This week, Grade 10 Individuals and Societies students began an inquiry task in the form of a PBL (Problem-Based Learning) focused on the topic of immigration in the United States. This is a case study we have been exploring for the past few class periods as part of our unit on the connections between political power, identity, and ideology. Students have been placed in groups that will produce a political campaign video targeting likely voters in a fictitious statewide referendum on the issue of immigration reform. One group will represent the views of the Republican Party (Vote NO Campaign) and the other those of the Democratic Party (Vote YES Campaign). This referendum proposes the repeal of SB 1070, the controversial law that was passed by the Arizona legislature in 2010 requiring law enforcement officials to check the immigration status of those they suspect of being in the country illegally. As a “swing-state” that Joe Biden (Democrat) narrowly won by a mere 10,000 votes in 2020, each group is tasked with creating a video that will motivate independent voters in Arizona, while also exciting the party’s base supporters.
As a way of exploring our Statement of Inquiry (“political power can be based on ideology and identity”), each group has access to a “constituent profile” which is meant to be a representative sample of potential voters. Each group’s campaign should make use of this information to appeal to the various identity groups who will determine the outcome of this vote.
This task will be a formative assessment of criteria B (investigating) and C (communicating).