Topic: Is citizenship important?

Author: Anna Rabiega

Addressee:

8th grade primary school student.

Core curriculum:

VIII. National / ethnic communities and the homeland.

The student:

2) explains how citizenship is different from nationality; presents the conditions for the acquisition of Polish citizenship by law and lists other forms of recognition as a Polish citizen and granting Polish citizenship (...).

The general aim of education:

The student has some basic knowledge on national and ethnic communities.

Learning outcomes:

The student:

• analyzes the rules of granting citizenship in Poland and other states.

• explains what repatriation is.

• presents how a foreigner can apply for a Polish citizenship and what the exceptions are.

Key competences:

• communicating in a foreign language,

• digital competence,

• learning to learn,

• social and civic competences,

• sense of initiative and entrepreneurship.

Teaching methods:

• fishbone diagram,

• discussion,

• teaching conversation using photo gallery, movie, interactive exercises.

Forms of work:

• self‑learning,

• work in pairs,

• whole‑class activity.

Material & equipment needed:

• computers with loudspeakers/headphones and internet access,

• multimedia resources from the e‑textbook,

• interactive whiteboard/blackboard, felt‑tip pen/a piece of chalk.

Lesson plan overview (Process):

Introduction:

1. The teacher presents the goal of the lesson: You will learn the rules of acquiring the citizenship of Poland and other states.

2. The teacher asks the students, what the benefits of having a citizenship are, what privileges is a person with no citizenship deprived of. The teacher informs the students, that they will work using a fishbone diagram method, and explains the method if necessary. The teacher draws a fishbone diagram on the board, and writes “What do we need citizenship for?” in its head. The students give their suggestions to fill in the main and the smaller bones of the fish, giving the general benefits of having a citizenship and examples illustrating those benefits in practice (e.g. diplomatic and consular protection - being evacuated from the territories in conflict zones, assistance in the case of a lost passport, etc.). The teacher asks the students to write their suggestions on the board individually. The he asks a willing student to sum up what the class managed to establish. If necessary, the teacher supplements the students’ ideas with the rights of Polish citizens basing on the Constitution.

Implementation:

1. The teacher informs the students that they will hear a fragment of the Constitution of the Republic of Poland about the ways of acquiring the Polish citizenship. He asks the students to notice if the fragment relates to the diagram they have created and how. A willing/selected student reads the chosen parts of the Constitution (from the abstract). The the teacher initiates a short teaching conversation on the subject of the right of blood which is in place in Poland. He asks the students:

• if they know any other solutions,

• what happens in the case of a child, whose parents have two different citizenships,

• if it is possible not to have any citizenship.

The students present their suggestions of possible solutions (right of the soil, double citizenship, stateless person).

2. The teacher informs the students that in order to revise the knowledge about various forms of acquiring citizenship they should familiarize themselves with the interactive flashcards from the abstract “Is citizenship important?”. The whole class together with the teacher discuss the content of the flashcards, and if necessary the teacher explains them.

3. The teacher asks the students to cooperate in paris. He informs the students, that one person in each couple should read the fragment of the abstracts about repatriation, and the other - about the rules of granting citizenship to foreigners. Then the students explain to each other, the situation of repatraints and foreigners as far as the acquisition of citizenship is concerned. The teacher verifies the knowledge, asking a couple of willing students to answer the questions in front of the whole class.

4. The teacher asks the students to look at the photo gallery depicting the commemoration of the 80th anniversary of Polish citizens deportation to Kazakhstan, and then they watch a movie with short interviews of the repatriants (Citizen of Poland, Citizen of the European Union, screen 1). The teacher asks the students to pay attention during the screening of the movie to information that will allow them to answer the following questions:

• Do you know anybody who settled in Poland thanks to the repatriation process?

• Are repatriants only seniors or are there any young people among them?

• What are the complications such a person might come across?

• What emotions do the repatriants express?

• Do we value our citizenship enough?

The teacher asks some willing/selected students to answer the first four questions, and the initiates a short discussion on the fifth question “Do we value our citizenship enough?”.

Summary:

1. The teacher informs the students that in order to summarize the knowledge and practice the skills they will do exercise 1. They are supposed to decide, whether each of the persons listed, fulfils the conditions to acquire the Polish citizenship.

2. The teacher asks a willing student to summarize the lesson from his point of view. He asks other students if they would like to add anything to their colleague's statements.

3. Homework proposal:

a. Indicating the appropriate criteria, explain what the difference between a citizenship and a nationality is.

b. Listen to the abstract recording to review the material and new vocabulary. Then do the vocabulary exercise at the end of the chapter.

The following terms and recordings will be used during this lesson

Terms

Texts and recordings

Is citizenship important?

Have you ever thought what it means to be a citizen of a certain state? Are all the people living in our country citizens of Poland? What do we need citizenship for? Check what the Polish Constitution says about it.

A person can be recognized or granted citizenship on a number of bases. Poland grants citizenship by birth (right of blood, ius sanguinis), which means that, according to the Constitution, we “inherit” our citizenship from our parents, regardless of where we were born. In some states you have to be born within the country to be granted citizenship (right of the soil, birthright citizenship, ius soli) – any child born within the territory of the state (or even a ship, or a plane that belongs to this state) is granted citizenship of this state, regardless of the citizenship of its parents. Poland uses the birthright citizenship rule sometimes, too – when the parents of a child are not known or have no citizenship themselves.

And what happens if one of the parents is Polish and the other is a foreigner? Whether the child was born in Poland or abroad, if one of the parents had a Polish citizenship, the child is entitled to a Polish citizenship as well. It is up to the parents to decide. They can choose one or decide that the child will have two citizenships, unless the law of the other state forbids such a situation. Having two citizenships does not release from any duties towards the Polish state, nor does it limit any of the rights.

When the Polish borders were changed after the second world war a lot of Poles remained outside of the Polish new territory. Several hundred thousand of our countrymen were deported during war and Stalinist repressions far into the Soviet territory. They lived far away from their motherland, but kept the language, observed the traditions and Polish customs. To us the Polish citizenship seems obvious, we have had it since we were born, but a lot of our countrymen could only dream about it. Today, the children of the deportees are coming back to Poland – the process is called repatriation. Watch a couple of short interviews in which they share their emotions when receiving the Polish citizenship. How much does being a Polish citizen mean to you?

A foreigner can apply for a Polish citizenship if:

• he is not dangerous to our state,

• he has lived in Poland for many years,

• he has a permanent source of income,

• he has passed a Polish language exam.

Also a foreigner who has been married to a Pole for more than three years can apply for a Polish citizenship. The process of getting a citizenship is usually quite long, but exceptions can be made. The President of the Republic may grant Polish citizenship and he is not limited by any restrictions of the statutes.