. (If there is time) Make a start on your CV. Complete this for homework for the next lesson.
6. Before the end of the 1st of these 2 lessons, read through the  list of vacancies below and pick one. You will be asked to declare which you have picked before the lesson ends, and in the next lesson you will be developing your letter of application for this job.

LESSON TWO: CREATE + EMAIL A LETTER OF APPLICATION

1. Any reminders/planner comments about the CV homework will be issued
2. As a class we will discuss what you think should go into a good letter of application and what you think should be avoided!
3. Look at the exemplars provided (below) and make a fresh list of What I Need To Include in My Letter
4. Start on this letter, and email it if completed by the end of the lesson (if not, email it within one week)

KEY DOCUMENTS
To stop this post from slowing down the loading of the blog, you need to click on 'read more' below to see the rest of the post, including the documents you'll need

You can zoom in or out; go full screen; visit the Slideshare site to download; you may need to set up an account to do so

You should be able to download and save these documents, but you can also read them directly from the blog. You can go fullscreen, and also zoom in or out.

Sunifesto and your 'minifesto'

It is not often a source that we will use, given its use of topless models, and generally questionable values on issues of race, gender and sexuality, but today we shall look at a very specific feature in The S*n, the UK's biggest-selling paper and one that once boasted after a general election, It Was the Sun Wot Won It.

Owned by billionaire Rupert Murdoch, who operates a global media empire, the paper took the unusual step of beating the political parties to the punch and issuing its own 'manifesto' (details of what it would do, the policies it would follow, if elected to government).

Your quickfire challenge will be to:

1. Scan through the 'Sunifesto' below
2. Pick one or more policies that you strongly dis/agree with
3. Come up with your own wording for a policy/policies
4. Prepare a short summary of WHY this should be supported (look for newspaper articles on this policy area, find quotes, points, statistics...)
5. If you can, think of one argument AGAINST (maybe using the same research) and state why this should not put people off
6. Pick two UK national daily newspapers, and come up with a headline for each of them if they were writing about your 'minifesto' ideas. Tabloid headlines can be short and informal, featuring a pun or play on words, broadsheet headlines might more formal and longer. There would be a difference between the left-wing papers (Mirror, Guardian) and the right-wing papers (all the rest, bar the Indie/i, which is 'centrist' or fairly neutral). The S*n is very right-wing, its Sunifesto is classic right-wing thinking.

You can find more information and background on this post, written for A-Level Media students, but the Sunifesto is copied in below (just click read more or on the title of this post).

Actions and Consequences

Pipe Up
Total time: 9:37
PartA 0-5:40
PartB 5:40-9:37

For the following videos you will be asked to describe the actions, then the likely consequences of these actions

The Incident

A breakdown of who votes in UK elections

Who are Britain's 1m-plus missing voters?
http://gu.com/p/44qvk

Young people are much less likely to vote than older people, and this means the major parties tend to ignore the needs of the youth, whilst privileging pensioners - pensions go up while tuition fees go up and the EMA is scrapped for example.

A new report (note: this is being pushed by one political party, so there may be bias in this) claims a million young voters have disappeared off the register, a serious issue with an election due.

Russell Brand v Jeremy Paxman

TASK: You have a choice of two tasks; either:
(a) Pick out one or more of Brand's arguments and provide a detailed reponse (whether you dis/agree and why, backed up with your own research: facts, figures, quotes), OR
(b) Come up with a proposal for an e-petition that might lead to MPs debating this idea or argument (explaining why you think this is important, why you think it is a good idea, and backed up with your own research: facts, figures, quotes). You could include examples of actual e-petitions in your presentation.
PRESENTATION FORMAT: Feed back to the class as a group, each person in a group have the same notes on their iPad. You can inlcude images within a KeyNote presentation if you wish.

This has been one of the most discussed/shared interviews of recent times, and a rare instance of a political interview going viral. Is Brand simply a gadabout, vacuous celebrity spouting nonsense ... or is Paxman pompously defending a broken democratic system in the UK?

THE NOTORIOUS PAXMAN INTERVIEW
It was Jeremy Paxman's apparent disgust at Brand's arguments that made the views of an actor/comedian into a major story. Paxman seemed to get particularly cross at the notion that voting was pointless (although he later said he had some sympathy with Brand's views).


Brand followed this up with a lengthy essay in political magazine The New Statesman, which he guest edited:


RESPONSES TO BRAND:

Low earners don't vote much either, so the young/poor vote least of all. The IPPR shows how, since 2010, average voters lost 12% in service cuts, but those who didn't vote lost 20%, or £2,135 a year. So, Russell Brand, young people are badly treated if they don't vote. [Polly Toynbee, Guardian, 21.3.14 - lots of facts and figures on how decisions by both major major parties in recent years have hit young people]

Opinion has been very much divided on this; Suzanne Moore defends him while describing his essay as 'teenage'; Nick Clegg attacked Paxman; Brand himself wrote for The Guardian following the infamous interview; letter writers argued its easy to criticise, but where is his alternative plan?; you can find many more here (The Guardian's Brand microsite; there have been articles about him in every paper), and here you can find articles written by him.

BRAND ON DRUGS AND (NOT) VOTING; E-PETITION [C4 NEWS, 8mins]
Brand is also questioned about climate change. This interview came about after Brand launched a petition to force MPs to debate drugs law.
You can see a simple graphic of how these 'e-petitions' work here.


BRAND: USA INTERVIEW ON UK + US MEDIA [MSNBC, 8mins]
Includes clips from Brand's 'Trews' YouTube operation.


BRAND ON NEWSNIGHT, 2014 [15mins]
A return interview, this time with Robert Peston.


BRAND ON PARTY FUNDING, 2015 
This one of Brand's daily 'Trews' features, the most recent at the time of creating this post. He is joined by Guardian newspaper columnist and environmental campaigner George Monbiot to discuss how political parties are funded. He had earlier taken up this point during a Question Time appearance.


BRAND ON QUESTION TIME: DON'T TRUST POLITICIANS TO DECLARE WAR [1min]
Brand makes a range of points about how public opinion is manipulated over warfare.


BRAND ON PROPERTY: THE NEW ERA ESTATE CAMPAIGN [C4 NEWS, 2mins]
Brand interviewed on C4 News about the successful campaign over New Era housing; an American investment fund was set to boot out working class renters until a grassroots campaign eventually saw them sign the properties over to another company that pledged to keep these families on. The issue here is over the right of companies to stockpile property as an investment, often keeping it empty, while many struggle to find an affordable home. His own channel reported on this too.


Of course, he's not the only comedian seeking to take up the political fight...

...

1 million young voters losing right to vote?

Ed Miliband targets Nick Clegg with claim 1m voters lost from electoral roll
http://gu.com/p/45v9g