I have produced a comprehensive set of instructions and resources which enables teachers to adapt the format of the TV show “The Apprentice” to foster group work, research skills and presentational abilities.
In the illustrative example I share, students research and prioritise the methods used by the 19th Century Abolition Movement to outlaw the slave trade. Students are organised into teams, each one of which needs to produce a ‘joined-up’ campaign to abolish the slave trade. This includes choosing a target audience, a celebrity sponsor, merchandise and a publicity stunt. During the feedback phase their methods will be compared and contrasted with the actual techniques used at the time. The most impressive contributors go through to a grand final where they work with the other students to demonstrate their skills of research and presentation. After an overall winner is declared, all students are required to produce an individual project reflecting on why the slave trade was actually abolished.
The study unit is a real highlight of the Year 9 History course and is easily adaptable for other topics and curriculum areas. I provide the following outline so you can try it out for yourself. The timings are flexible: I spend considerable time on the topic but it can easily be compressed to take place over just a few hours in total.
Full details of the project, plus supporting resources, can be found on this page of ActiveHistory.