Topic: Poland in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization

Author: Anna Rabiega

Addressee:

8th grade primary school student

Core curriculum:

XII. International affairs.

The student:

4) presents the activities of Poland in the United Nations, the European Union and the Organization of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization.

The general aim of education:

The student has basic knowledge of selected international organizations.

Learning outcomes:

The student:

• analyses what the social support of Polish participation in NATO and NATO troops presence in Poland is.

• characterises the most important rules of the alliance.

• discusses the pros and cons of Polish participation in the alliance.

Key competences:

• communicating in a foreign language,

• digital competence,

• learning to learn,

• social and civic competences.

Teaching methods:

• fishbone diagram,

• source material analysis,

• decision tree,

• discussion,

• teaching conversation using interactive exercises, recording,

• trash and suitcase method.

Forms of work:

• self‑learning,

• work in pairs,

• whole‑class activity.

Material & equipment needed:

• computers with loudspeakers/headphones and internet access, headphones,

• multimedia resources from the e‑textbook – chapter: Polska w NATO, Poland in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization,

• small pieces of paper in two different colours (e.g. green and yellow) for each student,

• interactive whiteboard/blackboard, felt‑tip pen/a piece of chalk.

Lesson plan overview (Process):

Introduction:

1. The teacher presents the goal of the lesson: You will analyze the social support for Polish participation in NATO and the presence of NATO troops in Poland. You will learn the rules applicable to the members of the North Atlantic Pact, and discuss the advantages and disadvantages of Poland's participation in NATO.

2. The teacher informs the students that they will work with the fishbone diagram method, and their task will be to decide what affects the security of a state. He draws a simplified fish skeleton on the board and explains the method if necessary. In the fish head the teacher writes the problem to be analyzed: „Security of Poland and Poles.” Next, the students name the basic factors that they think affect the security of the state and its citizens (e.g. military force, participation in political and military alliances, access to necessary resources, economic strength). The students suggesting these factors must justify them, providing an explanation of how a given factor determines the security of the country (e.g. the possibility of taking control of communication means that during a conflict the authorities will not be able to communicate with each other and with the society). Then the students complement the smaller skeleton bones, stating how and to what extent Poland is secured in terms of a given factor (e.g. participation in alliances – membership in NATO). At the end, willing students draw conclusions about whether Poles can feel safe.

Implementation:

1. The teacher informs that the students will be able to compare their conclusions on Poland's security with the results of public opinion polls regarding Poland's participation in the North Atlantic Alliance and the presence of NATO member states’ troops in Poland. For this purpose, the teacher can use diagrams from the e‑textbook (Polska w NATO, screen 2) or other online resources.

The teacher informs the students that the purpose of analyzing the diagrams is to determine whether in the respondents' opinion Poland's membership in NATO contributes to increasing the security of Poland and Poles. Then the students compare their predictions from the introductory exercise with the public opinion in Poland. The teacher asks willing/selected students to present a summary and indicate any discrepancies.

2. The teacher asks the students to listen to the content of Article 5 of the Washington Treaty. He instructs the students that they pay special attention to the rules applicable to alliance members, as they will need it for the exercise. Then the students do Exercise 1 from the „Poland in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization” abstract. Together with the teacher during a teaching conversation, they discuss the correct solution. The exercise can be a contribution to a brief discussion of what students think about the principles that guide the Alliance members, or homework on the subject.

3. In the next stage, students work individually with the interactive board from the abstract. It is a decision tree. If necessary, the teacher explains the method and asks the students to consider the significance of belonging to NATO for Poland and in what situation Poland would be if it did not belong to NATO.

4. The teacher then asks the students to pair up and compare their solutions to the decision tree. He informs the students that the purpose of this comparison is to get acquainted with the arguments of a colleague, which the students themselves may not have come up with or the decision tree of the partner who analyzed a different situation: Poland is a member of NATO/Poland is not a NATO member.

5. Selected students present the decision trees of their partners (presenting both situations) to the rest of the class. The students discuss solutions proposed by their colleagues. At the end, the teacher asks two students to summarize the task: one does this from the perspective when Poland is a NATO member and the other in the opposite situation.

Summary:

1. The teacher carries out a summary part of the lesson using the trash and suitcase method. The teacher hands out small pieces of paper in two different colours (e.g. green and yellow). On the green pieces of paper the students write down the useful knowledge and skills they acquired during the class – these go into “the suitcase” (students stick it to a board under that category). The yellow pieces of paper are used to write down things the students did not find useful or interesting – these go into “the trash” (under the sign that reads “trash” on the board). The teacher explains, that their reflection can concern both the acquired knowledge, and the new skills they have learned. The teacher reads students’ reflections on the experience – first the “trash” contents, then the “suitcase”

2. Homework proposal:

a. Write a short note on the impact of Poland's NATO membership on the security of our country. Give two arguments for the fact that participation in NATO has a positive impact on the level of security of Poland and Poles and two arguments against it.

You can also conduct a survey about Poland's membership in the Alliance:

• phrase the appropriate questions,

• analyze the respondents' answers,

• prepare the relevant charts.

b. Listen to the abstract recording to review the material and new vocabulary. Then do the vocabulary exercise at the end of the chapter.

The following terms and recordings will be used during this lesson

Terms

Texts and recordings

Poland in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization

According to an opinion poll to achieve (2014) the majority of Poles (57%) believes, that troops of other NATO member states should station in our country. This is the highest support for a permanent alliance military presence in history.

61% of Poles is certain, that NATO troops would come to our defence. In Polish history it has not always been the case that our allies kept their promises and observed the treaties and agreements they had signed. In September 1939, when Poland was attacked by Germany and Soviet Union, our allies declared war on them, but never came with their troops to help us fight. Poland was left alone. This is why Article 5 of the North Atlantic Treaty is so important to all member states. Listen to it carefully, and then solve the exercise.

Our membership in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization gives hope for effective help in case of danger towards the security of the state. In March 2014 62% of Poles were in favour of the Polish presence in the organisation, and after the Russian annexation of the Crimea and the beginning of the war in Eastern Ukraine the support quickly grew to 81% (CBOS, 2014).