CAMBRIDGE INTERNATIONAL IGCSE ECONOMICS: HONGWEN SCHOOL

Lesson plan
Term 1, 2022
Topic: Trade unions

School: Subject: Teacher (initials only):

Learning intentions:
 A basic exploration of what is a trade union
 Identifying the role of a trade union
 The advantages and disadvantages of trade
union activity
Success criteria:
 Engagement on collective bargaining on wages,
working hours and working conditions;
protecting employment; and influencing
government policy.
 Factors influencing the strength of trade unions.
 From the viewpoint of workers, firms and the
 government.

Resources required; any learning resources being used:

 Whiteboard
 Coursebook
Activity: 1.1
Exam-style multiple choice questions: page 168 1-4
Exam-style short answer questions: page 168 a-d
1  Workbook
Key skills exercises: Page 53
Exam-style data response question:4 a-h page 54

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 CAMBRIDGE INTERNATIONAL IGCSE ECONOMICS: HONGWEN SCHOOL

Expected knowledge from prior learning, plus key terminology:

 Definition of a trade union

 The role of trade unions in the economy including engaging in collective bargaining on wages, working
hours and working conditions; protecting employment; and influencing government policy

 The advantages and disadvantages of trade union activity from the viewpoint of workers, firms and the
government.
Learners need to have correct definition of the terminology and need to provide an example, showing you
understand the meaning of the term
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Key terms

Trade union
collective bargaining
wages
firms
Government policy
Arbitration
Public sector workers
Industrial action

Introducing the lesson:

Introduce a Trade Union video. Ask learners about trade unions and how do they affect the economy (to try to get
learners to provide their basic knowledge on collective bargaining and their understanding)
3 Learners should read Economics in context from the coursebook and discuss the questions that
follow the case study in pairs

Lesson activities, including plans for differentiation:

Split the class up into small groups and provide each group with a copy of Topic worksheet

Differentiation ideas:
• Support: You could ask learners to write their answers on Topic worksheet 1.1. They can ask their peers
Once learners have completed the lesson activity, ask the group to discuss the role of trade union if any in china or
other countries
This could lead to a class discussion or provide the basis for the starter for the next lesson
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 CAMBRIDGE INTERNATIONAL IGCSE ECONOMICS: HONGWEN SCHOOL

Plenary / Reflection:
Put learners into pairs and ask them to write three statements about something from today’s lesson.
Two must be true, one must be false (e.g. A trade Union is an association of workers formed to represent their
interest, three ways in which a trade union could see to raise its members’ wage rates are through collective
bargaining, helping with training and taking industrial action , public sector workers are people employed by the
individuals). The learners should swap their statements with another pair and try to guess which statement is false.
Encourage learners to walk around the class asking their questions to different class members.

Assessment opportunities:
Main teaching activity assessment: You could allocate a small number of learners to be the ‘assessors’. When the
groups are working on this task, and they believe they have completed a Trade union bargaining process, they
should call over the assessor who can tell them whether they have created the structure correctly or advise on any
corrections that need to be made.

6 Plenary assessment: Invite the two groups of pairs to the front of the class to ask and
answer their question in turn. This would support you in assessing the learners’ levels of
understanding

Homework, if required (including pre-learning):

Learners could write definitions for the following terms:
Trade union
collective bargaining
wages
7 firms
Government policy
Arbitration
Public sector workers
Industrial action

Links to future learning:

The next lesson should focus on Topic 20 firms

Teacher’s name:
Tabeth

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 CAMBRIDGE INTERNATIONAL IGCSE ECONOMICS: HONGWEN SCHOOL

Sizalobuhle
Sibanda

Date: 22/08 – 26/08