Day 1: Focus on the attitudes/motivation behind European colonization, such as racism, eurocentrism, religion, and competition.
- Show a map of Africa and ask students: what comes to mind when you think, "Africa?" Have students share what immediately comes to mind and write it on the board.
- Brief powerpoint introducing the colonization of Africa. Between 1880 and 1900, Africa was rapidly divided up between European powers. Why? Introduce some of the reasons as a list.
- Show the 1927 ad "Jungles Today are Gold Mines Tomorrow" to illustrate economic reasons
- Introduce Rudyard Kipling
- Handout: the poem "The White Man's Burden" (1899)
- I also included a Pears' Soap advertisement using the phrase "The White Man's Burden" on the back to illustrate how it was a part of Western culture
- Using this poem may depend on the class -- some students were overwhelmed and found it difficult. I told them not to worry about understanding every word, but understanding the main points.
- TED talk: "The Danger of the Single Story" by Nigerian author Chimamanda Adichie
- Discuss: Do you think colonial attitudes still affect the way we view Africa? What do you think perpetuate some of the "single stories" we have of Africa (refer back to brainstorm)? Have you ever had a "single story" about someone? Has anyone ever had a "single story" about you because of your age or any other factor?
- Handout the final assignment rubric and deadline
Day 2
Focus on process of colonization.
- Brief powerpoint introducing the term "The Scramble for Africa" and the Berlin Conference
- Play "Scramble for Africa" game
- I found this idea on another teacher's blog
- Board is a regular sheet of paper with a blank map of Africa
- Students divide into groups of six
- Each student is assigned a country and they are given a specific goal which must be kept secret from the other players
- Each student (country) gets coloured "pieces" (1" x 1" pieces of coloured paper)
- Starting with Great Britain, each student places one of their pieces on the board at a time based on their goals
- If students want the same piece of land, they have to "go to war" (rock paper scissors!)
- Each country gets a different number of pieces, depending on how much African territory they got historically:
- England: 6 pieces
- France: 5 pieces
- Germany: 4 pieces
- Italy: 2 pieces
- Portugal: 3 pieces
- Spain: 2 pieces
- Country goals:
- England: north-south
- France: east-west
- Germany: east coast and west coast
- Italy: coastal areas, preferably closer to Italy
- Portugal: coastal areas
- Spain: coastal areas
- Rules of War:
- Countries go to war through rock, paper scissors
- Best two out of three wins
- The "defeated" piece is dead and cannot be played on the board again
This game went really well (although grade 12 students had to be reassured that it did indeed have a point)
- show a map of how Africa was divided on the powerpoint, have students compare it to their completed board games
- Clean up board games, return to seats
- Brief notes/powerpoint on the outcome of the Berlin conference, the goals of the different countries, etc.
- Compare a map of cultural and lingual groups in Africa to a map of how Africa was divided -- any potential problems? What factors were considered in the division of Africa? What factors were not?
Day 3:
Focus on the process of de-colonization and the continued effects of colonialism.
- Recap from the previous day
- Handout: map of colonial Africa and modern Africa
- Show a world map of country economies. What do students notice? Africa is poor. Gap between north and south. Why?
- In my students' textbooks ("Viewpoints" pg. 96), there was a piece called "Explaining the Gap" that went into colonialism and neocolonialism
- Have students break into groups of 2-5. Read the textbook piece. Assign each group one of the three textbook questions.
- Give each group a piece of chart paper and markers. Have them make a poster or diagram of their answer.
- At the end of class have groups present their answers and allow for discussion.
Day 4 &5:
Work periods for students to work on final projects (rubric and project description was handed out the first day)
- Individually or in partners students are to present on the colonial history of one African country
- Presentations must include a brief description of the country, a history of colonialism, explanation of de-colonization, and the continued impact of colonialism
- Presentation must include a handout (map/timeline/notes) for classmates
- Oral presentation rubric
- In order to keep students on task during the two work periods, I made "Process" part of the presentation rubric
Day 6&7:
Presentations.
- In order to keep audience engaged, I followed my cooperating teacher's advice: have other students write notes on each presentation that must include 1) 3-5 facts 2) a compliment 3) a piece of constructive criticism
- Collect these notes!
If I had had extra time in the unit, I would have included a piece from Chinua Achebe's Education of a British-Protected Child and a bit of time dedicated to South Africa, since it is an exception to some of the general patterns of colonialism in Africa.
No comments:
Post a Comment