Annex:

INTRODUCTION TO THE CIVICS EDUCATION CURRICULUM

Rationale for Civics Education

Civic education includes the study of the purpose of government, the nature of law, the way private behavior
affects the public order, the political system, and the international context of politics. In most countries,
formal instruction in civics and government is provided to students to help them understand the workings of
their own and other political systems as well as the role and relationship of their country’s politics and
government to world affairs. In most countries (Pakistan included), civic education has been interpreted
narrowly as preparation for patriotism and largely included learning about the structure and functions of
government and citizen rights and responsibilities. The realization that the creation and sustaining of a
democratic society requires citizens to not only have knowledge but skills and dispositions for informed,
responsible and active citizenship. Civic education must therefore, in addition to the focus on the knowledge
also emphasizes the development of skills of inquiry, critical thinking, decision making, problem solving,
conflict resolution and reinforce dispositions such as commitment to equality, determination to act justly,
respect for the rule of law and working for the common good so as to prepare students for responsible
participation in the improvement of their societies. The body of knowledge, civic skills and dispositions that
the literature suggests is required by students to take informed and responsible actions are summarized in
Figure 1.

Constitutionally Pakistan is a democracy. Democracy means rule by the people. In order to provide all
citizens a say in the matters that affect them they elect their representatives through voting in free and fair
elections. The role of citizens does not end with voting as democracy requires the informed, active and
responsible participation of people for it to develop and be sustained. The Media serves to inform the public
about various issues for citizens to act to address them or to get governments to act to address them so that
they can hold public officials accountable for their actions. This civic education curriculum is therefore
aimed at developing the civic knowledge, skills and dispositions and encouraging their use for civic action
to create a just, peaceful and democratic society.

This curriculum is directed to all stakeholders that are directly or indirectly involved in the teaching and
learning process of civic education such as teachers, material developers, examiners (both teachers as
examiners and paper setters/board examiners) and students. In order for the standards of this curriculum to
be met the forma teaching in the classroom must be augmented by related learning experiences, in both
school and community. The school itself must become a microcosm of democracy, giving students a first
hand experience of it by providing students opportunities to participate in their own governance and they
must facilitate students in creating democratic communities through engagement with the community to
improve it.

Civic Knowledge Civic Skills

• Understanding the political system, institutions and • Critical-thinking
processes • Problem-solving and decision-making
• The rights and responsibilities of citizens • Social or interpersonal skills
• Human rights and responsibilities • Conflict resolution skills
• The local, national and international context • Information gathering and communication skills
Civic Dispositions Civic Actions
• Belief in the dignity and equality of every human • Vote
being • Engage in community service
• Determination to act justly • Become a member of civil society group(s)
• Commitment to equality • Advocate for change
• Respect for freedom o Sign petitions,
• Willingness to work with and for others o Write letters to government representatives.
• Value diversity o Advertise your cause
• Take personal and civic responsibility o Participate in walks, demonstrations
• Respect for the rule of law • Refuse to buy certain things (e.g. plastic bags as
• Concern for human rights they pollute the environment)
• Practice of tolerance
Figure 1: Competencies required for Democratic Citizenship

This civic education curriculum is therefore aimed at developing the civic knowledge, skills and dispositions
and encouraging their use for civic action to create a just, peaceful and democratic society.

The structure and content of the curriculum

This curriculum sets out the civic knowledge, skills, dispositions and civic actions to be developed in young
Pakistanis by setting the standards that must be met. Curriculum standards are broad, descriptive and
qualitative statements which represent a set of expectations about what all students should know, be able to
do and the values/attitudes they should hold in the subject area at the end of the learning cycle. Knowledge
includes the important facts, concepts, issues and information. The skills include the ways of thinking,
working, communication, reasoning and investigating that characterize the subject. The values/attitudes are
the feelings, attitudes, conscience, dispositions that are developed through the subject. Standards enable
teachers to support the intellectual, social, emotional, moral and physical development of students, respond
with flexibility and professional judgement to students differing needs and actively engage them in learning
so they can use and generate knowledge in effective and powerful ways (Inter-US States New Teacher
Assessment and Support Consortium, 1992) thus improving the teaching and learning process.

For each standard, benchmarks are delineated at various developmental levels. The benchmarks are
statements that indicate what students will know, be able to do and the dispositions they should develop at
various developmental levels (i.e. primary and secondary school). In the case of the curriculum for Pakistani
schools, the benchmarks have been delineated for each stage of education with the exception of the primary
years which have been divided into two. Thus there are benchmarks for classes 3, 5, 8, 10 and 12. As this
civic curriculum is an elective for classes 9-12, benchmarks for class 10 and 12 have been provided.

The curriculum also delineates the Students Learning Outcomes (SLOs) for each class. SLOs are the
outcomes that must be achieved by students at the end of each class. Thus students learning outcomes are
given for classes 9, and 10. In the citizenship education curriculum there are knowledge, skills, values and
action outcomes. Teaching and learning processes must ensure that all students achieve the student learning
outcomes identified for each class. The student learning outcomes all begin with a key word which indicates
what has to be achieved. The key words most frequently used in this curriculum and their meanings are
provided below in Table 1

Table 1

S. Terms Explanation
No.
1. Define 1. To determine or identify the essential qualities or meaning of a
word
2. A formal statement or equivalent paraphrase being required
2. Identify To identify the things that are tangible (the Nazim of the town one
lives in) or intangible (justice). To identify means to distinguish it
from something else. It also means to classify something with other
items with similar attributes.
 3. List To give a sequence of points, generally each of one word, with no
elaboration. Where a given number of points are specified, this
should not be exceeded.
4. Compare Required to provide both similarities and differences between things
or concepts.

5. Describe To describe tangible or intangible objects, processes, institutions,

functions, purposes, means and end, qualities. To describe
something is to be able to give a verbal or written account of its
basic attributes or characteristics.
6. Differentiate To perceive or show the difference in or between tow or more.

7. Explain To identify, describe, clarify or interpret something. One may

explain causes of events, the meaning or significance of events or
ideas, reasons for various positions or acts.
8. Examine 1. Observe, check out, and look over or inspect carefully.
2. Consider in detail and subject to an analysis in order to discover
essential features or meaning
9. Evaluate To use criteria to make judgements about the strengths and
weaknesses of a position on a particular issue; goals promoted by
the position, or means advocated to attain the goals
10. Defend a position To advance arguments in favour of one’s position and respond to or
take into account argument opposed to one’s position
11. Frame To put into a systematized statement or expression
12. Record To put down in writing as a written evidence
13. Develop To create or produce especially by intentional effort over time
14. Use The act or practice of applying the concept, idea, and knowledge.

15 Mediate Involvement of a third person or an intermediary to assist parties in

order to reconcile them
16 Assess Judge the worth of something

17 Propose Put forward a point of view

18 Trace Follow, discover, or ascertain the course of development of

something
19 Illustrate To draw

20 Infer A conclusion drawn from a set of facts or circumstances

21 Classify To arrange or organize according to the Grade or category

Citizenship Education
Education for democratic citizenship requires teachers to develop the knowledge, skills, dispositions and
have students take actions outlined in Figure 1. They must also make schools and colleges places where
democracy is promoted so that a society reflective of the one to be created can be experienced first-hand in
schools and colleges.

Approaches to citizenship education are often placed on a scale from minimal to maximal (Osler and
Starkey, 2004). Minimal approaches to citizenship education emphasise learning about political and
economic institutions – their structure, functions and some opportunities for community service activities.
This is the nature of citizenship education in Pakistani schools. Maximal approaches broaden the scope of
the content and encourage the use of more active-participatory approaches in the classroom. They combine
knowledge with investigation, interpretation and participation. They also take citizenship education beyond
the traditional classroom setting through to school organization and structures by facilitating students' active
participation in making school structures and processes more democratic through the setting up of school
councils and school clubs. It also provides opportunities for students to engage in community action and
reflection so as to learn from them.

The approach to citizenship education promoted in this curriculum is a maximal approach. The scope of the
content has been enlarged to include knowledge, but also the development of skills and dispositions required
for active citizenship. It suggests that in addition to the textbook, materials such as newspapers and
magazine be brought into the classroom and the community also be seen as an important source of
information. The curriculum encourages the use of active participatory strategies (see chapter ….) such as
class discussions, engage in inquiry, learn with and from each other in cooperative groups, engage in or
develop role plays and simulations. While engaging in these activities students should be encouraged to
think critically and creatively. Active participation must also be promoted in the school and community. The
curriculum encourages teachers to create democratic classrooms through sharing some of their authority
with students by involving them in making classroom rules and electing classroom monitors/prefects. It
encourages the development of a democratic culture that extends beyond the classroom to the school with all
members of the school community being involved in governance of the school, through representative
teacher and students councils and giving teachers and students more autonomy in making decisions.

The curriculum recognizes the need for students to engage in activities that help them learn social
responsibility and public participation. School council and school clubs are a good ways of providing such
opportunities but better still is supervised involvement in the community. Research suggests that to improve
the learning outcomes that accrue from active participation students be provided opportunities to reflect on
and learn from their experiences. This curriculum therefore suggests the same.

It is a well known fact that present assessment practices tend to restrain the best curriculum and the most
innovative teachers. It is for this reason that the curriculum suggests more authentic and performance-based
assessment. Paper pencil tests while useful for assessing knowledge fail are not appropriate for assessing
skills and values. Performance assessment is a more appropriate way of assessing them (see chapter…). In
order to make assessment more democratic teachers can involve students in identifying the criteria and
levels of performance and use them for self and peer assessment Portfolio assessment of student work and
their reflections is yet another way of assessing students.
The standards and benchmarks for class IX –X

Government
Standard 1: Students will explain the need for government, the way government is formed in a democracy,
the structure of the government of Pakistan and the functions of creating, implementing and interpreting the
law

Benchmarks of IX-X
Describe the need for government for functioning of a state
Identify the key characteristics of democracy, assess democracy in Pakistan and identify challenges to
strengthening democracy in Pakistan.
Describe the structure and function of the legislative, the executive and the justice system of Pakistan
Compare presidential and parliamentary systems of government.

Rights and responsibilities

Standard 2: Students will demonstrate an understanding of the concept of democratic citizenship, the rights
and responsibilities of citizens (constitutional and human rights) and the roles of citizens in advancing rights
in Pakistan.

Benchmarks for IX-X

• Identify the rights and responsibilities of citizen (constitutional)
• Describe how the provision or denial of different rights affects democracy.
• Describe the role of civil society/groups in advocating for the rights of citizens

Political Economy
Standard 3: Students will recognize that economic and political processes affect each other in a country
(Pakistan) and around the world.

Benchmarks of IX-X
Identify the role of the government in the economy of Pakistan and the factors influencing economic
decisions (such as on national budget)
Describe the effects of political decisions on the economic rights of citizens of Pakistan.

Conflict Management and Resolution

Standard 4: Students will develop conflict management and conflict resolution skills and use them in
dealing with others in every day situations (community, national and global)

Benchmarks for IX-X

Describe the causes and effects of conflicts at the personal level
Analyze conflicts to identify causes and reasons for escalation
Use effective communication, negotiation and mediation strategies to resolve personal conflicts and
conflicts at home, school and community.

Intellectual Skills
Standard 5: Students will ask question about issues, problems and events of significance to society (local,
national, and global) inquire, think critically and use the skills of problem solving, decision-making and
communication effectively.

Benchmarks for IX-X

Use books and newspapers to acquire information to answer questions.
Use data and evidence to support or refute an argument.
Communicate ideas and information in an informed, organized and persuasive manner.
Analyze issues identifying the various perspectives on an issue and suggest possible resolution of that
issue.
 Make informed decisions.

Non-State Institutions
Standard 6: Students will know the importance and role of non state institutions (media, NGO’s and
political parties) in a democratic society.

Benchmarks for IX-X

Describe the role and importance of media, political parties, organized structured groups and movements
in Pakistan
Describe the evolution and development of media, organized structured groups and movements, and
political parties in Pakistan
Describe the role of media, political parties, organized structured groups and movements in the
promotion of democracy in Pakistan

Developing Values
Standard 7: Students will value diversity, human dignity, equality, tolerance, justice, cooperation, concern
for environment and challenge the conditions that give rise to prejudice, discrimination, all forms of
inequality (gender, class, religion, age, ability, ethnicity and colour) and environmental issues in Pakistan
and in the world.

Benchmark for IX-X

• Describe the importance of diversity, tolerance and care for environment
• Hold and promote the values of diversity, tolerance for environment

Active and Responsible Citizenship

Standard 8: Students will take informed, responsible and appropriate actions and reflect on them to further
their learning as citizens.

Benchmarks for IX-X

• Take informed and responsible actions to raise awareness or solve problems at the school & local level
and reflect on the actions taken so as to learn and improve future actions.
 GRADE IX
Themes Student Learning Outcomes grade IX
• State Define the term ‘state’, ‘government’,
“community”
Identify the key elements/features of the
state
Identify key features of an Islamic state
Identify different kinds of states based on
their roles

• Democracy Define the term ‘democracy’

Identify the major characteristics of
democracy (sovereignty of people, free
and fair elections, the rule of law and
majority rule coupled with minority
rights)
Explain the importance of free and fair
elections in democracy.
Examine the importance of the rule of
law for democracy
List the benefits of voting

• Government Describe the structure of the federal

parliament of Pakistan
Identify the qualities of a good political
leader
Compare direct and representative
democracies.
Trace the historical evolution of
democracy in Pakistan from 1947
Identify the challenges facing democracy
in Pakistan.
Suggest ways to make Pakistan a more
democratic society
Identify the role of citizens in a
democracy
 Themes Student Learning Outcomes
Citizenship Define the term “citizenship”
Explain the ways someone can acquire
citizenship
Identify ways citizenship can be lost

• Rights and responsibilities Define the term ‘rights’, ‘responsibilities’,

civil rights’, political rights’, ‘social
rights’, ‘economic rights’.
Classify constitutional rights into civil,
political, social and economic
Explain the importance of having a chapter
on rights in the constitution of Pakistan.
Explain how rights given in the
constitution can be denied through citing
everyday examples
Propose a way in which all citizens can be
ensured a right (students choice)
Identify responsibilities based on morality
and social conscience
Identify the legal responsibilities of
Pakistani citizens
Differentiate between legal and moral
responsibilities
Discuss the consequences of not fulfilling
one's responsibility
Evaluate oneself as a responsible citizen
Identify situations in which a citizen might
not be expected to fulfil his/her
responsibilities
Themes Student learning outcomes
Role of government in the economy Describe the involvement of the government of
Pakistan in the economy (as supplier of
infrastructure, provider of goods and services,
regulator of competition etc)
Identify the need for a national budget
Identify major expenditure and revenue sources
of Pakistan government
Describe the procedure for presenting, debating
and approving the national budget
Identify the percentage of the current budget to
be spent on development, administration,
defence

• Economic Growth Define the term ‘economic growth’

Identify benefits and costs of economic growth
(environment, education, development)
Define the terms Gross Domestic Product
(GDP) and Gross National Product (GNP)
Themes Student learning outcomes
Conflict and conflict resolution Define the term conflict and conflict resolution
Identify the causes of conflicts (prejudice,
discrimination, stereotype, cultural differences)
Identify the positions & interests of those
involved in a conflict.
Identify conflict management styles
Analyze your own personal power components

• Structured ways of resolving conflicts Identify the structured ways of resolving

conflicts (communication, negotiation,
mediation, arbitration, adjudication and
legislation)
Suggest how negotiation can be used for
resolving political, economic & diversity issues
in the country and society (win-win negotiation
process)
Use effective negotiation to resolve conflict at
school and society (win-win conflict
resolution).

