Teacher's Guide - The Curriculum Project

11. Employment, Working Conditions& Labour UnionsBrainstormDiscussion1. Ask the students why they think people work. Write their ideas on theboard. If they get stuck, here are some suggestions:• Work is a necessity. Having a job means that we can earn money (wages, income) thatwe need to buy things.• Work can bring self-confidence and status in a society.• Work can stop people being bored, and is a way to meet new people.• Work can bring pleasure and satisfaction.• Work helps people to be independent. They can support themselves and their family.2. Does everybody want to work? There may be different reasons whypeople don’t have to work:• Study - students may not want to work because they want to focus on their studies• Illness - physical or mental illness may mean that it is difficult for people to work• Unpleasant jobs - if people can only find unpleasant jobs, they may not want to do them• Don’t need the money - some people who are very rich don’t need or want to work• Laziness!• Caring for children is not included here as it is work (usually unpaid)Labour & UnemploymentPre-teach: to negotiate (verb): to discuss a disagreement in order to reach an agreement.Ask a student to read aloud the paragraph about labour. Check that theyunderstand what labour, labour market and labour force mean.Ask a student to read aloud the paragraph about unemployment, the textabout ‘Thet Aung’, and the text about ‘employer’ and ‘employee’. Makesure that the students understand that unemployment is not just about alack of jobs. Skills are also important to consider. For instance, there may bemany jobs available in a place, but the people do not have the right skillsfor those jobs, and so they can’t get the jobs.Sai Serdai and Nang Far. Sai Serdai is the employee, and Nang Far is the employer.BrainstormDiscussion3. Write two columns on the board: ‘Paid’ and ‘Unpaid’. Elicit ideas fromthe students about the kinds of jobs in the community.4. Unemployment in your community. Put students into groups of 3-5. Askthem to think and write down ideas for about 5 minutes. Then elicit oneidea from each group in turn and check agreement with the rest of theclass. Unemployment can be caused by many things, including:• lack of skills among the people• lack of businesses looking to employ people• economic problems meaning that businesses are having to close or lose employees• transport problems meaning that peope are unable to travel to find workThe Curriculum Project ECONOMICS: an introduction - Teacher’s Guide37