Topic: Socialism

Author of the script: Monika Piotrowska‑Marchewa

Target group

7th grade student of elementary school.

Core curriculum

7th grade

XXIII. Europe and the world in the second half of the 19th and early 20th centuries: Student:

4) indicates new political ideas and cultural phenomena.

The general aim of education

Students will learn about the main assumptions and branches of socialist ideology in the 19th century.

Key competences

• communication in the mother tongue;

• communication in foreign languages;

• learning to learn;

• social and civic competences.

Learning outcomes

Student:

• describes the ideas of socialist ideologies and gives examples of their implementation as a response to the problems of the capitalist society in the era of the industrial revolution;

• characterises the main branches of socialist ideology;

• tells about the precursors of socialism.

Methods / techniques

• exposing methods: talk, traditional lecture, explanations and comments from the teacher;

• programmed methods: using e‑textbook; using multimedia;

• problematic methods: activating methods: discussion;

• practical methods: exercises concerned, working with text and a timeline.

Forms of work

• activity in pairs or in groups;

• individual activity.

Teaching aids

• e‑textbook;

• interactive whiteboard or traditional blackboard;

• tablets/computers;

• self‑adhesive cards in three colours.

Before classes

The teacher asks the students to revise information from the lesson The rich and the poor from the e‑textbook*. European society in the first half of the 19th century.* The teacher also asks the students to read subchapter People and Machines of the lesson New Ideologies: Socialism. Alternatively, the teacher gives educational material to see: about children and youth from social lowlands in the 19th century Europe (lesson: The rich and the poor....).

Lesson plan overview (Process)

Introduction

1. The teacher explains to the students the lesson objective and the criteria for success.

2. As the initial recapitulation, students recall living conditions in early‑capitalist societies. They discuss the working conditions of men, children and women from the proletariat. They pay attention to the main problems of the era.

Realization

1. The teacher asks the students to do Exercise 1 – a timeline. Students learn about the postulates and projects of the main ideologues of utopian socialism from the first half of the 19th century. They think about their pros and cons. The teacher tells the students about the Paris Commune of 1871 as an example of the introduction of utopian projects being a result of the workers' revolt (the teacher may use the materials contained in the e‑textbook). Later in the lesson, the students will try to understand the ideas behind the Paris Commune – so different from the first utopian socialist projects.

2. The teacher divides the students into three groups. The teacher distributes self‑adhesive cards of the chosen colour (one colour = one group) to the students. The task of each group consists in developing a similar timeline for the following ideologues:

a) anarchists,

b) social democrats,

c) communists.

When working, the students use the e‑textbook (the list may also be provided by the teacher) and the English language materials found on the Internet. The students also fulfil Instruction 1. They analyse the socialists' attitude towards women's rights.

2. The students write down the collected information about the ideas/views/initiatives as well as the appropriate names on self‑adhesive cards of a selected colour. The teacher monitors the work and gives instructions. The teacher takes care to provide the students with feedback when they do exercises and instructions.

3. Finally, the students draw a timeline on the board or on a sheet of paper and glue the information collected on the cards. They prepare photographic documentation of the made board.

Summary

1. The teacher asks the students to do Exercise 2 (completion of table).

2. The teacher gives the students evaluation questionnaires in which they evaluate their own work, the work of the teacher and their colleagues during the lesson.

3. The teacher gives homework for volunteer students (it is not an obligatory part of the script): to learn about the Time Capsule included in the e‑textbook.

The following terms and recordings will be used during this lesson

Terms

Texts and recordings

New ideologies: socialism

Along with the development of industry, the movements seeking to improve the working and living conditions of workers were created. The postulates were to be implemented through the introduction of socialism. The first socialists were: Claude Henri de Saint‑Simon, Charles Fourier, Robert Owen. Radical communist slogans called for the overthrow of capitalism through revolution. The creators of this ideology were: Karol Marks and Friedrich Engels. The faith of the first socialists in peaceful methods of improving the capitalist social relations was not shared also by anarchists: Pierre Joseph Proudhon, Mikhail Bakunin, Peter Kropotkin. In 1871, the rebellious people of Paris formed a government and took power in the city for more than two months. Decrees issued by the Council of Commune introduced the separation of the Catholic Church from the state, universal, free and secular education, and established a minimum wage for workers. The labour protection and social services, which it initiated were included in the program of all the then workers parties at the end of the 19th century.