• Anger Define the term ‘anger; and ‘anger

management’
Analyze degrees of anger
Suggest techniques for controlling anger (calm
down)
Use “I” statement for assertive communication
and anger management
Themes Student learning outcomes
Inquiry and knowledge based inquiry Define the term “inquiry” and ‘knowledge based
inquiry’
Identify the steps in the inquiry process
Frame questions about a local or national issue,
problem or event.
Identify books best suited to gather information to
answer questions.

Critical thinking skills Evaluate the reliability and creditability of the

books.
Identify information related to questions from the
books.

Distinguishing between facts and opinion Differentiate between facts and opinion in content.
List the sources of information
Record information using note taking skills

Information gathering skills Analyze gathered information to ensure it is

relevant to answer questions.
Decide the best solution to the problem on the
basis of the information collected.

Presentation skills Deliver an oral presentation using posters.

Write a report to share findings.
Themes Student learning outcomes
Media Define the term ‘media’
Identify the various media
Describe the importance of an independent and
free media for the development of a democratic
society in Pakistan
Explain how the media contribute to provision of
the rights of information and freedom of
expression in Pakistani society
Identify the benefits which media offer to the
society.
Examine the factors which lead governments to
restrict media independence.
Assess the need of media regulations for
maintaining the balance role of media.

• Civil society and NGOs Define the term ‘Civil Society” and NGOs
Describe the role civil society groups in Pakistani
society.
Identify the functions of organized groups in
democratic society
List the factors which created the need for NGOs
.in the social sector
Define the term :volunteer”
Describe ho “volunteerism” can contribute to the
development of Pakistan
Themes Student learning outcomes
• Environmental care • Define the term ‘environment’
• Identify the relationship between the natural
environment and human beings
• Explain the concept of 4 R’s (reduce, reuse,
recycle and refuse )
• Describe the effects of human activities on
the environment locally and globally
• Identify the implications of different views
about social and economic development for
environment
• Identify alternative methods that could
contribute to sustainable development (play
pumps, ethanol)
• Participate in a community level program
that works to control environmental hazards
in society and in the world
• Demonstrate commitment to life style for a
sustainable world (saving water, careful use
of electricity, reduce-reuse-recycle
approach)
• Develop a plan of action for a personal
lifestyle for a sustainable world.
•
Themes Student learning outcomes
Election campaign Simulate an election campaign participate
an election campaign for student office
Stand for elections for
monitor/prefects/head girl/head boy
class/member of student council
Prepare a written manifesto for election to
student council
Write a speech encouraging colleagues to
vote for oneself
Service as an independent election monitor
Become a member of the election
committee (prepare electoral rolls, ballot
sheet, count votes)
Vote in elections
Serve as peer mediators

• School council Write letters to school council regarding

desired change
Observe a meeting of the school council
Meet the members of the school council to
present position on an issue
Establish student courts
Become a member of the school council.
Report on their experiences
Keep a journal to reflect on their
experiences
Write an acceptance speech
Write a speech acknowledging defeat in an
election
Prepare election posters
 Grade X
Themes Student Learning Outcomes Grade X
• Institutions that facilitate government Identify the institutions that facilitate democratic
governance

• Legislature Define the term ‘legislative’

Describe the electoral process used to elect the
members of the assemblies in Pakistan
Identify the functions of the legislature.
Explain the importance of ensuring minority
rights in making decisions

• Executive: Political and Civil Define the term ‘executive’

Identify the principal functions of the executive
Describe the role of the political executive
Identify the institutions and people that comprise
the executive in Pakistan
Describe the functions of the civil bureaucracy

Judiciary Define the term ‘judiciary’

Identify the function of judiciary
Explain the importance of Supreme Course in
Pakistan
Illustrate the structure of the criminal and civil
justice systems
Identify the role of the police in civil and
political affairs
Explain why civil courts are required
Describe the qualities of a good law
Identify the checks and balances on government
in a democratic system.

Presidential and parliamentary system Identify key features of the presidential system of
government
List key features of parliamentary form of
government
Compare checks and balances in a presidential
and parliamentary government

Themes Student learning outcomes

Civil society Define the term ‘civil society’
Describe the strategies civil society groups use to
advance for citizens rights

Advocacy Define the term advocacy with examples

List the different strategies citizens can use to
advocate for their rights
Describe the role civil society groups have
played in advocating citizens rights in Pakistan
Develop an advocacy strategy to advocate for a
right of their choice (national level)
Themes Student learning outcomes
Economic rights of citizens Describe the economic rights of citizens of
Pakistan outlined in key legal documents
Describe the role of government in ensuring
citizen their economic rights
Identify the civil society organizations in
Pakistan that protect and promote the economic
rights of citizens (workers, consumers,
producers, voters)
Examine economic implications of political
decisions on key issues (Large Dam construction,
energy generation and distribution, education for
all)
Explain what poverty line means
Identify the characteristics of citizens (people) of
Pakistan that fall below poverty line

Themes Student learning outcomes

• Problem solving Classify different types of conflicts (internal,
interpersonal, inter group & international
conflict)
Describe methods for solving problems
Use problem solving method to resolve conflict
in the home, school and in community

Mediation Define the term ‘mediation’

Describe the basic principle of mediation
Identify the steps in the mediation process
Identify the qualities of a mediator
Analyze negative and positive consequences of
conflicts
Mediate in conflicts at home and schools
Identify different point of views of people
involved in a conflict
Analyze conflicts at school and community to
identify how power, influence and economic
status affect conflict
Analyze the reasons for conflict escalation
(ammunition, misunderstanding and prejudice)

Themes Student learning outcomes

Inquiry Define the term “issue based inquiry”
Identify the steps in the inquiry process
Frame inquiry questions about current local or
national issues.

Critical thinking skills Identify articles in the newspapers related to the

issue.
Identify point of views of different groups
(government, CSOs, citizens) on issues.
Take a position on the issue.
Assess the soundness of the argument by using
 appropriate deductive techniques.
Explain reasons for the position taken.
Defend the position taken with support of factual
information.
Uses inferences to reason carefully from clearly
stated premises to important implications and
consequences.
Analyze the information to make informed
decisions.

Presentation skills Use diagrams, tables, graphs, charts to present

findings in local and national newspaper.

Themes Student learning outcomes

Political party Define the term “Political party”, “Ideology”
Identify the major functions of a political party.
Describe the importance of political parties in a
democracy
Define the term manifesto
Explain the importance of manifesto in the life
and activities of political parties
Identify those factors which make a political
party popular among the masses
Identify the organization and structure of a major
political party .
Explain the political spectrum (left, centre, right)
Place major political parties on the political
spectrum.

Social movement Define the term social movement

List the name of social movements in the history
of Pakistan
Describe the role of social movements to
promote democracy in Pakistan

Themes Student learning outcomes

• Diversity • Define the terms discrimination, diversity,
prejudice, stereotyping and scapegoating
• Identify the key characteristics of diverse
societies
• Identify the issues of diversity in Pakistani society
• Identify the contribution of different cultures,
values and beliefs to our lives and our society
• Differentiate between global culture and Pakistani
culture
• Identify the need for celebrating diversity at
global level
• Identify the ways to strengthen diversity at global
level
• Identify the ways to have Pakistanis come to
value diversity
• Identify key components of a lifestyle that
 promotes diversity and tolerance in society

• Define the term ‘tolerance’

• Tolerance • Identify the causes of social intolerance in the
society
• Identify the causes of religious intolerance in
society
• Identify key components of a lifestyle that
promotes tolerance
• Identify the key characteristics of another culture
(students choice)
• Identify the nature of prejudice in Pakistani
society
• Identify ways to combat prejudice and
discrimination

Themes Student learning outcomes

• Active participation in local government Simulate meetings of local government
Invite members of local government, to their
classrooms to learn about ways to influence
public policy
Write letters to the editor of a newspaper to raise
awareness of a local issue/problem
Write letters to Nazim seeking action on a local
issue/problem
Meet the Nazim, Naib Naizim, Councillors to
present position on local issue/problem

Community service Identify a need in the community

Meet community members to discuss how you
can help address the need
Define the term ‘community service’
Engage in community service
Report on their experiences
1
Keep a journal to reflect on their experiences

1
All the key terms that are italicized are the actions which students will take
GUIDELINE FOR DEVELOPING TEACHING LEARNING RESOURCES

In most Pakistani classrooms student-teacher interaction is limited to reading, writing and speaking.
Students remember some of what they hear, much of what they read and more of what they see. However, if
students are to remember, understand and embody what they learn, they need to experience their learning.
Because each student is unique and learns differently, some students must touch or do in order to experience
learning. Using multiple, varied teaching learning resources is integral so that student's experience as they
learn and also develop their multiple intelligences.
Teaching and learning materials should provide opportunities for teachers to reinforce, challenge, and
expand the students existing knowledge and skills. The materials should present a range of viewpoints and
perspectives. Although materials are sometimes chosen to illustrate a particular point of view (for example,
letters to the editor, submissions to a public inquiry, or historical documents), they should generally be
selected to provide balance and, in particular, to avoid perpetuating stereotypes of people.

Kinds of Teaching and Learning Materials

In most Pakistani schools, the government prescribed textbook is the only teaching learning tool. Teachers
rarely use other resources to support students learning. In order to facilitate students learning, there should
be a range of materials available so that all students have access to information and ideas that enable them to
meet the achievement objectives. Some examples of teaching and learning resources (including both human
and material resources) are:
• the experiences of the students themselves and of their families, friends, and neighbors;
• community resources, such as historical sites, museums, shops, farms, and factories;
• biographies, myths and legends, literature, diaries, newspaper articles, yearbooks and letters;
• interpretations of the past, present, and possible future;
• photographs, charts, maps, radio interviews, posters, films, and television programmes
• the Internet, the World Wide Web, and simulation software.

Among the above mentioned resources, we will be providing guidelines to develop teaching and learning
materials that can be made available, accessible and affordable to all students in order to make the teaching
and learning of civics significant in our schools:
• Textbooks
• Teachers guides
• Students workbooks
• Documentaries (audio and visual)
• Electronic Instructional material (websites and the internet)

(I) GUIDELINE FOR WRITING A TEXTBOOK

A textbook is an important teaching and learning resource and one of the most extensively used resource in
Pakistani classrooms. It is therefore, important to improve both the quality of content and presentation to
support the successful implementation of the present curriculum. To provide an understanding that how a
textbook chapter can be developed on local government is given in a separate section (see appendix 1)

Basic Features of a Textbook

Writing a good textbook requires an insight into the teaching and learning situations, the specific learning
objectives at a particular developmental level, and the tools for formative and summative evaluation.
Moreover, sustained practice is required to plan and develop textbooks that provide sufficient and
appropriate input to students. This can be done by keeping the following things in mind.
• Textbooks must have accurate and up-to-date material
• The material must be sufficient to give students the knowledge they need to understand the concepts,
develop the skills of engaging in higher order thinking and value development
• The materials must be mistake free so it can be trusted.
• The material must be unbiased and non controversial.
 • The book must include a number of activities throughout the textbook
• Illustrations must vary from page to page.
• End-of-the-chapter exercises and suggested activities must vary from chapter to chapter. They should
encourage students to think, develop skills and values, and use information for a variety of purpose.
• Table of contents including subtopics should be given.
• Textbooks must have an Index and glossary
• Introduction to textbook explaining how to use the textbook.
• Textbooks must be contextually relevant (feasible to use in classrooms, affordable, examples from
context to increase relevance and meaning)

Stages of Textbook Development:

Although it is not desirable to have rigid rules for textbook development, it is necessary that textbook writers
develop a common framework to serve as a reference point. This can be done through the stages described
below:

Textbook development involves at least five stages:

• Planning
• Material Writing
• Editing
• Reviewing
• Piloting, Testing and Revisions

Planning
Planning is necessary for writing quality materials. Therefore, maximum time should be spent on the
planning stage. While planning it is important to:

• Decide on a topic (in relation to the civic education curriculum)

• Review the curriculum document to identify learning outcomes that are to be met for each chapter.
• Select topics from the given themes/sub-themes in relation to the age level and interest of the
students.
• Decide on the key ideas, skills, sub-skills and values to be included in each chapter
• Organize the key ideas
• Decide the facts and concepts to be included, what vocabulary/terms will be used, what values and
skills can be developed.
• Decide the illustrations to be used and prepare an art brief for the illustrator and designer.
• Decide the kind of activities appropriate for text type, age level and SLOs.

Material Writing
While writing the materials, it is important to:

• Write the reading texts as if talking to a group, keeping in mind the age and grade level of the
students.
• Select a range of authentic reading texts in a variety of styles. If required, adapt these texts to match
the age and grade level of the students. Give complete reference details for the selected texts.
• Develop activities on the selected concepts, skills, sub-skills and value. Make sure the activities are
in line with the SLOs for the particular grade.
• Include sufficient review exercises
• Provide a progress test after two or three units to assess the SLOs focused upon in these units.
• Decide which illustrations are to be used, and prepare an art brief with instructions for the illustrator
and designer.
• To make writing and studying the textbook easy, colour coding, different levels of headings, etc. can
be used.

Editing
In the editing stage,
• Ensure accuracy and authenticity of facts in line with the civics curriculum
• Ensure clarity of instructions, illustrations, captions etc.
• Check to see if the meaning hasn’t changed even if words have

Reviewing: Self and Peer Review

This stage is necessary to ensure
• Accuracy and authenticity of the facts
• Relevance to the SLOs
• Appropriateness to Pakistani teaching and learning environment
• Variety and appropriateness of the activities
• Sufficient review activities and exercises

Pilot Testing and revision

In this stage,
• Have teachers teach, observe, change the prepared materials as required.
• Revise the materials according to the feedback received from the teachers.

