Download The Democracy Box report Beyond the Ballot Box
It is one of four Democracy Box prototypes. Omidaze created it because everyone we spoke to told us that the basics of our UK democracy needs to be taught in primary and secondary schools.
The Democracy Box Creative Cascade Schools Programme© can equip and prepare teachers to replicate the Democracy Box young co-creator process with students aged 7 to 16 in all secondary and primary schools and non-formal education settings.
The programme enables teachers and students to creatively re-tell and cascade The Democracy Box Story in multiple ways, developing democratic awareness, understanding and participation among school children and educators in Wales. Each year students will learn the story in more detail and re-tell it and cascade it to the year below them using progressively more complex creative skills, mediums and techniques year on year.
The programme creates the foundation for learners to begin to develop an understanding of their responsibilities as citizens of the UK and to recognise their own and others’ civil rights.
Teachers will be signposted to all other democratic and citizenship teaching and resources and will be introduced to Democracy Box partners and Collaborators including the Electoral Commission and Parliament engagement teams who can answer questions, inform schools about their organisations work and how they can support the school going forward.
"You don't really learn about the system. The only time it gets talked about is when there's a general election. It's something you're supposed to know but you never get taught it."
Young guest on The Democracy Box podcast
A student who is currently in year two will have been told and creatively retold the story of our UK democracy every year for 10 years and will leave school with a sound basic understanding of our democracy and empowered with ways in which to have their voice heard all year round and not simply at the ballot box.
That student will also have developed their Creative Habits of Mind and their creative and critical thinking skills and be ready to enter society as informed, creative and engaged citizens.
The programme was piloted in 2021 in collaboration with Central South Education Consortia and 15 primary and secondary schools and received outstanding feedback. You can check out some of the results of that pilot in the videos on this page.
"You don't really learn about the system. The only time it gets talked about is when there's a general election. It's something you're supposed to know but you never get taught it."
Young guest on The Democracy Box podcast
Omidaze recommends that the Democracy Box Creative Cascade Schools Programme© should be government funded in each of the four nations and delivered in partnership with local authorities and education consortia to create the foundation for year round democratic education for children aged 7 to 16.
If you are interested in rolling out the creative cascade programme in your local authority or school Clwstwr please contact omidaze@outlook.com
Download the full report here.
Blasting the lid off the shame of not knowing this stuff.
The Democracy Box involves young people aged 16-26 being paid as co-creators to explore and develop new ways to explain the basics of our democracy for other young people, old people and everyone in between all year round and not just in the run up to an election.
#TDB #BeBoldBeBraveBeEducated #NoShameNoBlame
The Democracy Box aims to promote understanding of our UK democracy and achieve a shared basic level of understanding by the majority of the population.
The Democracy Box is about young people finding new creative ways to share The Story of our UK Democracy That Every Citizen Should Know In Seven Short Chapters so that all young people, old people and everyone in between can understand our UK democracy and can take part.
Our UK democracy needs all citizens to be informed, actively encouraged to get involved and to understand that it is their democratic right to challenge, question, protest, shape, critique, debate and influence our democracy all year round and not just at the ballot box.
The Democracy Box works with young people aged 16-26, born or based in Wales, as paid co-creators. It has developed four prototypes which seek to increase democratic participation and provide information about the UK’s democratic system and structures.
