Lesson ideas to acquire social action a central feature of school lifeGetting involved in volunteering and community action has always been a fairly uncontroversial proposition. Helping people is good. Feeling that you are fragment of a community is also good. The Conservative government,however, has managed to cause people to question altruistic deeds. Twice. First there was David Camerons contentious “substantial society” rallying cry in 2010. And then, and final month,came Clean for the Queen, with its unsettling images of Boris Johnson and Michael Gove holding litter pickers, and smiling and wearing purple T-shirts over their shirts and ties.
The campaign,which calls on the UK’s citizens to “conclude their bit” and rid the streets of rubbish before the Queen’s birthday in June, is a great topic to debate with your students. Should we mediate of it as an “inspiring” bit of civic collaboration, and as Toby Young does? Or is it merely a “cheapskate plan” for the government to avoid paying for more staff and bins?
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Source: theguardian.com