Checklist for Textbook Writers, Teachers and Reviewers

The following questions can help in reviewing the quality of textbooks:
S.# Statements Responses (Y/ N)
1. Is the textbook material related to the goals of the curriculum?
2.
Is the content accurate and up to date?
3.
Are important skills developed?
4.
Do the illustrations (maps, pictures, drawings, graphs) help us to understand the
content better?
5.
Do the end-of-the-chapter exercises encourage students?
a. to think
b. to develop their skills
c. to be creative
6.
Activities?
a. Are the activities suitable for the needs of the learner?
b. Do activities include student participation in real life issues?
c. Do activities promote the social studies skills (thinking, information, map
and global, inter-personal, participation, etc.)?
7.
Are a variety of assessment strategies suggested?
(e.g. fill-in-the-blank, memorized answers, project work, exhibitions, open-
ended and divergent responses, etc.)
8.
Does it motivate students to think?
9.
Do the text, questions and suggested activities stimulate interest that would lead
to further study?
10.
Are there biases? a) religion b) national origin c) gender d) occupation e) class
a. men and women
b. different religions
c. historical events
d. historical figures (e.g. achievements and failures)
11.
Does the textbook present issues from different perspectives? Give examples?
12.
Does it include current issues, problems and happenings?
13.
Is it related to the goals of the curriculum?
14.
Is a teacher’s guide included?
15.
Is it attractive and appealing to children?
16.
Is the language readable, understandable, and easy to follow? Appropriate for
the children who will use it?
17. Put a tick in the appropriate column
According to you, are the following adequate or inadequate

Particulars Adequate Inadequate

Page size
Line spacing
Titles and sub-titles
Font size
18.
Are the contents relevant to the needs, age and level of understanding of the
students?
19.
Is there an introduction and summary?
20. (II)
Does it have:
GUI
(a) an introduction explaining its organization
DEL
(b) table of contents
(c) glossary
INES
(d) index FOR
21. 22. Are there suggestions for DEV
(a) further reading in the area ELO
(b) websites for further information PIN
G A
TEACHERS’ GUIDE:

A teacher’s guide serves to educate teachers and thus, could be seen as a means of helping teachers develop
professionally. Textbooks are usually accompanied with a teacher’s guide aimed at informing teachers of
how best to use it to facilitate student learning. Teacher guides provide detailed explanation of key concepts,
the way to teach a particular topic and provides further examples that could be given to facilitate learning.

Basic features of a teacher's guide:

Teacher’s guide should:
• help teacher’s teach text and extend activities by keeping contextual realities in view.
• Expand and develop teacher’s repertoire of knowledge and skills.
• Provide various teaching strategies and rationale for suggested teaching
• Familiarize teachers with various assessment strategies
• Provide additional teaching learning resources e.g. photocopiable materials that teachers can use in
the classrooms.
• Provides extended activities and how to conduct them
• Contains information sources for teachers’ ongoing professional development.

Structure/ Outline of Teachers’ guide:

A teachers’ guide should have the following:
• Title
• Introduction
• Overview of the SLOs
• Detailed instructions regarding methodology, learning activities and assessment procedures
• Further reading materials

Stages of Teachers’ Guide Development:

Planning
• Identify teaching strategies appropriate to context of teaching and learning, according to textbook,
and rationale for each strategy.
• Identify which teaching strategies suitable for teaching knowledge, skills, and dispositions in each
chapter.
• Identify what extended activities students could do with teacher’s help to develop target knowledge,
skills and dispositions.
• Identify resources needed for teaching strategies and extension activities.
• Identify sources of information teachers can use to develop their pedagogical knowledge, skills and
values.
• Identify gaps in resources or strategies that will need to be developed or explained
• Identify assessment strategies that require further explanation for effective use by the teachers.

Writing
• Address the teacher(s)
 • Write each chapter sequence corresponding to the text so teachers can cross-reference easily
• Identify constraints and strengths of each strategy or activity, especially if likely to be new for
teachers
• Explain how to implement each instructional strategy, adding resources or sources of information as
needed.
• Give clear, sequences instructions for each activity, adding resources where necessary.
• Explain each assessment strategy (strengths, weaknesses, how to implement) and give examples of
questions, tests
• Give teachers choices of strategy/activity for each chapter (let them decide which to use)
• Explain how and where teachers can develop low-cost or no-cost resources.
• Decide where illustrations needed and prepare brief for illustrator.
• Recommend additional reading materials for teachers

Edit
• Check guide is error-free
• Check if contextually relevant-revise if needed, or remove.
• Check that steps for each strategy/activity easily understood.

Pilot
• Ask teachers to use the guide for teaching the textbook
• Revise according to suggestions/feedback from teachers.

(III) GUIDELINE FOR WRITING A WORKBOOK

Workbooks are books that contain writing activities and exercises that are related to each chapter in the
textbook. Workbook exercises help to develop students conceptual understanding of the concepts dealt with
in the text, to develop skills and to apply knowledge to new situations.

Basic Features of a Workbook:

• many exercises and activities for each chapter, topic, subtopic
• exercise and activities effectively help develop, practice and assess students' content knowledge,
skills and higher order thinking
• accurate exercises (mistake free)
• correspond to text – exercises and activities for same topic, chapter grouped together; presuppose
knowledge and skills developed in text only
• different from exercises, activities in text and guide
• non-repetitive in style, structure ― engage students
• easy for students to understand and follow – clear instructions
• illustrations/examples/explanations

Stages in Developing a Workbook:

Planning (for each chapter)

• Identify key learning targets (knowledge, skills, HOT)
• Decide what and how many activities will be used to develop students’ skills and HOT through
practice
• Decide what and how many exercises/activities will be used to assess students' knowledge, skills and
HOT.
• Organize exercises and activities (lower  higher order, practice  assess)

Writing
• Write as if talking to students
• Keep enough space for students’ responses (where appropriate)
 • According to plan made, write each exercise/activity. (Instructions, example and/or illustration,
exercise OR instructions, activity)
• Keep teaching/learning environment in view, ensure vocabulary is appropriate for grade level.
• Avoid repeating the style or structure of activities/exercises.
• Avoid using too many activities for one topic or skill. However, where possible, integrate skills
and/or topics into exercises/activities at different points for deeper development and assessment.

Design
• Design layout and illustrator prepares illustrations.

Edit
• Check appropriateness and accuracy
• Check if corresponds to text and learning targets
• Check if instructions clear and explicit
• Check if illustrations help in clarifying understanding or show what children are supposed to do,
what product looks like
• Check for contextual constraints – remove or revise if not feasible

Pilot
• Have students read and do – change as needed.

(IV) DEVELOPING DOCUMENTARIES:

Documentaries are movies presenting facts and information, about a political, historical or social issue rather
than telling a fictional story. Documentaries give students the opportunity to express themselves using the
latest technologies. At the same time, they master basic skills — such as researching, reading, writing, and
speaking. They also build critical skills including problem solving, collaboration, and gathering and
analyzing data.

To design a documentary solution to best meet their students’ needs, educators can use our simple online
tool to choose from a variety of software and equipment.

For editing, educators can choose from iMovie (part of the iLife ’08 digital authoring suite) for simple
movie creation, Final Cut Express for more advanced editing, or Final Cut Pro, the same tool that
professionals use. Then they can choose from a variety of cameras, scanners, storage devices, and other
accessories to complete their solution.

To make it easy for teachers to get started, there’s also the Documentary Resource Kit, which includes the
National History Day DVD “Using iMovie to Create a Documentary,” “Stories Worth Telling: A Guide to
Creating Student-Led Documentaries,” and a Documentary Resource CD, which can be easily available:
http://www.apple.com/education/documentary/

Engaging students create documentaries:

Have your students become recorders of reality and create documentaries. Creating documentaries is a
challenge. It requires that students understand an issue, its complexity, and the multiple perspectives through
which different people view the subject.

Students who create a documentary on a topic will be challenged to understand their topic from multiple
perspectives, and they will have to represent those realities accurately through video. In an excellent
documentary, students show the viewers different perspectives through carefully chosen video clips and
have the viewers arrive at their own conclusions.

Encourage your students to consider carefully the subject of their documentary and find footage that
supports their assertions. If they are doing a documentary on solid waste or recycling, they should have
footage of a landfill or recycling plant. There should be interviews with people on all sides of the issue, and
the students have an obligation to try to represent everyone’s reality with accuracy. It is a difficult task, but
one worthy of the effort.

Stages on Developing a Documentary

Here is a simple step-by-step guide for novices’ filmmakers who want to make a documentary film:
• Watch documentary movies:
Go see them on the big screen if you can. Learn what makes or breaks a documentary film. Think about
what kinds of documentary film you like. Learn various genres and filmmaking styles.

• Become familiar with the technical equipments:

Experiment with lighting setups, audio recordings, splicing clips together. Read filmmaking forums to
get technical advice from experienced filmmakers.

• Choose a subject that you would be of interest to students and is accessible to you.
Choosing a subject compelling that is compelling and timely will result in a strong and relevant film. It
is often better to focus on a local personality or local event so that you will have access to loads of
resources for your film. It’s much simpler and cheaper to shoot at home and school rather than other
places.

• Become an expert on your chosen subject through research:

Research your subject as thoroughly as possible. Gain knowledge through the internet, books, and word
of mouth. Attend events pertaining to your chosen subject.

• Create a structure/outline for your film through visualization.

Close your eyes and imagine how you would like the final product to look. Think about how you want to
structure your film. What do you want to start with? How are you going to build your film? Write down
your ideas. This will give you a blueprint for shooting. But remember that in documentary filmmaking,
unlike fictional filmmaking, the footage informs the final structure of the film. Your initial written
outline exists to serve as a guideline for shooting.

• Analyze your wants/needs for making the film

Make a wish list of any people, locations, items, equipment you WISH you could have for your film.
Cross-reference this list with any people, locations, items and equipment that you do have access to. Ask
people. Check with local art centres, film departments at universities and colleges. Talk to the local film
office. If you still can't find it then go to Myspace or Craigslist and see if you know someone who
knows someone who can help fulfil some of the items on your wish list. If you are looking for footage,
check with stock libraries for material that is in the public domain and free to use.

• Shoot!
Don't talk about doing it - get out there and shoot your film. This is the step that differentiates the
aspiring filmmakers from the actual filmmakers.

• Post-production.
Fast forward through all of your footage, and take printable screenshots of key scenes. This way you
simplify the editing process by creating a visual map of your footage. Once this is done you should
watch ALL of your footage and create an action log listing timestamps. This will help you to save time
in the editing room.
• Show your film!
Upload it to the internet, four-wall it in a theatre, send the cut to distributors/networks to see if they are
interested, hit the festival circuit. You can apply to multiple film festivals at once through the website
without box. If all else fails, invite people to your place to screen. Burn multiple DVDs and get the film
into the hands of family, friends, neighbours, co-workers, anyone you know who is in the film industry.
(V) ELECTRONIC INSTRUCTIONAL MATERIAL

Electronic instructional material is gaining popularity in the developed world. Educational technology
providers are successfully marketing courseware with instructional management, assessment, individualized
learning paths and professional development. Growing numbers of teachers have convenient and immediate
access to entire libraries of instructional video correlated to curriculum. As far as the educational scenario in
Pakistan is concerned, lack of resources (particularly in schools) would hold back the evolution of electronic
publishing in place of or along with printing.
It may be considered that a good ratio of the students have access to computer technologies. They should be
given chances of self learning (rather exploring the knowledge) and it can be made true by converting the
different learning materials into electronic formats e.g. CD- ROMs. The CD- ROMs should be made
available at the school and retail outlets.

ASSESSMENT

WHAT IS ASSESSMENT?
Assessment can be defined as gathering quantitative and qualitative information, using a variety of tools and
techniques that are easy to understand and interpret.

WHY DO WE NEED AN ASSESSMENT SYSTEM?

- To assess teaching and learning
- To check proficiency in a wide variety of tasks at a class level.
- To provide information to different people on how well standards are being met.

WHAT IS AN ASSESSMENT SYSTEM?

Assessment system is a coordinated process of gathering information to improve students learning. Such a
system must include:
- The specific purpose(s) for which the assessment is being carried out;
- A wide variety of tools and techniques that measure what students know, value, and are able to do;
- How the assessment can be interpreted and used to evaluate the standards and learning outcomes;
What criteria will be used to determine performance levels for the standard. That is to determine if students
are partially proficient, proficient or exceptional.

TYPES OF ASSESSMENT METHODS

Four methods that can be used to assess teaching and learning are:
1. Selected Response
2. Constructed response
3. Teacher observations
4. Self assessment

1. The selected response - students select the answer to a question from two or more given choices. Such
items are easy to develop. Their short response time allows more information to be assessed in a limited
time. However, since answer choices are provided, students can guess the correct answer without
knowing the material. Scoring is quick and objective, since the teacher need only check if the single
correct or best answer was identified for each item.

2. A constructed response format requires students to create or produce their own answer in response to a
question or task and eliminate guesswork. This allows teachers to gain insight into students’ thinking and
creative processes, and to assess higher order thinking. However, such items are time-consuming to
 answer and score. In constructed response format, scoring is more subjective and therefore clear criteria
are necessary to maintain validity.
• Brief constructed response items, especially the fill-in type, have students provide a very short,
clearly delineated answer. They are objectively scored because there is typically a single correct
answer that is easily identified. Essay Items may have students construct restricted-responses that
limit the length, content and nature of the answer; or extended-responses that allow greater
freedom in response.
• Performance assessments require students to construct a more extensive response to a well-
defined task, often involving real-world application of knowledge and skills. Performance
assessments can be used to evaluate both processes, such as making an action plan, and resultant
products, for example an action in the community.

3. Teacher observations are so common that they are often ignored as a form of assessment. However,
teachers constantly observe and listen to students as they work. Teachers observing students often get
greater insight through their nonverbal communication, such as inattention, looks of frustration, and
other cues rather than verbal feedback. Observation is also important in assessing performance tasks,
classroom climate, teacher effectiveness, and other dimensions of the classroom.

4. Self assessment refers to students evaluating themselves. In self-evaluation of academic achievement,

students rate their own performance in relation to established standards and criteria. Students may also
be asked to answer questions that reveal their attitudes and beliefs about themselves or other students as
part of their self-reporting.

Within the four types of assessment methods, some commonly used formats have been briefly described
below:

Selected Response

Following are the examples of tools used:

1. Multiple-Choice Item
2. Binary Choice Items
3. Matching Items
4. Interpretive Exercises

Multiple-Choice Items

What is it?
Multiple choice items have a short question, followed by multiple answer choices from which students must
pick the correct or best answer. The question is called the stem, and the answer choices are called options.
The options contain one correct or best answer, and two or more distractors.

Format
After reading each question, circle the letter representing the choice
you think is the best answer:

Which of the following is a local government body?

a. Supreme Court
b. Water and Electricity Supply Company
c. Naib Nazim’s Office
d. Parliament
Strengths and Weaknesses
• Having students pick the ‘best’ answer measures higher order thinking such as reasoning and critical
analysis
• With answer choices provided, students focus on recognizing information rather than recalling or
memorising it
• By evaluating students’ wrong answers, teachers can see what students misunderstood or need clarified
• Relatively difficult to write, especially good distracters
• Having students pick the ‘correct’ answer assesses knowledge and understanding

Hints for designing better multiple-choice items (Teachers should be able to answer ‘yes’ to each checklist
question).
Does each stem contain a single, main problem, stated simply and incorporating all the relevant
information?
Is each stem a question rather than an incomplete statement?
Have excess wordiness and overly complex language been avoided?
Have negatives like “no,” “never,” “none,” “not” been avoided? (Students tend to overlook these. If such
words must be used, bold and/or capitalize them)
Is the correct answer unquestionably right and complete? Is it the ONLY correct or best choice?
Are all the options plausible or reasonable? Have obviously ridiculous options, options that say the same
thing, or those that are clearly opposite in meaning, been revised? (Students should not be able to guess
the answer by elimination)
Are the options arranged systematically i.e. in alphabetical/chronological/numerical order? (This ensures
students cannot guess the position of the correct answer).
Are the numbers of options for each item appropriate to the students' age/grade levels? (2 or 3 options
for lower grades and 4 or 5 options for older students).
Have “clues” to the correct answer been avoided (making the correct option longer, more complex, or
grammatically different from other options, using a/an to show if the correct option begins with a
vowel)?
Are all options for an item as brief and as clearly stated as possible?
 Essay items
• Restricted –response
• Fill-in
• Extended-response
(may be
oral or
written)

Binary Choice Items

What is it?
A question with only two response categories is a binary-choice item. In such items, a declarative sentence
that makes a claim about content or relationships among content is followed by the two choices. The most
popular binary-choice item is the true/false question; other examples include correct/incorrect, yes/no,
fact/opinion, agree/disagree, etc.

