Teaching article
Questions a civic visitor can meaningfully answer
Help learners ask about a role and process without seeking personal political opinions or private information.
Begin with the visitor's documented role. A useful question connects a child's interest to that role, while questions outside it can become opportunities to find the appropriate public source or decision-maker.
Prepare questions about the visitor's actual role. Avoid assuming one public representative can decide every issue raised by the group.
Prepare for a conversation with a particular person
Identify what the role actually covers. Draft open questions about its work. Remove questions outside the agreed purpose.
Ask how public questions are received or how an official checks responsibility for a local concern.
A visitor need not represent every institution or viewpoint.
Does the question match the visitor's role? Allow a partner to read a prepared question.
Resources
- Who Does What? Government Power Match — Use the responsibility matching activity for a separate checked-service comparison.
Further reading
- Parliamentary Education Office — classroom activities
- Australian Electoral Commission — Democracy Rules
Read next
- Turn a class concern into a realistic civic next step
- Local councils: questions children can investigate nearby
- Preferential voting: work through an official demonstration
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