| Exploring
Contemporary Africa: Lessons
on South Africa
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In
July of 2001, fifteen teachers from across the Pacific Northwest traveled
to South Africa and Swaziland as part of a Fulbright Study Abroad Program
to study the cultures and societies of southern Africa.
Their mission was to gather first-hand information and resources
for teaching about contemporary, post-apartheid southern Africa in the
classroom.
Based
on their travels, the group produced a collection of lesson plans and
resources adaptable to a broad range of classroom subjects and grade levels.
Exploring Contemporary
Africa contains personal stories, interviews and anecdotes on life
in post-apartheid southern Africa, focusing on economics, education, government
and society.
Lesson Titles and Preview
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1.
Africa Before and After the Arrival of the Europeans (coming soon)
Carmella
Phillips, Walla Walla High School
This lesson
is designed to show the progression of African history. South Africa moves
from its earliest stages of village life to a highly technological and
sophisticated civilization. The lesson will examine the transitions and
changes throughout southern Africa and develop studentís curiosity in
critically examining the complexities of Africa.
2.
Race as a Social Construct: Understanding Apartheid In South Africa
(coming
soon)
Cynthia
Chan Imanaka, Seattle Central Community College
Darice Johnson, African American Academy
Henterson Carlisle, African American Academy
A 6-part unit focuses on race in South Africa.
Students are challenged to think critically about race, while
interactively relating to race issues in the United States and internationally
and the implications it has on a people and country. The unit informs
students about various ethnic backgrounds in South Africa with an objective
to celebrate rather than condemn diversity.
Karmin
Tomlinson, Oregon City High School
Students
create visual representations of a character from the novel Born in
Soweto--written about post-apartheid Soweto, South Africa--by analyzing
the impact of township living on black South Africans in the post-apartheid
era.
Keith
Forest, Mercer Island High School
Events
in South Africa today are a reaction to years of apartheid that allowed
a minority to control and exclude the majority from participating in society.
This lesson examines how
events in a countryís history can lead to suppression of freedom and individual
rights for its citizens, and the political and economic difficulties South
Africa faces in developing after years of legislated oppression.
Ryan
Hauck, Marysville-Pilchuck High School
This lesson analyzes the political, economic, social, and
historical legacy of apartheid land laws and their effect on past and
present lives of South Africans.
The lesson discusses the consequences of ethnic discrimination,
interprets the current state of land issues in South Africa, and assesses
future goals and efforts to reduce inequities in South Africa.
6.
Black Secondary Education in South Africa: Historical
(coming soon)
Carmella
Phillips, Walla Walla High School
This lesson enables students to understand how townships
created an underclass that was excluded from legitimate educational opportunities.
In addition, this lesson
compares black education in the U.S. with that in South Africa during
the 1950ís and 1960ís.
7.
Examining the Use of Sanctions and their Role in
South Africa Today (coming
soon)
Joanne
Dufour
This 3-part unit addresses the divestment movement and the
sanctions policy regarding South Africa.
Socially responsible corporate policies ‚ while significant for
taking the moral high ground during the period of divestment ‚ have not
always been economically rewarded.
This unit urges students to consider whether sanctions as a policy
alternative are passÈ.
8.
Lessons from South Africaís New Democracy: The 1996 Constitution
(coming
soon)
Wendy
Ewbank, Seattle Girls School
This
lesson deepens studentsí understanding of the United States Constitution
- its foundation and enduring principles ‚ and also introduces them to
the 1996 South African Constitution. Students will contemplate what
a constitution really is and what it can mean to a nation.
Darellene
Canada, Lakes High School
This lesson analyzes the question of amnesty for perpetrators
without reparations for survivors.
Students examine the success of democratic reform movements in
challenging the South African government.
Ryan
Hauck, Marysville-Pilchuck High School
This
lesson analyzes the past, present, and future role that South Africa will
play in foreign affairs with other African nations and with the United
States. This lesson challenges
students to use critical thinking skills to evaluate and develop a research
project considering U.S.-South African relations.