Format
Circle ‘T’ if you think the statement is true. Circle ‘F’ if you think the
statement is false.

1. The function of the Legislative is to make laws. T/F

2. The Executive has the power to veto laws. T/F

Strengths and Weaknesses

• Can be used to assess knowledge, values, opinions (depending on which binary choices are given)
• Restrict students' response to two opposing choices, so cannot show a range of values or opinions
• Guessing allows students a 50% chance of being right!

Hints for designing more effective binary choice items (Teachers should be able to answer ‘yes’ to each
checklist question).
Have important knowledge targets, values or opinions been assessed (versus tricky, trivial or irrelevant
material)?
Is each item expressed in a single, short statement in clear, simple language?
Have items using ‘no’, ‘not’ or negative prefixes (un – as in unimportant) been omitted? (Difficult to
understand especially if the “false” option is being considered).
Have vague statements that are partly true, partly false or use words with different interpretations
(“sometimes”, “a few”) been avoided?
Have generalizations such as “all,” “none,” “impossible,” “always,” “never,” etc., been avoided? (Items
using such words are likely to be seen as false)
Do the items avoid copying from textbooks? (Students assume that these statements are true)
Is the answer type consistent with the statement (e.g. agree/disagree for questions about the students’
opinion)?
Can students pick one of the two choices as the absolute and complete answer? This is critical!
a) Are there approximately the same number of true and false items?
b) Have patterns of the answers been avoided?
Is the format clear?

Matching Items

What is it?
In a matching item, the items on the left are called the premises. In the right-hand column are the options.
The students’ task is to match the correct option with each of the premises.

Format of a typical matching item

Match the historical event on the left with the year in which it happened on the right.
(Put the letter of your chosen answer in the blank next to the number).

—1. Jinnah became the first Governor General of Pakistan A. 1988

—2. Ayub khan became the president of Pakistan B. 1978
Strengths and Weakness
• Effectively assess students’ knowledge and associations/relationships;
• Can assess a great amount of factual information within a single topic.

Hints for designing better matching items (Teachers should be able to answer ‘yes’ to each checklist
question)
Is the exercise presented in a clear format (premises on the left numbered, options on the right and
ordered by letters)?
Are the instructions clear and explicit (saying how and where students put their answer, and whether
each option can be used only once, more than once or not at all)?
Are all premises, and all options, of the same category (e.g. all premises are shapes, and all options are
formulas used to find areas of shapes)
Are there 5-10 premises?
Are there 3-4 more options than premises?
Are the premises longer and more complex than the options (but clear to understand)?
Are the premises and options arranged in some systematic order (alphabetical, chronological, etc.)?
Is there only one correct option for each premise?
Do both lists (premises and options) appear on the same page?
Are the lists as free of irrelevant clues as possible?

Interpretive Exercises

What is it?
Interpretive exercises contain brief information or data, followed by several questions. The questions are
based on the information or data, which can take the form of maps, paragraphs, charts, figures, a story,
tables or pictures.
 Format
A constitution is a set of rules, written and unwritten, that seek to establish the duties,
powers and functions of the various institutions of government, regulate the relationship
between them and define relationship between the state and the individual. In most cases
(Pakistan being one) the term constitution refers to a single, written, authoritative
document. The aim of which is to lay down the main rules for the political system. These are
the rules that govern the government. A constitution is the highest law of the land. Because
of the authoritative nature of the written constitution, the procedures for making subsequent
revisions to it are more complex and difficult than ordinary laws. The constitution makes all
political bodies subject to the courts, particularly the supreme or constitutional court.

Since its creation in 1947 Pakistan has had three constitutions, adopted in 1956, 1962 and
1973. The constitution of Pakistan 1973 was enacted by the national assembly on April 10,
1973. It was the result of a consensus among the political parties then represented in
parliament. The constitution of Pakistan comprises 12 parts, there are 2-7 chapters in each
part, which deal with fundamental rights and principles of policy, the federation of
Pakistan, provinces, relations between federation and provinces, finance, property,
contracts and suits, the judicature, elections and others.

Read the above information. Answer the following questions.

1. Circle T for true or F for false.

The term constitution refers to a single, written document. T F

2. Circle the correct answer.

The constitution comprised of following chapter and parts:

a) 15 parts each with3-9 chapter

b) 10 parts each with 4-8 chapter
c) 12 parts each with 2-7 chapters

3. Identify the four salient features of the constitution.

Strengths and Weaknesses

• Can assess interpretation, analysis, application, critical thinking, and other reasoning skills
• Multiple questions about the same information allow reasoning skills to be measured in greater depth
• Allows reasoning skills to be assessed separately from content knowledge of the subject (in other
selected-responses, unsuitable answers can be due to students’ lack of knowledge or lack of reasoning
skills)
• Allows students to focus on applying and connecting knowledge
• Uses information in formats that students encounter daily, such as maps and newspaper articles, which
increases meaning and relevance of the exercise
• Students must use the reasoning skill the exercise asks for, thus teachers can see which skills individual
students need more practice with
• Exercises are time-consuming to construct (appropriate material must be located/developed, along with
multiple questions)
• Disadvantages students with poor reading ability
• Cannot see students’ ideas or reasoning methods

Hints for writing better Interpretive Exercises (Teachers should be able to answer ‘yes’ to each checklist
question).
Does the exercise test reasoning (rather than recall or simple understanding)?
Before the exercise was written, were reasoning skills to be assessed (critical thinking, predicting,
comparison, etc.) decided upon?
Is introductory material new for the students?
Is introductory material brief? (not more than students need to answer the questions, 2-3 paragraphs at
most for older students)
Are there several questions for each exercise?

(Note: Questions in interpretive exercises can also be of the short answer or fill-in type especially for older
students)

Constructed Response
Following are the examples of tools used to assess:
1. Fill-in Items
2. Short Answer
3. Essay Items

Fill-in Items

What is it?
Fill-in items assess knowledge by having students complete a statement. They can also ask students to label
diagrams or write a one word answer to a short question.

Format of a typical fill-in item

In Pakistan, the Head of State is the__________.

Strengths and Weaknesses

• Cannot check understanding or higher order thinking
• Easy to construct
• Responses can be words, numbers or symbols
• Responses are short, so students can be tested on more information in less time
• Offer least freedom of student response, so ideal to check factual recall
• Quick and reliable scoring
• Be careful though-poorly written questions can leave students confused as to the correct answer!

Hints for designing better fill-in items (Teachers should be able to answer ‘yes’ to each checklist question).
a) Have direct questions been used, where feasible, rather than incomplete statements?
b) Are questions and directions clear, brief and easy to understand?
Do the items avoid copying textbook language? (Copying tends to encourage rote learning).
Have clues been avoided? (A/an, blanks of different lengths, verbs in plural form, etc.)
a) Have two or less fill-in blanks been used?
b) Are blanks at the end of the statement? (Multiple blanks at many places confuse
students)
Is it clear that each answer must be short? (one word, number or symbol)
a) Is there only one agreed-upon correct answer?
 b) Is the specificity of the answer clear? (For numerical answers, the units should be given.
For ‘where’ questions, indicate if a city or country is required)

Short Answer

What is it?
Short-answer items are questions that call for students to write short answers (3-4 sentences at most), such as
definitions or showing working in math problems.

Format

1. Define State?
_____________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________

2. List three features of the Judiciary.

1. ___________________________
2. ___________________________
3. ___________________________

Strengths and Weaknesses

• Good for assessing knowledge
• Can also assess understanding and reasoning
• Easy to construct since structure similar to instruction (question-and-answer) in class, so natural to
teacher and student

Hints for designing better short answer items (Teachers should be able to answer ‘yes’ to each checklist
question).
Is it clear to the teacher whether knowledge, understanding or reasoning is being assessed?
Are textbook questions avoided?
Is the question brief and easy to understand?
Is it clear to students that the answer must be short? (Use lines to indicate the maximum length of the
answer)
Is the specificity of the answer clear?

Essay Items

What is it?
Such items literally have students answer a question by writing an essay. The length, nature and content of
the essay is dependent on the question posed, so responses may be restricted or extended.

Format
Why are free and fair elections critical to democracy? (Extended)

Define the term political system. Explain the key attributes of

democracy. (Restricted)
Strengths and Weaknesses
• Require students to sequence and integrate many separate ideas into a meaningful whole, interpret
information, give arguments, give explanations, evaluate the merit of ideas, and conduct other types of
reasoning
• Help students see themes, patterns, relationships
• Allow flexibility in responses
• Can evaluate students’ ability to communicate their ideas
• Reading and scoring answers is time-consuming, especially if done so that meaningful feedback is given
to students
• A single person, the teacher, judges the answers, so variations in mood, expectations, the order in which
students are evaluated, and other factors, affect the professional judgments that are made
• Cannot assess lots of information or multiple reasoning skills at once

Hints for writing essay items (Teachers should be able to answer ‘yes’ to each checklist question).
Can the targeted reasoning skill be measured by an essay (e.g. comparison, analysis, deduction etc)?
Does the question clearly indicate the desired response? (students should know exactly what and how
much information to use and should not be confused as to what aspect is asked for).
Does the question allow for more than a right or wrong answer and/or process, justification, examples?
Is there enough time to answer the questions?
Are choices among several questions avoided?
Has the teacher drafted many possible responses so she/he knows what to expect?
Are the scoring criteria clear to teachers and students?

Scoring Essays, Scoring is difficult because each essay is unique. Obviously scoring is subjective, so it is
important to practice a few procedures to ensure that professional judgements are accurate.

1. After constructing the essay question, even before administering it to students, outline what would be the
best answer to the question. (Doing this now lets teachers further clarify the question and prevents their
being influenced by the first responses they read).
2. Then, select an appropriate scoring method – here you can proceed in 3 ways:

i. Holistic/Rating Method: Using the outline as the best answer, the teacher reads each essay as a
whole, forms a general impression and puts it in one of the rating categories (exceptional, proficient,
partially proficient, etc.).
Advantages: simpler and quicker than the analytical methods
Disadvantages: more subjective than the analytical method, no clear justification for the assigned
grade, no specific feedback to students about problem areas
Recommended for: shorter essay items (half page) which are more likely to elicit uniformly
structured responses.

ii. In between Method: Using the outline as the best answer, teachers construct samples of different
answer categories (partially proficient, proficient, exceptional, etc.). They use these samples to
decide criteria for each category. These criteria are used to separate and score student essays.
Advantages and disadvantages are similar to those for the holistic method except that this way is
more objective.

iii. Analytical (point-score) Method: The outline for best answer is broken down into points of
information. Each point is assigned a score (awarded to student if essay contains that point).
Targeted writing skills are also assigned point values. Making a checklist with criteria and points is
the most objective way to score an essay.
Advantages: increases objectivity and reliability of scoring, makes it easier for the teacher to discuss
and justify marks with students and parents.
Disadvantages: laborious and time-consuming to prepare the checklist and score the responses
Recommended for: extended type essay questions (2-3 pages long)
Hints for more valid scoring Essays (Teachers should be able to answer ‘yes’ to each checklist question).
Is the answer outlined before testing students?
Is the scoring method–holistic or analytic–appropriate?
Has it been decided exactly how important writing skills are? (Does each skill get point, does better
writing change the category of a response, or are spelling mistakes irrelevant?)
Are writing skills, vocabulary, spelling, neatness important? (e.g. for maths, it isn’t important if students
misspell a word)
Is the identity of the student anonymous where possible?
When scoring many essays, has one item been checked for all papers in one sitting (i.e. all question 1's,
then all question 2's, and so on)? This allows teachers to apply criteria more consistently.
When scoring many papers has the order of papers been changed between items (after checking all
question 1's, were papers shuffled before checking all question 2's)? This prevents teachers' fatigue and
the quality of students' first replies from influencing further scoring.

Sample scoring checklist

Content:
Convincing, pertinent, specific, perceptive 4
Point of View:
Clear, consistent, appropriate in approach 3
Essay Organization:
Logical, coherent, unified, suitable to purpose, orderly 5
development to an effect or conclusion
Paragraph Organization:
Precise statement of topic, effective development. 1
Style:
Interesting, original, expression suited to content, flow 3
Sentence Structure:
Skilful use of a variety of sentence patterns (such as contrast, 1
balance, repetition, and exclamation).
Diction:
Vocabulary appropriate for grade level, vivid, precise. 2
Use of Language Conventions:
Correctness in punctuation, spelling, and grammar 1
TOTAL 20

Performance-based Assessments

What is it?
Performance-based assessments involve teachers observing and assessing students’ demonstration of a
skill/process and/or competency in creating a product/making a presentation as a result of a skill/process.

Characteristics of Performance-based Assessments

• Students perform, create, construct, produce, or do something
• Deep understanding and/ or higher order thinking skills are needed
• Involves significant work that usually takes days to weeks to complete
• Calls on students to explain, justify, and defend
• Performance is directly observable
• Involves engaging ideas of importance and substance
• Criteria and standards are specified and explained to students along with the task
• There is no single best product or correct process
• Usually students work with real-world contexts and constraints

Strengths and Weaknesses

Strengths Weaknesses
• Can assess communication, presentation, • Scoring may be very subjective.
psychomotor skill • Inconsistent student performance across
• Through products, can assess time may result in inaccurate conclusions.
performance of process/skill, and also see • Few samples of student achievement.
what learning students got from it. • Requires considerable teacher time to
• Teaching and learning occur during the prepare and student time to complete.
assessment. • Difficult to plan for amount of time
• Students find real-life application and needed because new method, students
contexts engaging. work at different paces, use different
• Provide a different way for students to processes.
show what they know and can do. • Cannot generalize proficiency to include
• Students learn how to ask questions, and other knowledge or skills.
since such tasks often involve group • Difficult with time constraints to give
work, to work effectively with others. each student meaningful feedback at
• Emphasis on higher order thinking and different times as they work on the
application – allows in-depth assessment process.
of main content ideas. • Needs significant energy and resources
• Forces teachers to establish specific from both teacher and students.
criteria to identify successful
performance.
• Encourages re-examination of
instructional goals and the purpose of
schooling.

Hints for creating engaging, real-world performance-based tasks with real teaching and learning benefits
(Teachers should be able to answer ‘yes’ to each checklist question).
Is performance-based assessment appropriate for learning targets?
What essential content and skills targets should be integrated?
Are multiple targets included?
Has the kind of task been decided / restricted? (Targets a narrowly defined skill with a brief response) or
extended (more complex, involve more skills and knowledge)?
Have clear, detailed descriptions of the task and its context been developed to indicate what process (es)
and/or products(s) are wanted, whether work is individual or in groups, if help is allowed, what
resources are needed, what the teacher’s role will be?
Does the task question given to students identify the context, the final outcome, what students should do,
and the scoring criteria?
Is the task feasible? Will students be able to complete it successfully?
Are multiple products and processes possible so that exploration and judgement are necessary?
Is the task integrative, challenging, stimulating, requiring inquiry and innovation?
Is the task cyclic, with repeated performance-feedback-revision occurring?
Does the task have long-term value beyond school?
Are constraints for completing the task included?
Are criteria for scoring included?

