Lesson plan: Social and Economic Conditions in English-Speaking Countries

Ann S. Michaelsen

3 weeks ago

Main focus: Canada, Australia, and the UK

This lesson is made to be easy to follow. You will do lots of short tasks that you can finish step by step. We will look at how housing costs, inflation (price increases), income, and inequality affect people’s everyday lives in Canada and Australia. We will also look briefly at the UK, just to practice reading one official source about inflation and the cost of living.

Learning goals

Students will be able to:

Explain key terms: CPI/inflation, real vs nominal income, inequality, housing affordability, social mobility
Compare Canada and Australia and the UK using evidence from videos and trustworthy sources
Identify how media frames the “cost of living” and how that differs from statistics
Make a claim about what policies might improve affordability, and for whom

Key terms

CPI / inflation: how prices change on average
Real income: income adjusted for inflation
Disposable income: income after tax/benefits
Income inequality: how unevenly income is distributed
Housing affordability: whether housing costs are reasonable compared to income
Social mobility: how easily people can improve their life chances over time

Essay Question 1

Compare Canada, Australia, and the UK on one major cost-of-living pressure (choose housing costs, food prices, or inflation/interest rates).

Explain what the problem looks like in each country (who is most affected and why).
Use evidence from at least two sources (videos + articles).
Conclude with one policy idea you think is most realistic, and explain who it helps and one possible downside.

Essay Question 2

News stories often describe the cost-of-living crisis in emotional terms, while official inflation data (CPI) is an “average.” Using one video and one newspaper article, explain:

How the media frames what people are worried about (language, examples, who is interviewed).
What the article/video suggests causes the pressure (e.g., energy bills, taxes, wages, housing supply, interest rates).
Why two people can look at the same “inflation number” and still feel very different levels of hardship.
Finish by stating whether you think media coverage is mostly fair, mostly misleading, or mixed, and defend your view.

Canada CBC Cost of Living

Why inflation feels worse for some Canadians

Listen to this news story and write down notes on what they are talking about.
Stop it after some minutes and write down the story about Richard and Sara.
Try to write a summary of this podcast.
The idea of a personal basket vs the “average basket”
Why some costs (rent, food, transport) can rise more than the average
Who is most likely to feel the squeeze (renters, low-income families, people far from services)

Australia I’m struggling with the cost of living

Watch this video and write a short comment on what the message is. Take notes.

The UK