Topic: Democracy step by step

Target group

8th‑grade students of elementary school

Core curriculum

Class VIII elementary school

XLI. The birth of the Third Polish Republic. Pupil:

1. describes the key political changes in 1989‑1997;

2. characterizes socio‑political, economic and cultural changes of the 1990s;

3. explains the causes of social tensions.

General aim of education

Students will learn what changes have taken place in the first years of democratic and free Poland.

Key competences

• communication in foreign languages;

• digital competence;

• learning to learn.

Criteria for success
The student will learn:

• to recognize how Poland regained democracy and freedom;

• to describe the challenges faced by Poles after 1989;

• to characterize the socio‑political changes after the elections in June, 1989;

• to explain what shaped Poland that you live in today.

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

Before classes

1. Students should know the changes of 1989 and their consequences.

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, referring to the homework, asks students what happened in 1989 and what significance these events had for Poland and the world. Asking questions, the teacher remembers that they are to be formulated to be key questions. The students should mention the Round Table negotiations, the June elections and Tadeusz Mazowiecki becoming Prime Minister.

Realization

1. The teacher begins the discussion by asking the students what is the most important document in the state that constitutes its laws. Then he asks students to find the constitution of the Polish People's Republic on the Internet (preferably after the 1976 amendment) and look for fragments that they consider „strange”. Students give the date of adopting the constitution and explain the abbreviation PRL by doing ** Exercise 1 ** and ** Exercise 2 **.

2. Then the teacher asks students to quote several fragments: about the leading role of the party, worker‑peasant alliance, the working people's republic, friendship with the USSR etc. Asking students why they chose such fragments, the teacher explains their meaning and explains their undemocratic nature, eg the phrase „the power belonging to the working people of towns and villages” discriminates and excludes non‑working people, etc. Students chronologically organize events in Exercise 3 **.

3. The teacher explains to the students that the answers they mentioned in Exercise 3 have also become a priority for the government and the new authorities, that wanted to introduce the full democracy as soon as possible, breaking the system prevailing in 1989. To achieve this, they started with changes to the current constitution, abolished censorship, freed the media and opened the borders. One of the most important, symbolic changes was the restoration of the crowned eagle in the emblem of Poland. The students indicate changes essential to building a democratic state (** Exercise 4 **), and then complete the table, describing the rules of free elections (** Exercise 5 **).

4. Next, the teacher explains that in the process of democratization of the country, different environments derived from the Solidarity opposition had a different view and vision of the future Poland. The opposition (right side) was divided very quickly into numerous parties and groups. The best example of this was the first fully free and democratic parliamentary election of 1991 (** Task 1 **). Students get acquainted with political parties taking part in the elections and their results, and match specific politicians to the groups represented by them - they execute ** Exercise 6 **.

Summary

1. Summing up the lesson, the teacher begins the discussion -- he asks what features prove that the country is democratic and free..

2. The teacher assesses the students' work during the lesson, taking into account their input and commitment. For this purpose, he may prepare a self‑assessment questionnaire.

Homework

1. The teacher tasks willing students with homework: British Prime Minister Winston Churchill once said: „Democracy is a very bad system, but nothing better has been invented so far”. How do you understand his words? Think about the negative aspects of democracy..

The following terms and recordings will be used during this lesson

Terms

Texts and recordings

Democracy step by step

Democratic and capitalist changes started in Poland in 1989. In 1990, the state’s name was changed to the Republic of Poland. The president, Gen. Wojciech Jaruzelski, resigned from the office. Lech Wałęsa won the first universal presidential elections. The Polish United Workers' Party was dissolved. The first fully free legislative elections took place in 1991. Young Polish democracy abounded with parties originating from the Solidarity and the former political elites. The first years of the Third Polish Republic were characterised by political disputes, unstable rules and economic crisis, resulting from the poor state of the country after 45 years of the communist experiment.