Scoring Rubrics
In performance-based assessment, teachers must be able to evaluate the process and/or the product. To do
this validly, reliably and fairly, teachers must establish scoring rubrics and share these with students before
they begin the task. Scoring rubrics consist of performance criteria and a way to rate them.

RUBRICS = PERFORMANCE CRITERIA + RATING

Can be done by
• what score and what • are important traits that are looked
each score means for in students’ work or products.
(distinguish and describe • used to evaluate for student
different levels of quality) proficiency. CHECKLIST SCALE
• must reflect learning targets, • teacher checks • teacher checks
teachable and observable aspects whether criteria intensity of criteria
of task. selected were (how good, how
• What essential features will I see present or not. often, how much).
if students have done the task
excellently, averagely, poorly?
QUANTITATIVE QUALITATIVE
(uses brief verbal
descriptions)

HOLISTIC ANALYTIC
• all criteria • each criteria
assessed but single checked and scored
score gives overall separately
impression • in-dept
• difficult to give description of each
feedback criterion.
• how to judge a
student that is
between two
categories?
 Process work.

How to identify performance Criteria for Rubrics

Adapted from McMillan, J.H. (3rd Ed). (2004). Classroom Assessment: Principles and Practice for Affective
Instruction. NY: Pearson

Hints for Writing and Implementing Rubrics (Teachers should be able to answer ‘yes’ to each checklist
question).
Do criteria focus on the most important aspects of the performance?
Is the type of rating matched with purpose of the assessment?
Are the traits directly observable? (Have criteria such as attitude, interest and effort, that are easily
observe or subject to bias been avoided?
Are the criteria understandable? (teachers can give students examples of work that shows criteria they
are looking for)
Are the traits clearly defined?
Is bias minimized? (teachers can use colleagues’ reviews and students self-evaluation or peer evaluation)
Is the scoring system feasible?

Performance-based Task
1. Ask students to pair up with a partner. Ask each pair to choose a social issue and collect information
about it to prepare an oral presentation.
2. Provide each student a copy of the student handout, “Making an Oral Presentation” and ask students to
prepare for their presentation using it as a guide. Encourage students to use a visual aid such as a chart,
photographs, an OHP or power point. Remind students of the time for each presentation and that they
should be prepared for a short question-answer session.
3. Encourage each pair to rehearse the presentation on their own or present it to their friends and get
constructive feedback to improve: content, structure, time, clarity and audibility of voice and use of
visual aids.
4. Have each pair make their oral presentations to the class. Encourage the audience (students) to listen to
the presentations attentively. Provide each student a copy of the student handout “Peer Evaluation of
Oral Presentations” and ask them to evaluate the presentations of their fellow students, using the
 handout. Use the Teacher Resource “Evaluation of Oral Presentation” to evaluate the presentations and
provide constructive feedback to each pair.

RUBRIC TO ASSESS STUDENTS’ ORAL PRESENTATION SKILLS

NOTE: The next two sections, observation and self-assessment are particularly useful in performance-
based assessment.

Assessing Affective Traits and Dispositions

What is it?
Attitudes, values, motivation, social relationships, classroom environment, concept of one’s own academic
ability – these
4 3 2 1 are affective
Content All the Most of the Some of the Little traits and
information information information information dispositions.
related to the related to topic; related to the related to the They are those
topic; ideas many good topic; some topic; ideas not factors (of the
clearly points made; ideas were clearly student,
presented; ideas used enough shared; used presented, used teacher,
supported with factual some factual no factual classroom) that
factual information to information to information to AFFECT the
information support ideas. support idea. support idea. way students
Coherence and All the Most of the Some of the Information not learn.
Organization information information information presented in
was presented was presented was presented logical (NOTE: All
in a logical in a logical in a logical sequence, teachers know
sequence, sequence, Clear sequence, conclusion not that students
Strong conclusion. conclusion clear. with positive
conclusion. clear to some affective traits
extent. learn better, are
Presentation All the Most of the Some of the Presentation more confident,
Aids presentation presentation presentation aids were not and enjoy
aids were aids were aids were relevant to the learning. But
relevant to the relevant to the relevant to the topic few, if any,
topic topic topic teachers assess
Delivery Clear Clear Articulation Articulation affective
articulation, all articulation, clears to some was not clear, targets.
the time used most of the extent; used used no Reasons
meaningful time used some few meaningful meaningful include the
gestures; meaningful gestures, gestures, low subject matter-
Poised; proper gestures, mumbling voice, no eye knowledge and
volume; good audible volume, voice, little eye contact, skills – are seen
posture and eye and periodic contact. as the primary
contact; eye contact. focus education
confident in school; the
difficulty of defining affective targets because they are private and different for individual students;
assessment is influenced by transient moods especially for younger students; students take self-reporting
lightly or take results to please teachers).

Why do it?
Positive, well-developed affective traits motivate students to learn effectively now and in the long-term.
Students have a better self-concept, higher productivity and become more involved citizens of their society.
In addition, they learn o analyse themselves and refine behaviours and disposition.

How to do it?
Once students are assured anonymity, affective traits can be assessed through self-reporting, teacher
observation and peer evaluation.

Observation

What is it?
Observation is watching, listening and recording what a student says and/or does. Planned observation
focuses on specific behaviour(s). It can be done as a spectator or as a participant. Observational tools
include:

What tool to use?

Anecdotal Tools
Anecdotal tool are ways of recording descriptions of what the student says and does. Anecdotal recording
may be done as a spectator or as a participant. Three anecdotal tools frequently used by teacher are:
• At-A-Glance: Very brief anecdotal jottings made on each student on a regular basis (e.g.,
weekly)

At-A-Glance Sheet
This tool is especially useful for doing a regular observational “scan” of all your students. It provides a
format for recording very brief anecdotal observations on each student, and it allows you to see “at-a-
glance” which of your students have not yet been observed.

You should try for weekly observation of each student. An at-a-glance approach can be used for recording
either planned or incidental observations. If you are using this as a new approach, start small! Target only a
few students, and limit the number of behaviours you observe.

Checklist
A listing of pre-selected behaviours/skills. After observing, the teacher checks off whether each item listed
was shown or not shown.

Rating Scale
Like the checklist, a listing of pre-selected behaviour/skills. However, after observing, the teacher makes a
decision about the degree or frequency with which each listed item was shown.

• Checklist Same as in performance-based assessment (scoring rubrics), except

• Rating scale pre-selected behaviours to be observed are assessed, instead of
performance criteria.

Strengths and Weaknesses

• Requires background knowledge of individual students
• Cannot gauge all behaviours for all students through just one observation – time must be invested
• Especially useful for assessing young children, students needing special attention and in performance-
based tasks (process).
• Done as a continuous process, gives deeper understanding into students' growth (or lack of it)
• Gives specific examples of actual, spontaneous behaviour
• Difficult to stay objective
• Anecdotal recording usually unstructured, unsystematic – especially if behaviours not prep-selected.
• Tendency to emphasize negative behaviour
• Helpful in planning and reporting instruction and outcomes.

Hints for better Observation (Teachers should be able to answer ‘yes’ to each checklist question).
Is observation appropriate to assess the behaviours specified?
Are the behaviours to be focused on easily observable, clearly specified, appropriate (considering
students' age, background and grade)?
Are the number of behaviours and students, to be observed manageable?
Are unusual, positive and negative, absent behaviours also noted?
Have all students been observed at some point?
Has each student been observed at different times in different situations (so that exceptional behaviour is
not generalized)?
Is the tool for observation (anecdotal, rating scale, checklist) appropriate for the specified behaviours?
INSTRUCTIONAL SKILLS AND STRATEGIES
The core of sustained and successful democratic societies is their citizens, who uphold the best democratic
institutions and procedures and are committed to pass on democratic values from generation to generations.
Citizens are not born with required knowledge, skills and dispositions, thus educating citizens from their
young age for these prerequisites for democracy should be a paramount importance for democratic societies.
Democratic citizenship requires citizens with key civic skills and values that go beyond the knowledge
related to civics. Together with the knowledge about democratic structures, institutions, rights and duties
and processes, students should develop and be able to apply skills such as critical thinking, information
gathering and processing, effective communication, problem solving, decision making, advocacy and others.
Key civic values and dispositions such as belief in dignity and equality of every human beings, respect for
oneself and others, determination to act justly, respect for freedom, value diversity, respect for the rule of
law, practice tolerance and concern for human rights should be further developed and be able to apply these
dispositions.

Creating a Democratic Learning Environment

Students need to experience democratic processes in their schooling and communities they live in to become
democratic citizens. Thus, teachers and schools need to create a democratic learning environment for
students in schools and classrooms.

Schools’ structures should be democratic in which teachers and students are involved in decision-making
and solving problems and issues. Teachers should have more autonomy to make decisions regarding their
classrooms. Students can participate in decision making processes if there are student councils, school clubs
and service learning opportunities. True democratic student participation and involvement calls for
conducting democratic elections, opportunities for decision making and discussion among school
management, teachers and their students and coming to consensus on solving issues or concerns.

Teachers should make their classrooms more democratic where students can experience democracy at the
grassroot levels. Teachers need to act as democratic leaders, respect the rights of students, call for student
active engagement and involvement and create multiple opportunities for open discussion and debate on the
issues. In democratic classrooms, students and their teachers negotiate and develop classroom rules,
celebrate diversity of opinions and deal with conflict in peaceful manners.

KEY CIVIC SKILLS

Students should know how to acquire knowledge and process it, how to use the knowledge critically and
creatively to solve problems and make decisions in a variety of situations and communicate effectively.

Critical thinking skills

Critical thinking skills assist to determine the accuracy and worth of information or claims. Critical thinking
skills include such skills as: distinguishing between facts and opinions, detecting bias, examining evidence
and considering alternatives before making a decision. Critical thinking is making a judgment about what
would be sensible or reasonable to believe or do in any situation. Simply engaging in thinking processes
cannot be viewed as engaging in critical thinking rather a particular set of qualities of thinking are required
for critical thinking. The intellectual tools required for critical thinking include background knowledge,
criteria for judgment, critical thinking vocabulary, thinking strategies and habits of mind. Teacher must
directly and systematically teach the range of intellectual tools.

• Background knowledge: Students need to possess relevant background knowledge from different
sources for thoughtful reflection about the topic and make well-informed judgments on the matter
before students.
• Criteria for judgment: Students need to understand and apply appropriate criteria for judgment.
Criteria like accuracy, reliability, logical coherence, weight of evidence, clarity, precision and
relevancy must be developed. These criteria can be used in judging and monitoring the reasoning and
actions of oneself and others.
 • Critical thinking vocabulary: Students need to understand meanings of some vocabulary or set of
concepts that permits them to make important distinctions among the different kinds of issues and
thinking tasks facing them.
• Thinking strategies: Strategies that guide thinking can be making lists of reasons for and against
value positions, talking through a problem, using models (metaphors, drawings, symbols) to simplify
problems and various graphic organizers to represent information.
• Habits of mind: Open-mindedness, an inquiring attitude, an intellectual work ethic, respect for
quality are habits of mind required to apply relevant criteria and strategies in promoting critical
thinking.

Students should be able to analyze the information from different sources using the criteria. Encourage them
record their analysis in the following grid or in different other forms.

Sources Source 1 Source 2 Source 3

Criteria
What is the purpose of the
information? Who is
presenting this information?
What are the
political/ideological views of
the author?
Are the ideas relevant to the
argument/claim?
What supporting and
disconfirming ideas are
presented?
On what evidence is the claim
based?
Where do these evidences
come? Who produced these
evidences? Are the evidences
sufficient to support the claim?
Are facts and opinions clearly
defined? Are there any
distortions or errors or
omissions? Whose point of
view is being expressed? Are
different voices included?
Are ideas clear? Is the purpose
of the author clear? Are the
conclusions clear? Are
implications clear?
What similarities and
differences are there in the way
the information was presented
by each source?

After students analyze the information from sources, they need to know how draw conclusions regarding the
information. Have them avoid being unduly influenced by what others say and decide what they think and
why, defend their position with strong and worthy evidences.

Developing environment conducive to critical thinking

Critical challenges are the tasks, problematic situations or questions that provide the impetus and context for
critical thinking. The use of critical challenges does not imply a particular pedagogical style or approach to
teaching instead critical challenges can be used with any approach. The students have to be encouraged and
assisted in assessing the reasonableness of what they are hearing, seeing or doing.

A question or task is a critical challenge only if it invites the students to assess the reasonableness of options
or conclusions – the task must require more than retrieval of information, rote application of a strategy or a
mere assertion of a preference. The questions to which all answers are valid do not entail critical thinking.
For example, the question like Who is your favourite politician? What do you like best about Pakistan? do
not explicitly invite critical reflection. Moreover it is also important to distinguish reasoned judgment from
rationalized judgment:
• A rationalized judgment is a position that is supported after the fact with reasons why it could be
justifiable
• A reasoned judgment is a criteria-based position. It is a position that is defended because it meets the
perceived requirements of a thoughtful answer.

Challenges that critical thinking call for should arise within meaningful contexts. Critical thinking should be
infused into curriculum recasting some elements or topics of the subject matter in the form of critical
challenges. Critical challenges must be sufficiently focused so that students have enough background
knowledge, are aware of relevant criteria and would be able to do a competent job. In case there is any gap,
it is important to anticipate the tools required by a challenge and compensate through providing instructions
and materials. Students and their teachers should agree on the principles of classroom environment which
encourages critical thinking. Critical thinking is not a set of abilities that one uses from time to time rather it
is a way of approaching everything that one encounters. Through participation as a member in a community,
students actively develop, supplement and test their ideas in conjunction with others, think through the
problems together. Teachers personally model the attributes of a good critical thinker, employ effective
questioning techniques, set appropriate classroom expectations and develop tools for active student
participation in classroom discussions.
2
Information-gathering and processing skills
The ability to acquire information from different sources, interpret the meaning and significance of the
information and make sound decisions on the basis of the processed information are key skills for
democratic citizenship. The key steps in gathering and processing information should deliberately and
systematically be taught and developed in the students. The steps are described below with the example
related to fair and free elections:

a) Formulate Question(s)
Have the students formulate question(s) about the issue/problem/event which they want to find out more
about. The question could be: How can we assess the process of the transparent, fair and free election in
Pakistan?

b) Locate Information
Students should be able to locate information from multiple sources, identify varying approaches,
viewpoints, interpretations, reference books, newspapers, magazines, and recognize primary and secondary
sources, tables, globes, diagrams, artefacts.
Since the question is regarding elections the best sources might be:
• Election experts (Election Commission staff, constitutional lawyers);
• Books on Democratic Elections;
• Newspaper reports;
• Reviews and reports by election observers.

c) Acquire Information
Once students have identified the relevant sources, they need to decide how they can acquire information
from them. They can acquire information through

2
A sample lesson plan is given in the curriculum that explains that how inquiry can done in the classroom
• Conducting interviews from relevant people: experts, general public, the target group;
• Reading the texts: books, journals, newspapers, sites;
• Observing events, behaviour of people, and pictorial/graphic/statistical images: election campaign
advertisement, daily media coverage.
After they got this information, students should know how to identify main ideas, elements and supportive
ideas and elements from the sources.

d) Use Organizers to Record Information

Students can record their information using organizers:
• Timeline-order chronologically the development of an issue/problem/event: For example, development
of election process;
• Fishbone-identify two different positions to the issue/problem/event: For example, different positions
about election process;
• Venn diagram-compare ideas/arguments/characteristics: For example, the actual election process against
the ideal;
• Spider map-identify key ideas/concepts/arguments with supporting evidences/sub-themes: For example,
arguments about the actual election process;
• Storyboard-summarize answers to questions: Who, what, when, where, why and how: For example,
political party campaigns.

