Dear Colleagues,

We wish a Happy St Andrew's Day to members both in Scotland and throughout the UK. 

This month, the PSA publishes a new Teacher's Topic Guide on the US Constitution. We also provide news about a Teacher's event at the Welsh National Assembly in Cardiff in January and announce the winners of the PSA Short Video Competition. This and other news items follow below. 

Earlier this month saw the dramatic and unexpected election of Donald Trump to the US Presidency. 

The PSA is always keen to provide more resources for our teacher members, including those teaching US Politics units. In response to this the PSA this month publishes a new Teachers' Topic Guide on the US Constitution.This has been written by Professor Robert McKeever, Associate Fellow at the Instittue for the Americas, UCL.

Please access the Guide here and remember to be logged in with your PSA username and password. 

If you have suggestions of any particular topics that you would like to be covered in future Teachers' Topic Guides then please contact Josh Niderost.

The PSA's first teachers' event of 2017 will be a discussion on Liberalism at the National Assembly for Wales. 

This will take place at the National Assembly for Wales onTuesday 17th January 2017 from 18.30-20.00. It will be chaired by Labour's Hefin David AM. The speakers will be Dr Peter Sloman from Churchill College Cambridge and Eluned Parrott, the former Welsh Liberal Democrat AM for South Wales Central. 

The 2015 general election, 2016 Welsh Assembly election and referendum on the EU have seen voters switch from those political parties and opinions advocated by the centre ground of politics and move towards those ideas put forward by those on right. With the centre ground of politics across much of the Western World also reflecting a decline in the fortunes of Liberalism it now seems time to reflect on what future there is for it.

This talk therefore brings together two experts on Liberalism in a UK and Welsh context – Dr Peter Sloman and Eluned Parrott. They will be discussing the historical and contemporary nature of the centre ground of politics with specific reference to Liberalism. Amongst the areas they will examine are:

• What is the centre ground of politics?
• What is historic and contemporary liberalism?
• How did Liberalism lose its appeal?
• Have other parties now taken the centre ground or is it no longer relevant?
• Is there a future for centre-ground politics in Wales?

This talk is sponsored by the Political Studies Association and Cardiff Sixth Form College. It covers A2 WJEC Government and Politics as well as questions on ideologies in other specifications. 

For more information or to outline your attendance please contact Josh Niderost via josh.niderost@psa.ac.uk. 

Earlier this month the finalists of the 2016 PSA Student Short Video Competition met at Speakers' House inside the Houses of Parliament to take part in the Jury Meeting to decide the winner. 

The theme of this year’s Student Short Video Competition was ‘Do you have to be Superman/Superwoman to be US president?’. Many of the entrants focused on the battle between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump as well as issues of character and personality. 

The shortlisted students were from the following schools: Ashfield Girls’ School in Belfast, Christleton High School in Cheshire, Colyton Grammar School in Devon and Habadashers' Aske's School for Girls in Hertfordshire. 

The panel of judges, included The Right Hon John Bercow MP, Speaker of the House of Commons, Sewell Chan, International News Editor at The New York Times, Anneliese Reinemeyer from the US Embassy, Professor Angelia Wilson from Manchester University and Helena Djurkovic, CEO of the PSA. They had by no means an easy task deciding on the winner.

In the end, however, Haberdashers’ Aske’s School were pronounced the runner-ups, while Christleton High School are this year’s winners.Their video involved rap music, scenes from Chester, an interview with their local MP, Chris Matheson and also took inspiration from American cartoons. 

Big congratulations from the PSA to the winners: Cameron Bradley, Nathan Houlbrook, Graeme Mochrie and James Robinson!

This annual competition is aimed at post-16 students studying politics, and this year again, has been kindly sponsored by YouGov. The winners are each invited to spend a week volunteering with and shadowing the YouGov political team. The students were given their prize at the PSA Annual Awards.

CoVi, the UK's first visual think tank, is looking for young people between the ages of 16-30 to join in and share their views on Brexit at an upcoming workshop. 

The interactive workshop is entitled: What do young people want from the Brexit deal?. This will take place on Monday 5th December, 1pm-5pm at  Impact Hub, Walker Building, 58 Oxford Street, Digbeth, Birmingham, B5 5NR. 

Over the forthcoming months and years there will be extensive policy discussions and negotiations to determine what Brexit will look like in practice. It is vital that younger people have a stake in this process.

This event invites young people, regardless of the way you voted or whether you voted at all, to join a discussion on topics and issues such as:

• What does Brexit mean for young people's everyday lives?
• What do young people want to know about the Brexit process?
• What are the issues which you care about and think politicians should prioritise?
• How would you like to engage in the political discussions?

This event is free to attend. Registration in advance is essential - the registration link is here. For further details contact Alex at alex.britten@covi.org.uk.

The PSA Blog features contemporary content from academic members of the PSA in response to news or fresh research findings. 

Articles this month examine the victory of Donald Trump amongst other topics. 

David Cowling (Former Head of Political Research at the BBC and Senior Visiting Research Fellow at King's College) has posed the question: It should have been in the bag: So why on earth did Trump win?

Ben Worthy (Birbeck) has written on: President Trump: Uninterested, Incapable or Unstoppable?

In other news, James Newall (Salford) has written on the upcoming Italian Referendum which might be the next upset for international political elites. He asks: The Italian Referendum: What should we expect after Sunday?

Follow the PSA on Twitter or search for the #PSAschools hashtag for real time updates on all our schools' activities, news and campaigns.

As a PSA Teacher Member you have full access to the Schools’ Area of the PSA website.  Here you can find all the latest information about the following initiatives we offer to schools:

•         Free Speakers Programmes for Schools sessions
•         Free professional development resources
•         Free subscriptions to leading publications, including Political Insight
•         Priority registration to PSA schools' events
•         Priority registration for student career workshops

Don't forget, members can access the Teachers' e-News archive online here.

We're always keen to hear from you, so please keep in touch or let the PSA know how we can serve you better. If you feel any colleagues would be interested in this e-Newsletter, please forward them a copy.

With very best wishes,

Josh Niderost

Programme Development and Outreach Officer

020 7321 2545
PSA Head Office, 113a Jermyn Street, London, SW1Y 6HJ.