This week we ran the project "Choose the Leader of Winter Education", an experience that helped the children understand ideas such as leadership, argument and responsibility.
The candidates suited the season. Rudolf the Reindeer promised trips full of educational adventures. The Ice Queen came with pledges of order and organisation across all activities. The Snowman guaranteed a cheerful, creative atmosphere. Bookish the Elf built his platform on learning through reading and captivating stories.
The children examined each candidate's programme, discussed the ideas and, in the end, voted for the leader who had won their trust. The most interesting part was, as in any election, the debate before the vote: one child quickly notices that a promise sounds excellent but says nothing about how it will be kept, while another points out that two pledges from the same candidate cannot really work together.
Through this activity they learned to listen and to voice their opinions, to weigh promises and take informed decisions, and to understand the role elections play in a community. These are skills that cannot be taught theoretically at this age; they are practised in a situation where the vote actually decides something.
And there is one more quiet lesson in any vote: somebody loses, and the result is accepted. At seven, that is learned better through a storybook candidate than in almost any other setting.