11.
South African Trade
(coming
soon)
Keith
Forest, Mercer Island High School
This lesson is designed for student groups to interpret
data and to stimulate discussion on South African Trade.
It familiarizes students with how statistics are used to make
economic loan decisions, simulating the actual process that bank and lending
agencies follow.
Shannon
Carey, Bainbridge Island High School
This lesson enables students to
understand the scope of the AIDS pandemic in South Africa through a provocative
PowerPoint
presentation. Students
may develop their own PowerPoint presentations, identifying major societal,
cultural, political, and economic factors contributing to the spread of
AIDS. (Note: the PowerPoint presentation
is a large document.)
Shannon
Carey, Bainbridge Island High School
Students develop public policy initiatives in the areas of
health care, education, government, and the international community, and
youth in response to the AIDS pandemic.
Students present and compete for funding from the AIDS trust fund
in a mock U.N. hearing session.
Candy
Hamilton, College Place Middle School
This lesson is designed for students to gain a greater understanding
of events that shaped South African literature. The lesson introduces
students to different social, political, economic and cultural aspects
of South African life through varied perspectives reflected in powerful
South African novels and films.
Karmin
Tomlinson, Oregon City High School
Sabrina B, Author of ìBeing Differentî
This lesson enables students to relate to personal stereotyping
experiences using the context of apartheid.
Through discussion and creative writing, students compare and
contrast personal experiences with discrimination.
Karmin
Tomlinson, Oregon City High School
Students explain the meaning of proverbs
from the Zulu and Xhosa tribes in South Africa by comparing similar proverbs
from American culture. Students creatively illustrate their interpretation
visually and through a skit to assess their comprehension of the proverbs.
17.
ìState of the Nation Addressî
ó Interpreting Political Cartoons (coming soon)
Karmin
Tomlinson, Oregon City High School
This lesson is designed to broaden
studentsí understanding of political cartoons, enhance studentsí critical
thinking skills, and expose them to current issues in South Africa.
Students create their own political cartoons to show their comprehension
of speeches made by Nelson Mandela and Thabo Mbeki.
18.
Crossword Puzzles-South
Africa-Political; South Africa-Culture; Swaziland Puzzle (coming soon)
Karmin
Tomlinson, Oregon City High School
Students complete
a crossword puzzle identifying people, places and terms associated with
South African and Swaziland history, politics, and culture as a review
for a unit on South Africa and/or Swaziland.
19.
South African Freedom Songs
(coming
soon)
Darrellene
Canada, Lakes High School
This
lesson analyzes the importance of national anthems and freedom songs during
both the anti-apartheid movement in South Africa and the Civil Rights
movement in the United States.
This lesson examines how music can meaningfully tell a countryís
stories and history.
Brandon
Frederick, Decatur High School
Daniel Docter, Hamilton International Middle School
This lesson examines how townships
where the government forcibly resettled blacks into separate residential
areas became the center of the fight against apartheid and a visible symbol
of its brutality. Today, t ownships
continue to illustrate the legacy of apartheid.
21.
Growth of Townships
(coming
soon)
Brandon
Frederick, Decatur High School
Daniel Docter, Hamilton International Middle School
This interactive lesson simulates how and where townships
were created. Students
predict the potential social problems within townships and propose probable
solutions to these problems.
22.
Comparing and Contrasting
American Life in South Africa Townships (coming soon)
Brandon
Frederick, Decatur High School
Daniel Docter, Hamilton International Middle School
In
this lesson, students will draw parallels between their own lifestyles
and those of people living in a township by examining and interpreting
photos of townships in Johannesburg and Cape Town.
23.
A Joint Venture for South
Africa and Swaziland (coming soon)
Daniel
Docter, Hamilton International Middle School
Keith Forest, Mercer Island High School
This
lesson examines how issues spanning national borders affect two countries
differently through assessing, in a debate format, the political, cultural,
and economic advantages and disadvantages of the project.
In order for both countries to succeed, students will have to compromise
on economic, social, and political issues in facing both countries.
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