General Overview - California State Polytechnic University ...



General Overview

Unit on Gandhi and Ahimsa (nonviolence)

Class: 10th grade World History: 35-40 students

Periods are 50 minutes long and each day lesson is designed to fit within this time constraint.

The California State Standards targeted in this unit are the following:

10.4 Students analyze patterns of global change in the era of New Imperialism in at least two of the following regions or countries: Africa, Southeast Asia, China, India, Latin America and the Philippines.

10.4.1. Describe the rise of industrial economies and their link to imperialism and colonialism (e.g. the role of national security and strategic advantage; moral issues raised by the search for national hegemony, Darwinism, and the missionary impulse; material issues such as land, resources, and technology).

10.4.3 Imperialism from the perspective of the colonizers and the colonized and the varied and immediate and long-term responses by the people under colonial rule.

10.9 Students analyze the international developments in the post-World War II world.

10.0.4 Analyze the Chinese Civil War, the rise of Mao Tse-tung, and the subsequent political and economic upheavals in China (e.g., the Great Leap Forward, the Cultural Revolution, and the Tiananmen Square uprising).

Curriculum:

This curriculum provides primary source materials to help students understand imperialism from the perspective of the colonizers and the colonized, the moral and ethical issues raised in Great Britain’s search for hegemony and material wealth and power, the struggle of a unified group of people struggling for self-rule and independence, and the concepts behind nonviolent protest and Ahimsa. Middle school teachers should preview the materials carefully to see if they are appropriate for their classes, and modify accordingly. The materials may be used for sheltered students, but modify the lessons by previewing the concepts, important terms, providing extensive background information, and shortening the reading assignments.

Lesson Plans:

There are nine lesson plans in this unit. They are broken down as days. Each day/lesson plan in the procedure portion contains a warm-up activity such as a QW (Quick Write), or a reflection on a picture or cartoon. These warm-ups lead right into the homework assignments are similar in nature because the accumulation of homework assignments for the week will culminate into the final project which is a reflective essay taking into practice the ideas of Ahimsa and the use of nonviolence in their everyday lives.

The history of Gandhi, history of the relationship of the British Empire to India and the ideals and practice of nonviolence as taught by Gandhi are interwoven into this unit.

Most of the materials used are primary source documents, either adopted from the Ahimsa Center, or easily accessed from the Internet. Pictures, cartoons, visual slides are utilized as a warm-up activity, but these items may easily be used in the main lesson as well. The Imovie was developed in the Nonviolence and Social Change Institute at the Ahimsa Center.

This unit contains the hope to teach more than just the facts that occurred to lead to India’s Independence. It strives to teach the ideas of Ahimsa and the practice of nonviolence as taught by Gandhi. So often, students perceive nonviolence protest as passive, cowardly, and not as effective in gaining its goals as resorting to violence. Students who favor the idea of nonviolence often perceive it as a group of people with picket signs voicing an opinion. These notions need to be dispelled. Nonviolent protest is well organized, and thought out, bringing groups of people together and unifying them, to forcefully and thoughtfully with love and compassion, to not only make known their wants and goals, but to transform the opposing side to see their point of view and concede. Gandhi was very deliberate in his protests. He carefully taught out what laws to break, and when to strike; it was not an arbitrary process of simply getting a group of people to protest and strike, it involved educating people on the methods of peaceful protest, organizing, and making shrewd political moves to make it unprofitable and undesirable for the opposing side to proceed in the unjust rule of India.

The concept of Ahimsa is more than just ideals to apply for nonviolent protest; it is a concept that is applicable to their lives. Students are faced with conflict and violence every day. They are also faced with decisions as to how to handle those conflicts. They need other options of solving conflicts through peaceful means, and enabling the means to see that there are other options open to them other than resorting to small acts of unkindness, or violence.

Larger questions this unit addresses:

• Can nonviolent work in changing an unjust situation?

• How have nonviolent movements been successful in history?

• What is nonviolent protest? How does it work?

• Can the concepts of nonviolence e applied in everyday situations and everyday life?

Materials:

• Rudyard Kipling, “White Man’s Burden, 1899” Internet Modern Sourcebook

• “Pears Soap Advertisement: McClure’s Magazine, 1899” .com

• “Common Negative Feelings” Handout from Ahimsa Center

• Excerpts from Samansuttam

• Selections from Dhammapada

• “Some Rules of Satyagraha” [27 February 1930]

• “Dadabhai Naoroji: The Benefits of British Rule, 1871” Internet Modern Sourcebook

• “Mohandas K. Gandhi: Indian Home Rule (1909)” Internet Modern Sourcebook

• “Prime Minister Winston Churchill’s Announcement to the House of Commons of Sir Stafford Cripps’ Mission to India” Internet Modern Sourcebook

• “Sir Stafford’s Cripps Statement on India” Internet Modern Sourcebook

• “Ahimsa or the Way of Nonviolence.” Mohandas K. Gandhi

• Gandhi. Dir: Richard Attenborough. Actor: Ben Kingsley.

