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The Labour Market: Influences on the Labour Market - 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 Labour Market: Influences on the Labour Market and are relevant to the following specifications:

• AQA: Module 5, 14.4
• Edexcel: Unit 5A
• OCR: Unit 2884, 5.4.1 and 5.4.3

Aim:

The purpose of these lessons is to encourage students to look at some key issues surrounding the factors determining pay and conditions and to build an understanding of the imperfections in the labour market that lead to discrimination.

The data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) provides some initial stimulus on the inequalities of pay between men and women. However, there are many factors that could explain such differences rather than just plain discrimination and students are expected to identify and evaluate some of these factors.

The commentary, for example, highlights the fact that part of the explanation for the figures is that women work fewer hours than men. The data relates to earnings per hour - how is this compiled? Would it be a different picture if salaries were considered; does the nature of the job and the responsibilities that many women have with child care, etc. also present figures that may not necessarily confirm the existence of discrimination?

The questions have been designed to reflect the type of assessment questions students will face in A2 unit examinations - the emphasis on higher order skills is very obvious and students may need to be given guidance in structuring answers. The mark schemes, published by the main examination boards may be a useful resource to guide students as to how they can meet different levels of attainment.

The assessment can be done as traditional written work either in the lesson or for homework or can be used as a group task for collective research and later discussion on the findings and the feedback according to preference.

The Patterns of Pay: Results of the 2003 New Earnings Survey(http://www.statistics.gov.uk/downloads/theme_labour/LMT_NES2003ARTICLE_FINAL.pdf) [PDF, 99 KB] is a particularly useful summary document and students should be encouraged to use it in their research and to support the arguments that they are making. Using such documents is good practice in the use and interpretation of data.

Learning Objectives:

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

• Demonstrate an understanding of the factors influencing the supply and demand of labour with respect to males and females
• Critically interpret data from a variety of sources
• Demonstrate an ability to identify competing factors to explain an apparent economic problem
• Demonstrate the ability to offer some evaluation of the factors identified

Resources:

• PowerPoint Presentation - Influences on the Labour Market [312 KB] (basic version also available for quicker download [195 KB])
• Mind Map - Influences on the Labour Market
• Activity - The Labour Market
• PC and digital projector
• PCs for student research - optional (the relevant information can be downloaded and printed off for student use depending on facilities and preference)
• Relevant exam board mark schemes as exemplars of different levels of assessment

Lesson Structure:

Lesson 1

1. Students should be given a brief review of the principles of the labour market. (5 minutes)
2. Introduce the idea of imperfections in the market that can go some way to explaining pay differences. Outline the major influences on the labour market using the Presentation. Throughout the Presentation emphasis should be laid on the trade-offs that exist between government and non-government influence on the labour market in terms of the benefits to workers and the costs associated with such influence on firms and workers. (25 minutes)
3. Introduce the students to the Activity and outline the points arising from the ONS data, e.g. the meaning of the term 'ratio of female to male earnings'. Outline the aims of the task and organise the class according to preference (individual or group based). (25 minutes)
4. Review the main points to close the first lesson. (5 minutes)

Lesson 2

If the individual route is chosen, students may be given the opportunity to continue with the work through the lesson or to carry on with group research if this option is preferred.

The format of the second lesson and the time allocation will, therefore, be determined by the method chosen. Time should be allocated to facilitate the feedback and discussion if group work is chosen but some discussion on student findings would, in any event, be beneficial in sharing ideas and building understanding.