Lesson Plan

Year Level(s): 11 Learning Area/ACARA focus: Society and Environment

Date/Time: Thursday 28
th
August, 2014. Lesson Focus: Juries
Background Information:
Students know of the legal/court system.
Students aware of the term jury.
Some students have done an excursion to the Perth District Court.


Teaching/Learning Purpose(s) (written in terms of outcomes):
Become aware of the purpose & role of juries. (Learning Outcome 1)
Understand the factors that determine a persons eligibility. (Learning Outcome 2)
Become familiar with some of the strengths/weaknesses of the jury system. (Learning Outcome 3)
Alternatives to the Jury system, time permitting. (Learning Outcome 4)


Preparation:
Exploration and collation of content.
Determination of engaging delivery.
Lesson Plan.
Power point setup and assessment print out.


Learning Experiences:
1. How will I engage the learners?
Content delivery through a variety of methods (e.g. personal experience, question/answer,
text, power point).
Enthusiastic attitude.

2. Student tasks and activities (what will the students do to achieve the lesson purpose(s)? (10-15 mins)
Introduce the lesson in relation to the previous lesson.

1
st
Slide: What are juries and their purpose? (Simple 2 part answer, break it down, easy)

2
nd
slide: The Perth District Court photo - small introduction to garner interest and
enthusiasm about any future jury duty.

3
rd
slide: Exemption categories definitions of all three.

Play a small game: I show you photos, you have a guess as to which category they belong
to.
Country farmer (Excused)
Advanced age (Excused)
Imprisonment (Disqualified) Why?
Judge or legal aid (Ineligible) Why?
Religious beliefs not compatible with jury service (Excused) Why?
Illness (Excused)
Police (Ineligible)
Bankruptcy (Disqualified)
Disability (Excused)




Strengths/Weaknesses of the Jury System: (10-15 mins)
Present the student with a situation (one or two sentences), can they separate strengths
from weaknesses? STRENGTHS.

Cross-section of people an accused person can feel confident that they are not being
oppressed by authority, but are being tried by people like themselves within society.
Involves general community those participating in jury duty can improve knowledge of
legal system, as well as gain confidence in that system.
Spreads responsibility If 12 people decided that someone is guilty, it is more likely to be
correct than one persons decision.
Safeguards against misuse of power Judges have enormous power. The jury can act as a
buffer between the parties to a case, and the state. (State responsible for prosecution of
accused, jury decides on guilt or innocence)
Protects democracy People elect those who make the laws, so jury duty is an opportunity
to scrutinise the interpretation and application of the law.





WEAKNESSES

Not a true cross-section of the community in the selection of a jury, we are excluding three
categories of people.
Difficult task with no prior training, the jury is expected to collect, remember, analyse and
interpret facts, follow judge instructions and be unbiased and emotional.
Complicated evidence sheer volume of evidence.
Concentrate for long periods A NSW drug trial coasting $1m was aborted in 2008, because
it was discovered that some jurors were playing Sudoku while listening to evidence. There
were 105 witnesses over 3 months.
Biases Jurors may be unaware of biases that only come to light in the courtroom, for
example biases against homosexuals or racists.
Cost Trials can go for months and jury members have to be paid.

Alternatives to Jury: Give students alternatives, ask them for pros/cons of each should be easier in
context of strengths/weaknesses weve just talked about.

Judge Alone:
Has a more in-depth knowledge of the law.
Time and cost reduction
Should we shift the roles and responsibilities of 12 into 1?
Sole decision maker (possible target bribes/threats)

Professional Jurors:
Better develop an understanding of court and legal proceedings.
Develop expertise in types of cases.
May develop bias from repeated exposure to certain cases.
As employees of the state, they would lose the advantages of being an independent
body.
Trauma and mental health ramifications.

Videos at the end, if time: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D1ffpDI3kLo
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oi3Hyxuf5AE


3. Conclusion (how do you summarise the learning and relate it to the lesson purpose(s)?
Check handout summary sheet. Three sections linked to Learning Outcomes.

Assessment and evaluation: (How do you know the students have achieved the learning purpose(s)?

Summary sheet should be filled out thoroughly, with high accuracy, as the answers are
delivered throughout the lesson.

Evaluate your own performance:

I was really disappointed to fall 15 minutes short of the 50 minute lesson. I should have trusted my own
instincts on my original lesson plan. My mentor teacher took a brief look and said it would be too long, same
with the amended plan. It would be poor to blame him though and I should have had something as a backup.

I was happy with how I engaged the students. Having caught up with some of them during the lunchbreak, I
got some good feedback. I was criticised for sitting down too much by my mentor teacher and thats fair, I was
tied to the power point presentation for the first section and maybe should have stood centrally and walked
around a bit more. In my mind, it was a small test for me to see if my eye contact, hand gestures and tone of
voice was enough to hold the attention of the class. Im happy with the results.

Again, much like my primary lessons, my range of delivery/questioning techniques was broad. I know myself as
a teenager, easily distracted with a short attention span, and it wasnt so much what was being taught to me,
rather, who was delivering and their presence.

Happy again, that I was able to pick up a subject not in my chosen field, and make my lesson appropriate.
The students were very polite and attentive, probably a product of the school culture and the work of the
mentor teacher. I would love the challenge one day of trying to engage some rebellious students.