• Imovie: a media developed by Heather Penrod depicting the life of Gandhi in slide photograph format.

• Ackerman, Peter and Jack Duvall. A Force More Powerful. New York: Palgrave Publishing, 2000. 421-427.

• “The Gate of Heavenly Peace”

Goals and Outcomes of this Unit:

• For students to understand the British colonialism in India; British political hegemony over India, economic exploitation of India by the British and the mistreatment and inequitable treatment of Indians.

• Students will become familiar with quotes from the Samansuttam and the Dhammapada

• Students will understand the concepts Satyagraha and Ahimsa

• Students will draw upon teachings of Ahimsa and examine how they deal with conflicts in their own lives.

• Students will compare/contrast nonviolent movement in India and China.

Interdisciplinary approach:

• Students read and analyze a variety of primary source documents ranging from religious texts, political documents, and essays.

• Students will analyze primary source documents in the nature of media; specifically photographs and an original advertisement.

• Students will participate a variety of writing exercises such as Quick Writes (QW), journal entries, summaries, and a reflective essay.

• Students will also gain knowledge from the film Gandhi, completing a time line of the major events taking place in the film. They will later use that information to compare/contrast with the Tiananmen Square uprising.

Day 1: White Man’s Burden

California State Standard:

3. Imperialism from the perspective of the colonizers and the colonized and the varied and immediate and long-term responses by the people under colonial rule.

Brief Discussion:

Before teaching the nonviolence movement in India, the context of the situation must be addressed and the stereotypes promulgated by the British to condone and justify their rule of India. After this lesson is completed, take the next step and portray the environment of unjust rule the people of India endure.

Objective:

• Students will understand Imperialism from the perspective of the colonizers by reading and analyzing Rudyard Kipling’s poem White Man’s Burden.

• Students will be able to identify stereotypes and discuss them.

• Students will gain the understanding of some popular 19th century ideas concerning “the other.”

Summary:

• Students will analyze the Pear Soap Advertisement and Kipling poem White Man’s Burden in groups and identify negative stereotypes and inequities portrayed in both primary sources.

Materials:

• Pears Soap Advertisement: McClure’s Magazine, 1899

• Rudyard Kipling: White Man’s Burden

Procedure:

• Give out copies of the Pear Soap Advertisement to the class, or view it as a transparency on the overhead.

• Give students a moment of silence to look at the advertisement. Please cover the explanation of what the cartoon is about—enabling the students to figure out the meaning of the cartoon on their own.

• Have students break up into pairs and discuss the following:

o What images are present in the cartoon?

o Who is the intended audience?

o Describe the action or the subject of the cartoon.

o Who is considered to be civilized?

o What does it mean to be civilized?

o What are the “dark corners of the earth?”

o What characteristics do these inhabitants have?

o What questions do you have about this cartoon?

• Review and discuss the questions as a class.

• Pass out copies of Kipling’s poem, White Man’s Burden.

• Break students into groups of four. Assign one stanza to each group.

o What two groups of people are being discussed?

o What roles do these two groups play in the poem?

o What is the action or subject of the stanza?

o What “charged” language is being used?

o What do you think is the meaning of “White Man’s Burden?”

o How are the native people regarded by the Europeans?

• Have the group create a Dialectical Journal in which they choose to quote one to three lines of their stanza on a blank sheet of paper, and write a personal response to that quote.

• Have each group read their stanza (in order of the original poem) and report their quote and personal response (This was bullet #5). This may be modified if you assigned the same stanza to every group in the class. The first stanza is particularly effective.

• As a class, discuss the answers to the questions assigned to each group.

Follow-up:

o QW: Why do you think the Europeans felt that they were superior to the peoples of the non-Western world?

Homework:

o Students will keep an anger/conflict journal and describe any conflicts that have occurred during the course of the day. Students should also describe what occurred after the conflict and if there was a resolution to this conflict.

o Be sure to discuss what conflict is—so that students understand the nature of the assignment.

Day 2: How would you feel?

California State Standard:

10.4.3 Imperialism from the perspective of the colonizers and the colonized and the varied and immediate and long-term responses by the people under colonial rule.

Brief Discussion:

This lesson shows students the unfair treatment of people under British rule. It also is an introduction to Gandhi and is key to portraying the choices he made in his life to nonviolence. It must be established in the students’ mind that people are being treated unfairly and unjustly in order to later go into detail in the nonviolent movement of India. It further will impress upon the students how extraordinary it is to react to such injustice with nonviolent measures.

The students responding to the QW and identifying with Gandhi’s feelings help them to empathize and the homework assignment enables them to reflect upon a conflict in which they too were treated unjustly. They connect with the plight of Indians in South Africa.

Objective:

o Students will understand how Indians were treated in South Africa.

Summary:

o Students will view the scene from the movie Gandhi where he was kicked off the train and discuss the treatment of Indians in South Africa.