To record their information they need to take notes by using short forms, abbreviations and symbols or write
short information in bullet points.

Abbreviations/symbols/pictures Words
Devt Development
? Question
☺ Happy
* Important
Furthermore, students should be able to organize collected information orderly, precise, with summarized
notes and cited sources.

e) Interpret Information (Use Critical thinking skills to interpret information)

After students have recorded information from different sources they need to interpret the information using
the critical thinking skills. They should be taught how to differentiate fact from opinion, identify frames of
reference, value laden words, detecting evidences of propaganda and bias and evaluate author’s or person’s
backgrounds. They need to evaluate whether they have answered the questions about the
issue/problem/event and need to make sense of and assess all the information they have gathered. Encourage
them to use criteria that are shared above in critical thinking skills to analyze and synthesize the information.

f) Draw Inferences
Students should be taught how to identify relationships among the parts, detecting inconsistencies and
weighing conflicting facts and statements.

g) Draw Conclusions
From the information, students should draw conclusions and ensure they base on and are supported by facts
and statements.

Communication skills
Communication skills are skills that help one express information and ideals in oral, written and visual form.

• Students should be to develop vocabulary, clearly express thoughts in oral form in a variety of
situations, to a variety of audiences, for a variety of purposes; express ones ideas with confidence;
and defend one’s point of view
 • To be able to visually communicate, students should have ability to select an appropriate medium,
and to produce and display it.
• For written communication it is to be able to express ideas clearly and coherently in a variety of
methods (paragraphs, essays, reports), for a variety of audiences; write in order to express one’s
views and to support a position; and, to be able to make notes from the material read or heard.
Two communication skills are shared below as samples to teach students the skills to effectively
communicate.

Making oral presentations

Students choose a topic for their presentations related to civics. They learn how to prepare an effective oral
presentation by using the following steps:
• Preparation: Select a topic, identify the purposes, carry out research, make an outline, review and
remove irrelevant information, make notes on cards of important points to cover in presentation and
plan an interesting and effective opening.
• Practise: speak clearly, time the length of presentation, vary the voice to avoid monotonous pattern,
speak slowly, practise in front of those who can give feedback
• Delivery: look at audience, start slowly, be enthusiastic and confident;

Making posters
Students should be taught how to make posters to communicate their ideas. The following steps should be
learnt and practised by the students.
• Make a plan: decide upon the message of the poster, how to deliver that message visually, choose
colours and decide and text that should be concise, arresting and informative;
• Poster Layout and Making the poster: Place your information accordingly, get all the information
and pictures, graphs together and put them together.
• Placing posters. Find the best location to put the poster, walk others through the posters.

Advocacy skills
Advocacy is a systematic process of working to make positive changes by using a problem-solving
approach. Advocacy includes activities such as letter writing, conducting signature campaigns and fund
raising.

The steps in advocacy are the following:

a) Identify the issue that you want to address. Students should be encouraged to answer questions:
What is the issue? Who is involved in this issue? Who can make the difference in the solution of the
issue? This will help them think about an issue or a problem that they or other are facing in
communities or society in general in which they would like to make a positive change. E.g. Having
garbage dumped on school ground or Illegal housing schemes for the area that was planned to
build a park have been approved by corrupt officials.
b) Develop a goal and a set of objectives. Students require framing their objectives or desired
outcomes they want to achieve from their advocacy. E.g. You want a proper garbage collection
mechanism by the city/local government.
c) Identify the intended audience for your advocacy efforts. Students are required a person/group of
people who would be able to bring about the desirable change. E.g. City/Local government
officials and people of your community in your area who have the power to implement the
change.
d) Decide on the specific message you want to communicate and how to say it effectively. Students
should be encouraged to identify specific concerns and solutions to address the issue. E.g. You want
to raise of people in the community that dumping garbage in the school ground is not ethical
and threat to health of school children and city/local government is expected to provide
garbage collection mechanism for the community.
e) Decide a strategy that you want to use to advocate to solve the issue. There are different
strategies to advocate such as writing a letter to the editor of a newspaper, sending a picture as
 evidence, conducting a corner meeting with people of the community, rally or walk, signature
campaign, peaceful protests, boycotting. Students should choose a strategy that suits best to solving
the issue at stake.
f) Evaluate and follow up the results: Students should be encouraged to evaluate the results of their
actions and follow up the results. If the previous strategy did not work well then they need to choose
another strategy to make it more workable.
Teachers are expected to teach students about each advocacy strategy (letter writing, signature campaigns,
walk or rally, peaceful protests, boycott, fund raising, display of pictures related to issues, conducting
meetings for communities). In addition, required skills of advocacy should be systematically and
deliberately taught and developed in the students. Students should be encouraged to use advocacy strategies
for issues related to school and then move to issues in community and society in general. For students to
have successful advocacy campaigns or projects, teachers should provide ample feedback and guide them
throughout their projects/campaigns.

Problem-solving and decision-making skills

Problem-solving and decision-making are thinking strategies that make use of variety skills. Problem
solving involves using a variety of skills to solve a problem. Decision making is a strategy of using values
and a variety of skills to determine the choice one should make in a particular situation.

Steps of problem solving are the following:

1. Define the problem clearly
2. Define the objectives
3. State what you know about the problem and identify areas where there is a lack of information
4. Identify sources of information and collect the necessary data
5. Interpret the information to identify ways to solve the problem
6. Eliminate the obstacles
7. Examine each possible solution, looking at its advantages and disadvantages
8. Make an action plan

Possible solution Advantages Disadvantages

1.

2.

9. Carry out the plan

10. Reflect on what has worked, what did not and why.
The similar steps can be also used to develop students’ decision making skills.

INSTRUCTIONAL STRATEGIES
Students should be encouraged to actively participate in discussing controversial issues of local, national and
global communities, understand complexity of issues by exposed to different positions, engage in inquiry on
key issues and topics by gathering and processing information from multiple sources, learn from each other
in cooperative groups, experience democratic participation in simulated plays and activities, interact with
resource people on different policy issues and initiate and manage community projects. Students learning
through these strategies generally learn the importance of social responsibility and public participation.

Discussion Strategy
Discussion is a unique form of group interaction where students join together to address a topic or questions
regarding something they need to understand, appreciate or decide. They exchange and examine different
views, experiences, ideas, opinions, reactions and conclusions with one another during the discussion. There
are several benefits of discussion. Students increase their knowledge of the topic; explore a diversity of
views which enables them to recognize and investigate their assumptions in the light of different
perspectives; develop their communicative competence, listen attentively, speak distinctly and learn the art
of democratic discourse.

Conducting a discussion
Preparation for discussion
You need plan carefully by reviewing the material and choosing a question or a problem on a topic and
framing it as interrogative question instead of a statement or a phrase. For example, ‘What are the major
reasons (causes) for the high rate of unemployment in developing countries?’ ‘How can we stop
discrimination against women in our country?’ It is important that students have some knowledge of the
topic chosen for discussion. Good ways of ensuring this are: asking students to read on the topic, interview
concerned individuals, and engage in observation.

Conducting the discussion

Rearrange the classroom or move to another place (lab, playground) so students can sit in a circle or
semicircle as it promotes better interaction between the students. Start by presenting the question orally and
in writing it on the board to enable students to read and understand the question. Give students time to think
and note down ideas in response to the question. Indicate the start of the discussion by repeating the
question. While students share their own views and experiences or refer to their readings write down some
answers so as to track and guide the discussion. During the discussion, ask probing questions such as “Why
do you think?” “Can you elaborate further?” Or draw a conclusion and raise a new but related question.
Give students the opportunity to participate and contribute to the discussion.

Concluding the discussion

Conclude the discussion by summarizing all the ideas shared and identifying questions for further inquiry or
discussion. Summaries should be short but accurate.

Role-Play Strategy
Role-playing is a teaching strategy in which students learn by acting and observing, where some students act
out a scenario in front of the class. Students learn the content being presented and also develop problem-
solving, communication, initiative and social skills (Blatner, 2002). As students examine their own and
others’ feelings, attitudes and perspectives they develop an understanding of themselves and others. If
students are asked to write the content of role-plays themselves rather than simply enacting roles handed to
them it will enable them to collect and process information, and be creative.
Steps of role play
Preparation for role-plays
1. Determine the purpose of the role-play, appropriateness to the objectives, and whether it is suitable
for the age group.
2. Write a role-play:
• Teacher or students develop a realistic situation and decide how to portray it (newscast, courtroom
scene, press conference, puppet show, talk show, panel discussion, drama)
• Define the problem or issues in the situation that the role-players have to deal with
• Determine the number of role-players needed
• Develop short, specific roles for each person. What characteristics and background should the person
have? How does this person feel about the problem and other person(s) in the situation?
3. Determine the time for each role-play.
4. Develop a set of questions for the post role-play discussion.

Introducing students to role-plays

• Describe the role-play’s purpose, story and problem briefly and clearly.
• Select role-players. Be careful in assigning roles (e.g. do not choose students who might over-
identify with the problem, etc.). Give each role-player a name tag with his/her imaginary name on it
so other students do not confuse the players and their roles.
 • Allow students enough time to read and understand their roles and prepare to enact it.
• Involve the rest of the class by having them suggest questions for the discussion to follow.

Enacting and monitoring the role-play

While students are acting, ensure all sit quietly observe the role-play.

Discussion following the role-play

Review the role-play with the class. Then open the discussion to the audience ensuring they discuss only the
role-play’s content. If discussing a problem, students can explore alternative solutions. Summarize the role-
play, focusing on student’s understanding of the problem that was being dramatized and/or attempt to solve
the problem.

Cooperative Learning Strategy

Cooperative learning is a strategy in which students work together in small groups to maximize their own
and each others’ learning. In cooperative classrooms students have two responsibilities: (i) to learn and
complete assigned material and, (ii) to make sure that all members of the group do so as well. A score of
academic, social and psychological benefits are associated with working collaboratively in groups such as
improved self-esteem, increased on-task time, increased higher order thinking, better understanding of
material, ability to work with others in groups and improved attitudes towards school and teachers.
Cooperative learning creates opportunities for students to use and master social skills necessary for living
productive and satisfying lives.

There are 5 elements of cooperative learning. These are:

Positive Interdependence means that students believe they will achieve their cooperative learning group
goals if and only if the other group members achieve their goals. You can structure in positive
interdependence by setting a goal students can only achieve if they work together cooperatively; providing a
group a single set of materials; or assigning roles to each group/member.

Individual Accountability is each group member being able to do an assignment similar to the group’s task
on his/her own. Individual accountability can be structured within learning groups by calling on individual
students to answer a question on some part of the work they did in their group and conducting regular
quizzes and tests that group members must take individually on material learned in their groups.

Processing is group members discussing and evaluating how well they are achieving their goals and
maintaining successful working relationships. A simple way of guiding group processing is by asking the
group to ‘think of something that they did to successfully complete, tell what it is’ and list the thing that
could be done to make the group even more successful tomorrow’.

Social Skills are skills required for working in cooperative learning groups. Many students lack such skills
and need to be taught them one at a time. Teachers should help students see the need for and understand the
skill. They must create situations where students can practice and master the skill. Ensure that students
process use of the skill and continue to practise it.

Face-to-Face Promotive Interaction occurs when students encourage and facilitate one another’s efforts,
share information and materials, challenge one another’s reasoning, motivate one another to achieve group
goals, in trusting and trustworthy ways.

Two examples of cooperative learning structures that incorporate the five basic elements are described
below:
Think-Pair-Share
To begin Think-Pair-Share you must first pose a question to the class that requires students to think
critically.

‘Think’: Students ‘Think’ alone about the answer to the question for a specified amount of time.
Students write their answers to show that they thought about the question individually.

‘Pair’: Students ‘Pair’ up with a partner to discuss the question, listen to and expand on one
another’s ideas.

‘Share’: Students ‘Share’ their answers to the question with the entire class.

Think Pair Share structures are effective only when students participate equally practice social skills, and
individually demonstrate what they have learned from their partners.

Jigsaw
Research indicates that students learn best when they teach what they have learnt to others. Jigsaw has
students learn and teach each other. It has four steps:
From cooperative groups called HOME groups. Each HOME group member is given different
material to learn and teach to the rest of the group. For example, the first group member must learn
Page 1 of an assigned text, the second member Page 2, etc. To ensure that students learn the material
at this stage teachers can provide them with study questions to guide their learning, and ask them to
write out their answers.

EXPERT groups are formed by grouping students with the same assigned material together.
EXPERT group members must study their material together, and plan ways to teach the material to
their HOME group members and check for understanding. As teachers the groups they should give
pointers on how to teach. For example, they can suggest the use of visual aids to convey
information.

Students return to their HOME groups and take turns teaching their HOME group members the
material they were assigned and are now experts on. The group goal is for every member of the
group to master all the material presented.

Check student mastery of the material and how well they have worked together. For example, have
students take a quiz or make presentations. Let them reflect on how well they worked in their HOME
groups and identify ways to improve.

Inquiry/Investigation Strategy
Inquiry/investigation is a process of framing questions, gathering information, analyzing it and drawing
conclusions. An inquiry classroom is one where students take responsibility for their learning and are
required to be active participants, searching for knowledge, thinking critically and solving problems. Inquiry
develops students' knowledge of the topic of investigation inquiry, skills of questioning, hypothesizing,
information gathering, critical thinking and presentation. They are also disposed to engaging in inquiry,
open-mindedness and continuing their learning.

Teaching students to conduct an inquiry investigation

There are two main types of inquiry: knowledge-based inquiry and problem-based inquiry/investigation.
Knowledge-based inquiry enables students to enhance their knowledge and understanding of content.
Problem-based inquiry/investigation encourages study of social and scientific problems if the study could
lead to social action work with students to engage in responsible action.
There are a number of steps in conducting an inquiry/investigation. Use the steps and skills of information
gathering and processing as described earlier for the inquiry steps 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 and communication skills
for inquiry step 7, and problem solving skill and advocacy skills for step 8, 9. Each step is described below
and an example of a knowledge inquiry and scientific investigation is provided below:
1. Choose a topic and have students frame inquiry questions(s) based on the topic or plan an investigation
by developing materials yourself.
2. Have students formulate a hypothesis, i.e. provide possible explanations or educated guesses in answer
to the questions.
3. Help students plan the inquiry.
What is the best place to find information on the topic/What is the best way to gather data to solve
the problem?
How to allocate time?
Whom to consult.
4. Help students locate information/gather data.
5. Have students record information as they find it.
Students using books should note main idea and supporting evidence (Note down the reference for future
use) or students can record the interview of a community member.
6. Help students evaluate their findings and draw conclusions. Students should look for relationships in the
information gathered, analyze the information and try to answer of the inquiry question. Teach them to
support their opinions with evidence from their data.
7. Have students communicate their findings in creative ways, written, oral and visual. For example, as a
poster, article, talk show, role-play, etc.
If the study could result in a social action move it forward to have students take informed and responsible
actions.
8. Encourage student to suggest possible action based on findings. Select actions that are doable. Look at
possible consequences of each action. Choose the best action. For example:
9. Make an action plan and carry out the action.
10. Reflect on the success/challenges of the action.

