Politics a level where to find examples

Fortboyard · 2023-04-26T07:49:58+00:00

Ds is in first year of politics a level. He keeps asking me for examples to use in his essays and revision which is pretty hard even though I’m quite well informed politically. It seems his teacher doesn’t give them much to go on in class, tells them to find them out by themselves. Sounds reasonable enough but Ds is researching and googling like crazy, I try to help, and we don’t come up with much. Are there any resources out there to help?

tealgate · 26/04/2023 08:54

That's quite a broad question. What topic specifically, what examples does he need? Look at what board he's doing, look at past papers and model answers on the boards website?

RoxanaRoxana · 26/04/2023 09:01

Disclaimer - my politics A level was 20 years ago, but it’s now my professional world.

How good is his political general knowledge? Could he read some of the best recent political books so he’s got examples of all sorts of things, and their context, to draw on. They’re usually good reads too!

Perhaps Tim Shipman’s books on Brexit, Seb Payne’s on the Red Wall and Patrick Maguire’s on Corbyn.

Or similar for whatever era or country he’s looking at.

Original poster

Fortboyard · 26/04/2023 09:10

I’ll get him some of those books thanks. He is looking at last papers and doing the questions, that’s when he is struggling to find examples online.
He is reasonably knowledgable about politics but apparently he needs examples with names and dates and details for all the arguments for and against in all of the essays he writes. It’s really hard to just have those available in a timed exam without having learnt them first. I don’t think just general political awareness gives you that depth of knowledge (it certainly doesn’t for me!)
I was thinking he could create flash cards to revise from but wondered if any sensible a level politics teacher might have made this sort of resource to save time.

OP posts:

katmarie · 26/04/2023 09:51

Can you narrow down the topics a bit? Is he covering UK or American politics for example? And what sort of time period? When I did Politics A level we covered both you see. We might be able to recommend some books/podcasts which might help him.

CeliaNorth · 26/04/2023 12:17

Doesn't he read newspapers, or journals such as the New Statesman? Or follow reputable news sites such as the bbc?

Postapocalypticcowgirl · 27/04/2023 12:09

Fortboyard · 26/04/2023 09:10

I’ll get him some of those books thanks. He is looking at last papers and doing the questions, that’s when he is struggling to find examples online.
He is reasonably knowledgable about politics but apparently he needs examples with names and dates and details for all the arguments for and against in all of the essays he writes. It’s really hard to just have those available in a timed exam without having learnt them first. I don’t think just general political awareness gives you that depth of knowledge (it certainly doesn’t for me!)
I was thinking he could create flash cards to revise from but wondered if any sensible a level politics teacher might have made this sort of resource to save time.

It seems a bit strange that if these are definitely needed for the exam, his teacher isn't providing any at all. In psychology, there are classic studies that students are meant to know about- including names and dates. All psychology teachers would teach these.

Does he definitely need names and dates, or just key arguments?

Are there specific topics which are likely to come up?