Professional Inquiry Project Report

Taylor Gouw
PSIII Fall 2015
I. Statement of the selected focus of the Project.
Engaging students in Social Studies outcomes and Current Events by
involving them directly in Student Vote. Parallel to the Federal Election,
students will have an opportunity to vote in a situation that is identical
to the real life voting that those of voting age will experience on
October 19.

II. Description of the activities, process, and research involved

in the Project.
Prior to voting. Student will be engaged in a variety of lessons and
activities that will prepare them to make accurate and reasonable
decisions on Student Vote day. This will begin with lessons and
explanations of how the voting process works. What the different roles
and responsibilities within the government are, and what the
candidates will do for their region. Students will explore the different
political parties, their platforms and the candidates in their riding. I will
use materials and lessons from the Student Vote resources, as well as
other resources available for the necessary components.
During Student Vote Week. My grade 9 class will take a lead role in the
week of voting, as this project works best with the required outcomes
for Social Studies 9. Social classes of all levels will be invited and
encouraged to participate in our voting day. The grade 9 class will set
up and prepare the ballot boxes and the appropriate checklists for the

voting. The students will cast their ballots in a simulation of a real-life

voting situation; there will be privacy panels so that votes can be cast
in private, as well as official ballot boxes and registration processes.
After Student Vote Week. We will be responsible for counting the
ballots and reporting them to Student Vote. The grade 9 students will
be in charge of counting and preparing the ballots for this, with
supervision. We will record the information of our school ballots cast
and compare them to the official results. We will continue to track the
polls and then the final results of the federal election on October 19.
We will also examine and compare the official Student Vote results for
all of Canada to the results of the Federal election.

III. Timeline of events in completing the Project.

Weeks prior to Student Vote preparation of material.
lessons about the Federal election and process
researching political parties
Week of Student Vote October 13-15
Grade 9 class will prepare voting stations
October 14 students from all levels will come to vote in the
student election
October 16 the results from our school will be reported to
Student Vote
Week of Federal Election October 19-23
October 19 Federal Election Day
October 19 After elections have closed the official results of
Student Vote are released
Students will track and report the official Election Results
Students will be engaged in class discussion related to the
results of the Election, discussing reactions, opinions, and new
ideas that will be introduced by the elected government

IV. Description of the Project Presentation.

My presentation outlines what Student Vote is; the origins, purpose,
and importance of engaging students in Canadian civics. It also ties the
activities and involvement directly to the objectives of the Alberta
Social Studies K-12 curriculum in the Program Vision, the Role of Social
Studies, and specific objectives within the curriculum. Then, in lists the
four main steps in implementing the program: (1) Register your school,
(2) Receive materials, (3) Engage with campaign, (4) Student Vote Day.
At this point, my presentation contains an example of some of the
classroom materials available for Student Vote. These resources are
available through the program and can be adapted to ensure students
are ready and prepared for the election. The first example is a video
that depicts how Canadas first past the post election system functions.
Secondly, is a worksheet that has specific questions to help students to
prepare their final decision as to who they will be voting for in the
election, along with the justification for their decision. To accompany
the examples of material, there is also an article provided that was
written in a local newspaper about how Student Vote was being
successfully implemented in their community school.
The next section is a summary of a critical evaluation of the
effectiveness of Student Vote that was done by Elections Canada. Key
points of the information included: how students, teachers and parents
responded to the program, the extent to which teachers felt supported
through the program, and whether teachers would implement the
program again. Statistics were compared to a control group that had
not at that time or previously been involved in Student Vote. All the
responses positively described Student Vote and were in support of
using the Student Vote program.

The timeline described above was also included in the presentation to

summarize how the implementation of the program looks.
Finally, I concluded my presentation with a description of why I chose
this project. I believe it was vital in connecting students to the reality
of voting. By directly engaging students in what is happening with the
election around them, it allows them to appreciate and better
understand how the process works. My aim is that through this, in the
future, students will be able to properly engage and participate in
elections in their adulthood.

V. Summary of the final outcomes of the Project.

The Student Vote 2015 Project was very successful. The Grade 9 class
did an excellent job of organizing the students and leading them
through the voting terminals. We had a great turnout with 207 students
(out of approximately 250 students) coming to vote. With minor
confusion to start off, the students were able to successful exercise
their right to vote in our mock election.
The results for the Bow River riding, of which we were a part, were very
typical. Students voted the same Member of Parliament as was
officially elected into their riding Martin Shields (Conservative Party).
This held true with other schools in the riding that participated in
Student Vote
(http://www.studentvote.ca/results/home/district_results/7/7/48003) .
As well, all Candidates for the riding were elected in the same order as
the official election, with the Liberal candidate placing second. The
students elected in Martin Shields with 57% of the vote, while the

Liberal candidate, William MacDonald Alexander, only accounted for

16% of the vote.
Student involvement throughout the election was superb, and all
classes arrived eager on October 20 to discover and discuss the results
of the election. Many arrived with comments and questions from home,
which indicates that students were able to contribute and discuss
election results at home by the knowledge they gained through
participating in Student Vote. This lead to many great conversations as
students were interested to express their thoughts and questions on
the election after the fact. Students from all grades were able to
benefit and be exposed to the voting process through this project.
Reports from other staff members whose students were able to
participate in Student Vote were all very positive, with their students
engaging in similarly excited discussion after the results were in.
I found this project to be very rewarding in that I believe it truly
allowed students to gain a first hand perspective on what the voting
process looks like. It was able to directly engage them in the action,
giving them hands on experience in Canadian politics and civic duty. I
would, without a doubt, continue work through Student Vote, and
encourage and support as many others to utilize it as well.