Simulation as a strategy
Simulations provide opportunities for students to learn about elements of real life situations and structures in
simplified form within ‘safe’ environment such as classroom. When used effectively, simulations develop
students’ conceptual understanding, enhance and reinforce their skills and build up their positive attitudes
and dispositions. Simulations are strongly student-centred and develop creativity and initiative taking. They
also enable students to experience situations that they are not able to realistically and directly experience in
real life e.g. simulation on law making process to learn functions of three branches of government, mock
elections. They develop interpersonal skills especially when other players are required in the process. There
are commercially designed educational simulations for civics, however most of them are context-specific
and may not be useful for the context of Pakistan. Hence, teachers may develop educational simulations
(online as well as hard copies) and share with others on different civics concepts/topics.

There are stages/phases in using simulations such as orientation/introduction, participant training, actual
simulation and debriefing.

Orientation and introduction stage

It is usually started by introducing students to the topic to be explored and learnt, concepts within the topic
and overview of the simulation process.

Examples:
Simulation of lobbying
Teach students about the role of interest groups and lobbyists, role of public officials, members of advocacy
groups

A simulation of the process of trial proceeding in civil or criminal course

Teach students about legal procedures, applicable law and advocacy skills.

Participant training
Train your students about the rules of simulation, the procedures and goals of simulations, role of
participants and decisions to be made. Provide them a short practice to see whether students understand the
rules and procedures and can carry out their roles.

Example
Simulation of lobbying
Train students to the role of attorney, judge, etc.
Explain them about the rules of simulation and goals of simulations.

A simulation of the process of trial proceeding in civil or criminal course

Train students to the role of lobbyist, public official, member of advocacy skills.
Explain them about the rules of simulation and goals of simulations.

Actual simulation
Students experience some elements of reality while participating in the simulation. Monitor the progress of
the simulation, note your observations and instruct other students to do the same. Ask questions by
periodically stopping the simulation to see whether students are clear about the topic, concepts and process.

Debriefing
Initiate discussion on the simulation, the process and help students identify the relationship between the
simulation and real-life application. Extract events, perceptions and reactions of participants, help students
analyze the process, draw relationship between civics content and ask for ideas to re-design the simulation.
Make suggestion and clarify misconceptions if happened in actual simulation.

Examples of Simulations
Youth Parliament (check from PILDAT), The Bill (take from Yellow book or Youth in Election book),
Meeting Game, Mock Election (take from Yellow book), Budget and Taxes, City Planning Game, Campaign
Strategy, Civics Jeopardy (educational commercially designed available), Model UN (available on the net),
If You were The President- Budget Simulation (available at
http://www.scholastic.com/kids/president/game.html but need to develop contextually relevant game) etc.

Effective Lecturing Strategy

A lecture is method in which, the teacher transmits ideas, concepts and information to the students. A lecture
allows teachers to transmit knowledge and explain key concepts in a limited time to a large group of
students. The lack of active intellectual engagement by students could make the lecture boring so that
students lose interest which hinders learning. Lecturing spoon-feeds the students without developing their
power of reasoning. However, if used with different activities and exercises that call for students’
participation, the lecture can stimulate students intellectually and facilitate learning.

Developing an effective lecture

To deliver an effective lecture, the teacher must plan it. First, the teacher should identify the purpose of the
lecture. The procedure of the lecture will follow from the purpose. If the purpose is to introduce new
knowledge and concepts, the teacher can structure it in the classic way. However, if the purpose is to make
students aware of different approaches to a particular problem, then the problem-oriented structure can be
used.

In a classic lecture structure, the teacher outlines the purpose of the lecture and the main themes/subtopics
that will be covered. Each theme/subtopic is then explained with examples. At the end, the teacher
summarizes each theme/subtopic and concludes the lecture. A lecture can be made more effective by the use
of diagrams, photos, graphics, etc. using charts, an overhead or multimedia projector.
In a problem-oriented lecture, the teacher states the problem and then offers one positive solution followed
by a discussion of the weaknesses and strengths of the solution. Then he/she continues with the second
solution and discusses its strengths and weaknesses. At the end, the teacher makes some concluding
remarks.

Posing questions
In order to keep students engaged in a lecture, ask a question at the end of each theme/subtopic. This activity
requires students to quickly process and use newly presented information to answer the question or solve the
problem. Following the question give time to the students to come up with the answer, call on a few students
to share their answers, sum up and move on. Some students out of fear of giving an incorrect response may
not answer. To increase students participation use the Think-Pair-Share strategy; students think individually,
share ideas with a colleague and then with the class. Sum up responses and move on. Alternatively, use
Buzz groups. Buzz groups are small groups of three to five students who discuss the question before
answering. Clear instructions regarding what to do, for how long and what is expected at the end of
‘buzzing’ must be given. After groups ‘buzz’, randomly choose students from 2-3 buzz groups to share their
groups’ discussion points or solutions. Sum up and move on.

Inviting students’ questions

Before the lecture ask students if to share questions they want answers to and tailor lecture to answer them.
Encourage students to ask questions on completion of each theme/subtopic. Students' questions can be
answered by the teacher or directed to the students inviting them to answer.

Teaching Controversial issues

A controversial issue is considered as an important issue by many people, which involves value judgements
and cannot be resolved by facts and evidence only. These issues can divide the society by generating often
conflicting explanations and solutions based on alternative value systems (Stradling et al, 1984).
Controversial issues have conflicting values, opinions, priorities and material interests, emotions are
strongly awakened and where the topic/issue is complex to explain and resolve. Living in the age of multiple
controversial issues, students need to develop their knowledge, skills and attitudes to deal with such issues.
They are not born knowing and skilful to deal with controversial issues so they need to develop knowledge
and practise their skills of listening to other’s perspectives, stating their positions clearly, being prepared to
change their minds, find more information and deal with differences politely. Learning how to deal with
controversies in the classroom setting definitely prepares students to live in a democratic society where
controversial issues are discussed and argued without bringing it to violence.

Planning
In learner-centred classrooms, the role of the teacher is as facilitator and guide in the learning process.
However, most of teachers’ work is done prior to and after the lesson. Plan your lesson on controversial
issue thoroughly. Search for information about controversial issue, identify the controversies and positions,
collect more evidence and explanations for both or more sides/positions and enlarge your own understanding
of the issue. Help your students read as many explanations as possible about conflicting positions about the
issue prior to any activity. Stipulate possible issues while students are discussing or tackling with the
controversial issues such as some students becoming emotional about the issue, possible arguments, drifting
away from the topic. Be prepared to handle these and other issues in your classroom skilfully and
professionally. Choose a strategy to teach controversial issue which suits best to the topic/issue, to the level
of the students and to the allocated time and available resources. Start teaching controversial issues from the
ones which are not close and sensitive to students’ experiences or contexts e.g. environmental issues as
climate change, global warming, and when your students develop their skills and attitudes to deal with more
complex issues more to the ones that are close to their own experiences and contexts, e.g. honour killing,
human rights abuses in the country.

Setting the environment and building the skills

Prior to ask students to deal with controversial issues, you need to set up a supportive and caring classroom
environment. Start by encouraging students to develop classroom rules that are required for teaching and
learning about controversial issues. For example, classroom rules such as: agree to disagree in polite
manner, state the idea or point clearly, support idea with more explanations, evidence and examples, accept
alternative perspectives, recognize the complexity of the issue/topic, listen to others attentively, treat others
with respect and so on. These and other rules students come up with should be agreed to become as
classroom rule for learning to deal with controversial issues. Explain, demonstrate and teach each skill
systematically and provide students some situations to practise the skill and give constructive feedback to
improve further.

Strategies for controversial issues

There are different instructional strategies to teach for dealing with controversial issues. The following are
few of them.

Discussion
It is an essential element in addressing controversial issue, where every student has the opportunity to voice
his or her opinion and when handled properly, it helps students to recognize multiple ideas, opinion,
explanations and solutions on the issue. Discussion skills are not innate. The students’ age, knowledge and
interests should be considered in selecting and preparing who is to lead discussion of a controversial issue:
this can be done by a student or the teacher. Effective discussion skills encompass three stages: preparation,
conduct and evaluation. Establishing an open discussion climate is a prerequisite for conducting effective
discussions as students must feel free and secure to share their views and argue with each other. The
teacher’s role is to act as a moderator to ensure that diverse and competing perspectives are fairly heard, to
ask questions and challenge ideas (e.g. devil’s advocate). In the case of controversy over values, teachers
should help students identify, interpret and clarify their values. Finally the discussion itself should be
summarized and evaluated collaboratively by the teacher and students.

Demystification
Demystification requires extensive knowledge of the issue along with critical thinking skills and open
mindedness. The strategy differs from discussion in that existing arguments are analysed, whereas in
discussion, argument are generated.
There are four steps to this strategy (Clarke, 1992)
1. What is this issue about?
- The nature of the controversy is identified; namely what information, concepts and values underpin it.
2. What are the arguments?
- What is the content of the argument?
- Is the position taken valid?
The criteria used to judge validity can either be moral or prudential, where moral criteria are concerned with
how all people will be affected, and prudential criteria with how I and my group will be affected.
3. What is assumed?
- The assumptions behind the argument are identified and evaluated on the basis of who is making the
argument.
4. How are the arguments being manipulated?
- What information has been selected and emphasized or ignored.

Debate
This requires reasoning skills, analysis of multiple relationships and consideration of multiple perspectives.
Students learn to organize their ideas, present their opinions clearly and support them with facts using the
conventional formal debate structure of speaking for and against a motion, without necessarily taking a vote
at the end. The teacher’s role is to judge and assess the process of the debate, and the quality of arguments
presented. Teachers need sound knowledge of the topic, so that they deepen students’ understanding of the
concepts and issues.

Role play
This involves learning through acting and observing. During role play participants examine their own
feelings, attitudes and perspectives as well as those of others and develop self-understanding and empathy.
Role play can facilitate problem-solving, communication and social skills (Blatner, 2002). When students
take control, they draw on creativity and imagination. Effective role playing follows four steps: preparation,
introduction, enacting and monitoring. It is important to follow up role-play with discussion. Non -
participant students can play the role of engaged audience and join in the discussion that follows the role
play. Conscience Alley (or Conscience Mumtaz) is a role play technique which helps to identify conflicts,
dilemmas and dichotomies and encourages students to think multiple perspectives on an issue or a topic.
 (Appendix A)
THE LOCAL GOVERNMENT SYSTEM
The current local government system in Pakistan stems from the reforms introduced in 1999 by the military
government of President General Pervez Musharraf which sought to transfer administrative and financial power
to local government. The local government system was put in place in 2001. The essence of the newly installed
local government system is to:
• Extend responsibility of the State towards its citizens at the level of local communities.
• Decentralize power and authority and shift it to the local level so that people’s needs are served in the
communities.
• Make opportunities for people to participate in decisions affecting their lives.
• Allow communities to influence prioritization of needs and the allocation of resources for their
attainment.
• Establish a basic foundation for the practice of democracy.

In order local government to implement the system the whole of Pakistan was divided into districts/city districts,
Tehsil/Towns and Unions.

No. Provinces ty Districts istricts Tehsils Towns nions

1 ab 05 30 106 38 3464
2 h 01 22 103 18 1108
3 FP 01 23 50 4 986
4 chistan 01 27 75 2 567
Total 08 102 334 62 6125
Figure 1: Province-wise number of districts, city districts3, unions, tehsils and towns:
Organization of the local government system
The system has three levels of local government: district (zila), tehsil/town and union. Each level has an elected
nazim and naib nazim, elected councillors, and administration. All members of the local government are
accountable to the nazim, who is an elected official. The nazim has powers and responsibilities for law and
order.

LOCAL GOVERNMENT

Figure: 5.2: Levels of Local Government in Pakistan

LEVELS
Zila Reserved seats for District
Council women, minorities, Zila
peasants & workers Government
3
City districts are districts incorporating large metropolitan areas
Tehsil/Town
Tehsil/Town Reserved seats for Tehsil/Town
Council women, minorities, Municipal
Figure 5.3: The towns of city district Karachi and unions of Jamshed Town

Members of local government chosen

The democratic system is uniform across the four provinces, with direct elections for seats in union councils,
and indirect elections for reserved seats of women, peasants/ workers and minorities in union councils. Indirect
elections are also held for tehsils/towns and districts/city districts councils. Councillors are elected on non-party
basis and serve a four-year term. By-elections for seats of councilors falling vacant or remaining vacant are held
annually and vacant seats of Nazim and Naib Nazim are filled within 120 days through elections conducted by
the Election Commission of Pakistan.

Composition and Structure of Union Council

Unions are the smallest unit of local government which link the citizens of Pakistan to other larger units of
government. The Union Council (see Figure 5.4) is the elected body that oversees the functioning of the Union
Administration (see Figure 5. 5), mobilizes resources for matters of public interest, municipal and civic
activities, and for development in the local area. The Union Administration covers the rural as well as urban
areas across the whole district, thus aiming to overcome the urban-rural divide.

Union Nazim and Minorities Total UC members = 13

Naib Union
Nazim

Peasants &
Workers
seats reserved Muslim members
for women) (4 seats reserved
for women)

Figure 5.4: - Composition of the Union Council Figure 5.5: Composition and Structure of Union
Administration

Similarly at the TEHSIL/TOWN level there is a Tehsil/Town Council + Tehsil/Town Municipal Administration
and at the district/city district level there is a District/City District Council + a City/District Administration.

