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Trade Liberalisation: A Means of Promoting Growth in Developing Countries? - Lesson Plan: 2 x 1 hour lessons

A series of 'off the shelf' lesson plans and resources for use in the classroom. These lessons deal with the Trade Liberalisation and are relevant to the following specifications:

• AQA: Module 6, 15.4
• Edexcel: Unit 6
• OCR: Module 2886, 5.6.5. Module 2887, 5.7.4

Aim:

The Activity presents the student with the opportunity of refreshing the memory about the theory behind protectionism and comparative advantage in international trade. The main part of the Activity is attempting to look at some of the evidence about the effect of trade liberalisation on developing countries and whether the claims for opening up of markets is as effective as the theory might suggest.

Some of the suggested links reveal documents that are lengthy and, in some cases, aimed at an academic audience. Students at A2 level should be starting to get used to doing a bit more in terms of research for their work, but if the sight of lengthy documents is a bit daunting, the educator could do some judicious cutting and pasting (remembering to ensure that appropriate referencing of sources is done) to make the amount of material the student has to face more manageable - especially for those at the lower range of the ability level.

Learning Objectives:

At then end of the lessons students should be able to:

• Draw diagrams to show the effect of tariffs and quotas on the level of imports
• Write a paragraph explaining the principle of comparative advantage and the benefits to countries of free trade
• Draw diagrams to show the effect on trade of reducing tariff barriers
• Demonstrate the skills of selection in conducting research using a variety of sources
• Present a coherent and concise argument that demonstrates the skill of synthesising the evidence covered during the research

Resources:

• PowerPoint Presentation - Protectionism and Trade Liberalisation [155 KB] (basic version also available for quicker download [109 KB])
• Mind Map - Protectionism and Trade Liberalisation
• Activity - Trade Liberalisation
• PCs for student research
• Digital projector and linked PC
• Edited copies of the documents in the links (optional)

Lesson Structure:

Lesson 1

1. Outline the main learning outcomes of the lessons to the students. (5 minutes)
2. Use the PowerPoint Presentation to cover the issues relating to protectionism and trade liberalisation. (20 minutes)
3. Give out the Activity and outline the tasks. (5 minutes)
4. Students begin to work through the tasks (aim to get through tasks 1 and 2 at least). (25 minutes)
5. Outline the aim and the structure of the next lesson and review the main outcomes of the lesson. (5 minutes)

Lesson 2

1. Remind students of the structure and aims of the lesson. (5 minutes)
2. Students continue working through the tasks - ensure that students are given support during this phase of the lesson in structuring their argument and using appropriate evidence drawn from the research to support their points. (Task 4 can be submitted as a written piece for formal assessment.) (45 minutes)
3. Bring the tasks to an end and spend the end of the lesson summarising the main points in terms of the extent to which trade liberalisation has a positive impact on developing countries. (10 minutes)