1. What is global politics?

Activity 1 - Why study global politics?

Activity Tasks

Think/Pair/Share - Why did you choose to study global politics? Make a list of reasons, discuss with a partner, then share with the class!
Examine - According to the IB, there are four key reasons for studying global politics. Examine each reason and try to explain it to your partner in your own words:
1. to understand key political concepts and contemporary political issues in a range of contexts
2. to develop an understanding of the local, national, international and global dimensions of political activity
3. to understand, appreciate and critically engage with a variety of perspectives and approaches in global politics
4. to appreciate the complex and interconnected nature of many political issues, and develop the capacity to interpret competing and contestable claims regarding those issues
Explore - One of the best reasons for studying global politics is that if you want to change the world, then you need to understand how it works. Studying global politics can teach you that. But are there other reasons? Explore this webpage, this more serious page, and some of the videos on this page. What are the best and worst reasons for studying global politics?

Activity Tasks

Create - Create a new Google Drive folder for ‘Global Politics’. Start organising all your notes and collecting all your work and resources in this folder.
Examine - Explore the details of the global politics course on Slides 6 of the Lesson Presentation and download a copy of the course glossary. Save it to your Google Drive folder.
Discuss - In your opinion, how similar or different is the global politics course to other subjects you may have studied?
Review - Examine, take notes, and review the information from Slides 7-11 of the Lesson Presentation, and try to answer these questions:
1. How is the SL course different to the HL course?
2. How is Paper 1 different to Paper 2?
3. What extra work do HL students have to do?
4. Do either SL and/or HL students have to do the coursework?
5. Of the three textbooks, which is the core book? which is best for revision? which is for further reading?
6. What is the support website for this course?
7. Which page can be used for additional research links?
8. What is the best way to gain more knowledge of global politics?

Activity Tasks

Read - Examine this article that discuss and defines political issues, and try to answer the following questions:
1. What do we mean by the term ‘politics’?
2. What is ‘the state’?
3. What is the goal of the state and what role does politics play in that?
4. What has caused our understanding of ‘political issues’ to change?
5. What other political actors now operate in the world alongside ‘the state’?
6. In what ways are political issues a part of our daily lives?
7. At what levels of analysis do political issues operate?
Discuss - In your own words, define what a political issue is and share with a partner. Can you think of any examples of political issues currently going on: globally? in Asia? in China? in Hong Kong? - Then watch the videos - how do the issues compare?
Locate - Now spend 20 minutes walking around school. Your aim is to identify as many political issues as possible. Take a picture of each political issue you find and share it on this class Padlet.

Activity Tasks

Prepare - For this activity you will need to refer to your glossary documents to explore the definitions of the sixteen key concepts of the global politics course.
Identify - You will now be shown a series of images. Each one will represent one of the 16 Key Concepts of the course. Using your Glossary, try to guess what the concept is and be prepared to explain why you think that!