Functions of the three levels of local government

The functions of the councils at the three levels are to approve the annual development plan and budget, collect
taxes and facilitate formation of various citizen committees. The main functions of the administration are
consolidation and prioritization of needs and improve public services.
Below are some of the key functions of each level of local government
Function of the Function of the Union Function of the Function of the Function of the Zila Function of the District
Union Council Administration Tehsil/Town Tehsil/Town Municipal Council Government
Council Administration
a) approve the annual a) to consolidate village a) approve and a) prepare plans in a) approve the annual a) Develop and manage water
development plan and and neighbourhood monitor the finances collaboration with union development plan and source
budget of the Union development needs and and functions of the councils and to execute budgetary proposals of
Administration (UA) prioritize them into tehsil/town and manage development the District Government
union-wide proposals municipal plans
administration
(TMA)
b) collect fees, sale of b) to identify deficiencies b) collect tax (e.g. on b) maintain and manage b) Collect tax (e.g. b) Develop and manage water
animals, births, in the delivery of services, transfer of municipal infrastructure education, health, & source, tertiary and secondary
deaths, for execution services and make movable property, and services (e.g. water, others authorized by sewerage network, treatment
or maintenance of recommendations for property tax. Collect sensation, drainage, government. Collect fees plants, and disposal. Storm
work of public utility improvement to the fees for ads & sewage, roads and streets, related to schools, water drainage network &
Tehsil Municipal billboards, fairs, traffic signals, signboards, colleges, health facilities, disposal, flood control
Administration. shows) parks and playgrounds roads etc). protection & rapid response
etc. contingency plans, natural
disaster and civil defence
planning
Solid waste management,
treatment, recycling,
Industrial and hospital
hazardous & toxic waste
treatment & disposal,
environmental control against
air, water, & soil pollution
and landscape, monuments
ornamentation
c) elect an Insaaf c) ) to improve and c) elect an Insaaf c) compile information c) elect an Insaf
committee for out of maintain public open Committee to and maintain a Committee to facilitate
Court settlement of spaces, public gardens interact with the Zila comprehensive database people’s access to the
disputes. and playgrounds Council and information system Member Inspection
Elect an Ethics for the local area and Team of the High Court
Committee to regulate To provide and maintain To elect an Ethics provide public access to it for redressing their
the conduct of council public sources of Committee, on nominal charges grievances
member. drinking water. responsible for
Elect Monitoring regulating the Elect an Ethics
Committee to oversee To arrange facilities for conduct of the Committee, responsible
municipal, finance, the handicapped, members of the for regulating the
works and services. destitute and poor Tehsil Council. conduct of members of
Assist the Elect Monitoring the Zila Council
Tehsil/Town Council To cooperate with the Committees for
in creation of Village public, private or regulating conduct of Elect Monitoring
and Neighbourhood voluntary organizations, its members. Committee
Councils. engaged in activities
similar to those of the
Union.
d) to review the d) propose taxes for
annual statement of approval of the tehsil/town
accounts and audit council and to levy.
reports with respect to
the UA
e) enforce all municipal e) approve master plans,
laws, rules and by-laws zoning, land use plans,
falling within its including classification
jurisdiction and reclassification of
land, environment
control, urban design,
urban renewal and
ecological balances*

Approve proposals of the

District Government for
public transport and mass
transit systems,
construction of express-
ways, flyovers, bridges,
etc.4

Review the f) to cooperate with the

performance of the public, private or
various Union voluntary organizations,
Committees engaged in activities
similar to those of the
Union.

Institutional Arrangements for Community Empowerment

4
Zila Councils in City Districts
In addition to voting for representatives through local elections, citizens that is, you can participate in political
affairs through specific institutions that have been set up as part of the local government. These include:

Monitoring Committees
Monitoring committees monitor the functions of the local governments at each level in order to evaluate
performance of each office in relation to achievement of its targets, responsiveness to citizens’ difficulties,
efficiency in delivery of services and its transparent functioning.

Neighbourhood and village councils

Village councils or neighbourhood council (urban areas of five to eleven members) are established to develop
and improve public service such as water supply, solid waste management and maintenance of public streets,
parks and playground through obtaining voluntary contributions or on a self-help basis. The councils develop
and maintain municipal and community welfare facilities and facilitate the creation of Citizen Community
Boards (CCBs).

Citizen Community Boards (CCBs)

Citizen Community Boards (CCBs) are groups of non-elected citizens whose task is to motivate and energize
the community towards development and improvement in service delivery and welfare of less fortunate
community members through voluntary, proactive and self help initiatives.

Complaint Cell
In every District Government Administration, Tehsil/Town Municipal Administration and Union
Administration there is a complaint cell for redressing grievances of the people.

Zila Mohtasib
The new system establishes an office of Zila Mohtasib in every district for redressing of citizen's complaints
against all functionaries of the District Government, Tehsil/Town and Union Administration, Nazims, Naib
Nazims, District Police officers and officials, members of the council and all officials of the Council. The
Mohtasib may conciliate, amicably resolve, stipulate, settle or ameliorate any grievance without written
memorandum.

Musalihat Anjuman
The new System has provisions for a Musalihat Anjuman in each union consisting of a panel of three
Musaleheen (conciliators) from amongst the residents of the union who are publicly known to be persons of
integrity and good judgment. The Anjuman will strive to achieve amicable settlement of disputes through
mediation, conciliation and arbitration.

Our role in local government

Although there are many opportunities for citizens active participation through the above institutional
arrangements in most cases only the Union council is formed and working. If you are 25 years and above you
can stand for elections to any of the above and if elected play an active and responsible role. I armed now with
the knowledge of avenues for citizen participation you can work with the community to put these committees in
place offering to become a member in one yourself. Additionally, you could also offer training to members of
Musalihat Anjuman in conflict resolution skills, etc. You can also join together with others to form a CSO or
you can take actions yourself. Below are two citizens who took action in their communities to make a
difference. You can make complaints in the complaint cell or bring complaints various functionaries to ensure
greater accountability and improved services for your community.
 INQUIRY
Sample Lesson Plan
Topics Methodology Time
Greeting Greet participants and welcome them to the session 2 minutes

Ice Breaking • Ask them to interview person sitting next to them and write the 15-20
Activity information on the piece of paper. They can ask the following minutes
information:
Name, members in family, work place, years of affiliation with, hobbies,
qualities they respect
• Ask them to fold the paper and put in the box. Mix the papers and again
ask the participants to pick one paper from the bowl
• Ask them to introduce the person, whose information is in their hand.
The process will be continued till the entire participant including the
facilitator will be introduced.

Building • Ask the participants to call the numbers; for example from 1-6 to divide 10 minutes
Cooperative them in groups ( depending on the number of groups you want to make
Groups in session, remember it is good that you put 4-5 participants in one group
at a time). Ask all the ‘ones’ to stand from their place and gather in a
form of a group. Similarly you will form all the groups in the class.
• Ask the participants; what do they know about cooperative groups? They
may reply ‘a group which works together’ etc.
• Ask each group to propose a name for their groups.
• Take those name and write them on the corner of the board where they
should be there for the whole session
• Collect their responses on board and also provide them literature
understanding about ‘Cooperative Groups’
Cooperative learning groups develop positive interdependence among
students for success or rewards depend on each other for completion of task.
They learn to work together in their groups, as teacher has less time to spend
on individual. It will increase the learning environment in the classroom
where the difference between age and abilities will not be a major issue
An easy way to remember the five essential elements of cooperative
learning is by the mnemonic PIPS Face:

Positive Interdependence: if one of us fails, we all fail!’

Individual Accountability: each group member should be able to complete
the task
Processing: group discuss and evaluate their achievements and working
relationships
Social Skills: using quite voices, listening actively and taking turns
Face-to-Face Interaction: sharing, motivating and building trust
5-7
Objectives of minutes
• Share the objectives of the session.
Session
By the end of the session participants will be able to:
(i) Explain the term ‘inquiry’
(ii) Restate the importance of conducting inquiry in the classroom
(iii) Explore the steps of inquiry
(iv) Develop the value of cooperation among each other
5-7
Introduction of Inquiry Skill minutes
What is Ask participants to share their ideas on
Inquiry Skill 1. What is inquiry? And
2. Why it is important to develop inquiry skills in students?
 Inquiry is a teaching and learning strategy used in a process-oriented
classroom. An inquiry classroom is one where students take responsibility
for their learning and are required to be active participants, searching for
knowledge, thinking critically and solving problems.
10 minutes
Steps of Inquiry Skills
Steps for Introduce the steps of inquiry to the participants and explain them that what
Conducting do they understand with them at a glance?
Inquiry
1. Identify a topic / problem
2. Formulate a hypothesis
3. Plan the inquiry
4. Brainstorm to identify solutions
5. Make a plan of action
6. Act
7. Build Support
8. Reflect on the action and plan the next stage

Getting into
the Process
1. Frame a Question 15 minutes
• Write the topic ‘Local Government’ on board and let them to identify a
Step 1 question they want to learn inquire about local government. For example
Choose a • Make a list of questions to ask about your topic/problem.
topic for (i) What it means by local government?
inquiry and (ii) What does it comprises of?
frame a (iii) What are the features of local government
question for (iv) What contributions does local government make in the development
the inquiry. of city?
• Ask each group to come up with one question relevant to local
government
• Collect their responses and write them on board so all groups can see the
questions. Remember you should encourage each group to come up with
different question from other, so the repetition of topics should be
15 minutes
avoided

2. Formulate a hypothesis.
• Formulate a hypothesis means providing a possible explanation or an
Step 2 educated guess to your question. For example
Formulate a (i) the current local government system is to decentralize power and
hypothesis. authority shift to local so that people’s need are served in the 15 minutes
communities

Step 3 Plan the inquiry.

Plan the • Decide how you might conduct the inquiry.
inquiry. (i) What is the best place to find data on the topic?
(ii) How much time do I have? 1 hour
(iii) Whom can I consult?

Locate Information
Step 4 (a) • Inform the participants that variety of sources such as textbooks,
Locate reference books, films, internet, data bases, etc. that will provide you
Information with the current information/ data. The people in your community,
observation of actual events, or visits to different places can also be
sources of information.
• Decide what materials are related to your topic and reliable to use.
• Provide them the hand out of the chapter on ‘ local government’ and ask
them to locate the information
• Send them to library and organize the internet facility that will help them
to locate further information.
• If possible for you can also invite Naib Nazim as a guest speaker

3. Record and Evaluate Your Findings

If using books, find the main idea and supporting evidence and make notes
Step 4(b) of the information using abbreviations and symbols. (Note down the
Record and reference for future use)
Evaluate If using people; as a source of information, prepare an interview guide
Your findings leaving opportunity to add questions that may come to mind during the
interview.
Look for the relationship in the information gathered. Analyze the
information and try to find out the answer of the inquiry question. Ask
yourself: How appropriate is the hypothesis based on the data? What 15 minutes
conclusions can be drawn from the information?
How useful is the conclusion? What opinion can be formed? What evidence
supports the opinion?

Critical Review of the Data

20 minutes
• Think critically about the information you have gathered.
Step 5
• Determine whether the information is a fact or opinion. Identify point of
Critical
view and detect bias in the information.
Review of the
Data
Evaluate your findings and draw conclusions.
• Look for the relationship in the information gathered. Analyze the
Step 6 information and try to find out the answer of the inquiry question.
Evaluate • Ask participants: How appropriate is the hypothesis based on the data?
your findings What conclusions can be drawn from the information? 30 minutes
and draw • How useful is the conclusion? What opinion can be formed? What
conclusions. evidence supports the opinion?

Communicate Your Findings:

• Ask your participants to decide on the best way to communicate their
findings. Inform them that they can communicate their findings in a 30 minutes
Step 7 variety of ways. For example, in the form of a report, poster, article, oral
Communicate presentation, role-play etc.
Your • Give them a time and ask them prepare their presentation
Findings • Ask each group to present their conclusion

Suggest Possible Actions Based On Findings.

• Writing letters to Nazims/ Naib Nazims
• Writing letters to the editor/press
• Becoming a member of a pressure group
Step 8 • Asking a pressure group to support your cause
Suggesting • Petitioning (walks/marches/mass demonstrations/Signature campaigns)
Possible • Boycotting
Actions Select actions that are doable. Look at possible consequences of each action.
 Choose the best action.
For each suggested solution ask the following questions and have students
rate it using a 5 point scale.
Doable Sustainable Cost effective Beneficial Learning
to people for us
How doable How How many How cost How much
is it? sustainable people will effective will we
(time the benefit from it? (require learn from
effect will the least it?
last) is it? money) is
it?

30 minutes

Action Plan for Cleanliness in School

What has to be Who will do By when? Who else can
done? it? be involved?
• Draft a • 1 member • 1 week • Principal,
letter to the of the students
Step 9 Nazim group and staff of
Make an the school
action plan. • Take an • 1 member • 2 days
Prepare an appointment of the
action plan: group • Parents
What has • Meeting
to be with the • 4-5 • 1 day
done? Nazim members
Who will
do it? • Write a • Any one of • 2 days
By when? letter to the the group
Who else Editor members
can be 20 minutes
involved?

Taking an Action
• Ask the participant to plan to meet with the Town Nazim, share
findings and
• Ask for assistance to provide funds to maintain schools cleanliness.

Reflect on the action and decide on next steps.

• Involve your participants in a reflection process and pose the following
questions:
(i) After taking the first few steps ask yourselves, Is the plan working?
Step 11 Are things going as planned or are you facing difficulties. If things
Act are going according to plan congratulate yourself and move on. If
not, ask. Should we change our solution? Our strategy?
• Ask them to think about alternatives or follow-up mechanisms. If
Step 12 your voice won’t be heard through a particular way, what other
Evaluate and alternatives do you have? What were the outcomes? How do you
reflect feel about the results? What follow up mechanisms can you use?
Also talk with your support group for ideas on how to progress.
• Ask them to reflect on what you’ve learned. What have you actually
accomplished? Support each other. Don’t give up.
LIST OF PARTICIPANTS WHO ATTENDED THE MEETING AT AKU_IED –CRRP

Ms. Baela Raza Jamil

Idara-e-Taleem-o-Aagahi

67-A, Abid Majeed Road

Lahore Cantt.

Tele Ph Office 042-6672515

Cell: 0300-8439829

Email [email protected]

Mr. Zafarullah Khan

Executive Director

Centre for Civic Education Pakistan

G.P.O. Box 1123,

Islamabad

Ph: 051-2651790

Cell: 0300-5008407

Email: [email protected] [email protected]

Mr. Gul Najam Jamy

Aga Khan Foundation (Pakistan)

House No. 1, Street 61,

F-6/3, Islamabad

Pakistan

Ph: 051-111 253 254

Email: [email protected]
Dr. Quratul Ain

IDSP, Balochistan

House# 7-A, Al-Mashraq Street

Arbab Karam Khan Road, Quetta

Ph: 081-2447285

Email: [email protected] [email protected]

Ms. Talat Tayabji

Aga Khan University, Media

Stadium Road, P.O. Box 3500

Karachi-74800

Ph: 021-4930051

Email: [email protected]

Ms. Dhunmai Cowasjee

Aga Khan University, Media

Stadium Road, P.O. Box 3500

Karachi-74800

Ph: 021-4930051

Email: [email protected]

Mr. Mushtaq Shahani

Director

Bureau of Curriculum and Extension Wing

Government of Sindh, Jamshoro

Ph: 0222-771427

Cell: 030-2077844
Email: [email protected]

Dr. Farida Lodhi

Government College of Education

F.B. Area, Block 15

Karachi
Ph: 021-9246070

Cell: 0300-3522622

NOT PRESENT

Mr. Arif Majeed

Joint Educational Advisor

Curriculum Wing, Ministry of Education

H9 Sector, Islamabad

Tel: 051-4448349

Email: [email protected]

Mr. Muhammad Naeem-ul-Haq

Member

National Reconstruction Bureau

Cabinet Block, Room# 3057, Islamabad

Ph: 051-9207056

Email: [email protected]

Mr. Ahmed Bilal Mehboob

Executive Director

7, 9th Avenue

F-8/1, Islamabad

Tel: 051-111-123-345

Email: [email protected]
Prof. Dr. Riaz-ul-Haq Tariq

Member (Acad)

Higher Education Commission

H-9, Islamabad

Ph: 051-9257003

Email: [email protected]

Mohammed Aslam

Aga Khan University

Institute for Educational Development

Tel: 6347611-4 (Ext. 3621)

Official: Yes