Topic: Cultural and social changes after World War II

Target group

8th‑grade students of an elementary school

Core curriculum

XXXVI. World after World War II. Pupil:

1. characterizes the direct effects of World War II, distinguishing political, social, economic and cultural consequences, taking into account the creation of the United Nations;

13. describes the most important cultural and social changes after the Second World War.

General aim of education

The student will learn about cultural changes after the World War II.

Key competences

• communication in foreign languages;

• digital competence;

• learning to learn.

Criteria for success
The student will learn:

• what changes took place in the post‑war societies;

• what the most important achievements of post‑war technology and medicine were;

• what feminism and mass culture are.

Methods/techniques

• expository

  • talk.

• activating

  • discussion.

• programmed

  • with computer;

  • with e‑textbook.

• practical

  • exercices concerned.

Forms of work

• individual activity;

• activity in pairs;

• activity in groups;

• collective activity.

Teaching aids

• e‑textbook;

• notebook and crayons/felt‑tip pens;

• interactive whiteboard, tablets/computers.

Lesson plan overview

Introduction

1. The teacher states the subject of the lesson, explains the aim of the lesson and together with students determines the success criteria to be achieved.

2. The teacher plays the recording of the abstract. Every now and then he stops it, asking the students to tell in their own words what they have just heard. This way, students practice listening comprehension.

Realization

1. Reading the content of the abstract. The teacher uses the text for individual work or in pairs, according to the following steps: 1) a sketchy review of the text, 2) asking questions, 3) accurate reading, 4) a summary of individual parts of the text, 5) repeating the content or reading the entire text.

2. Discussing information presented on the timeline. The teacher then divides the class into groups - as many as there are events on the axis. Each team works on one assigned issue, deepening the information contained in the abstract. Then the students present their discussions.

3. The teacher together with the students sums up the current course of classes.

4. Students analyze the illustration and execute Task 2 and Task 3. To answer the question, they can use Internet sources or other publications. The teacher checks the correctness of the answer and provides feedback to the students.

5. Students in pairs solve the Exercise 1. The teacher checks if the task has been correctly completed and gives feedback to students.

Summary

1. The teacher asks: If there was going to be a test on the material we have covered today, what questions do you think would you have to answer?
   If the students do not manage to name all the most important questions, the teacher may complement their suggestions.

2. The teacher asks a willing student to summarize the lesson from his point of view. He asks other students if they would like to add anything to their colleague's statements.

Homework

1. Listen to the abstract recording at home. Pay attention to pronunciation, accent and intonation. Learn to pronounce the words learned during the lesson.

2. Make at home a note from the lesson, for example using the sketchnoting method.

The following terms and recordings will be used during this lesson

Terms

Texts and recordings

Cultural and social changes after World War II

The Second World War led to changes more sudden and revolutionary than ever before. These changes took place primarily in society and its customs. A greater emphasis was put on education of children and youths, and official rights were granted to them (the 1959 Declaration of the Rights of the Child). Emancipation of women and their struggle for equality were developing rapidly. Women began to actively oppose all forms of discrimination, but also to demand help at the time of motherhood and bringing up children. First in the United States, then in Europe and all over the world, the feminist movement began to develop, which demanded equality for women on the labor market and brought up the issues of sexuality and responsibility for it. This was a result of the changes that started to take place in the customs and status of marriage in the second half of the 20th century. The percentage of partner relationships and people living alone by choice (singles) increased rapidly. Birth control, contraception, and divorce became commonplace. These changes also made the conservative Catholic Church undertake a reform (The Second Vatican Council, 1962–1965), opening up more to the faithful and making attempts at ecumenism.

Also revolutionized were medicine, communication, and access to information. Thanks to modern research, vaccines against the most serious diseases (polio, smallpox, diphtheria) were invented, organ transplantation started being performed, and the human genome was discovered. Unfortunately, the development of civilization also brought new diseases (AIDS, Ebola) as well as worrying phenomena such as obesity and addictions.
Never before had the production of means of transport (cars, planes) increase as quickly as in the second half of the 20th century. Year after year, these made it possible to travel ever longer distances in less time. It became possible to conquer space (1951) and land on the moon (1969). Access to information from all over the world was made possible thanks to the popularization of the radio, and then television. The latter became the main mass medium and contributed to the development of mass culture, making actors and singers stars all over the world. The next step was the development of computers and informatics. Computers, known as early as the 1940s, were brought to homes all over the world thanks to such creators as Bill Gates and Steve Jobs. The creation of a precursor to the Internet in 1969 led to a revolution several decades later, allowing access to information, shopping, and content from all over the world regardless of where you live. The world became one big global village.