Materials:

o Movie: Gandhi

o “Common Negative Feelings”

Procedure:

o QW: Imagine your rights were taken away from you. You cannot speak out against the government. Your writing is censured. You are a second class citizen in your own country. You may not enter certain areas of your city. You are barred from high paying jobs. In fact, you must work a job selected for you by the government. You must live in poverty and pay high taxes. You even are forced to dress a certain way. What options do you have?

o Allow students 5-7 minutes to write a response. Do not discuss yet.

o Show the movie Gandhi, depicting the scene where he is kicked off the train and discuss his plight with fellow Indians.

o Pass out handout: “Common Negative Feelings.”

o Have students write down the feelings they believe Gandhi felt.

o Ask student the following questions:

o Why was Gandhi thrown off the train?

o How do you think he felt?

o Why was he treated this way?

o How did the ticket collector respond to Gandhi? (In action and demeanor).

o How does the scene relate to the concept of “White Man’s Burden?”

o What can Gandhi and other mistreated minorities in South Africa do? What are their options?

o What has happened in past history where the oppressed fought for their rights?

o Refer back to the QW. Allow students to discuss their responses.

Homework:

o Students will write about a time in which they were treated unfairly and unjustly and describe how they felt and what took place.

Day 3: Bravery in Peace

California State Standard:

3. Imperialism from the perspective of the colonizers and the colonized and the varied immediate and long-term responses by the people under colonial rule.

Brief Discussion:

This lesson introduces familiar concepts and shows that concepts of love, compassion, and nonviolence are not only found in the teachings of Christianity, but in other world religions. The use of the writings from the Samansuttam and the Dhammapada demonstrate this. Using the quotes in a card swapping warm-up in the class is a fun way to present this concept.

The handout “Some Rules of Satyagraha” specifically delve into the ideology behind nonviolent protests. Exposing the students to these teachings will help them understand the actions of the protestors in the movie Gandhi. This lesson will also tie into the lesson for day 8 titled Ahimsa, and the pragmatic application in every day situations.

Objective:

• Students will become familiar with verses from the “Samansuttam” and the “Dhammapada.”

• Students will understand the methods employed by Satyagraha resistance in South Africa.

• Students will read and analyze the Handout: “Some Rules of Satyagraha” and understand in detail the ideology and methods of Satyagraha.

Summary:

• Students will read quotes from the “Samansuttam” and “Dhammapada.”

• Students watch/read/analyze Satyagraha resistance and summarize their understanding of the ideologies.

Materials:

• Quotes taken from the “Samansuttam” and the “Dhammapada.” Each quote is on a separate card.

• Handout: “Some Rules of Satyagraha”

• Movie: Gandhi

Procedure:

• Give each student a quote card. Instruct the students to meet another student and read the quote on their card. If they like the quote they hear better, then they may take the other person’s card. This activity should be 5 minutes.

• Have students share their favorite quotes. Record on the board/overhead. Have the students share why they liked these cards. Collect the cards. Students will write down the quotes from the board.

• Give a brief—explanation of where the quotes originated.

• Show scene from the movie Gandhi which depict Satyagraha resistance from the Indians protesting their identity cards.

• Have students answer the following questions:

o What were the methods employed by the protestors?

o Did their non-violent methods surprise you?

o Were these methods effective?

o Why did Gandhi employ these methods? What is his goal?

o Which quotes are best reflected in Gandhi’s methods?

• Pass out the handout: “Some Rules of Satyagraha”

• Break the students into groups, and assign one section of the reading to each group. I.e. the sections are: “As an individual,” “As a prisoner,” etc.

• Have each group summarize in three or four sentences the main ideas presented in each assigned section. Allow 10 minutes.

• Each group presents their summaries. Their summaries may be recorded on butcher paper or on an overhead transparency.

• Have students answer the following questions in Socratic seminar format:

o Do you feel these methods are effective? Why or why not?

o Would following these rules be difficult? Why or why not?

o Which takes more bravery in your opinion? To protest following the rules of Satyagraha or to use weapons in violence to get your idea across?

Homework:

• Students will keep an anger/conflict journal and describe any conflicts that have occurred during the course of the day. Students should also describe what occurred after the conflict and if there was a resolution to this conflict.

• Apply one of the quotes recorded from the board to your next conflict.

Day 4: To Profit on Sorrow

California State Standard:

10.4.1. Describe the rise of industrial economies and their link to imperialism and colonialism (e.g. the role of national security and strategic advantage; moral issues raised by the search for national hegemony, Darwinism, and the missionary impulse; material issues such as land, resources, and technology).

10.4.6 Explain Imperialism from the perspective of the colonizers and the colonized and the varied immediate and long-term responses by the people under colonial rule.

Brief Discussion:

This day was chosen to show the Imovie and read the essay written by Dadabhai Naorohi to tie into the scene from the movie Gandhi. It would seem logical to show the Imovie and have the students read the essay on day two or three, but it is placed on day 4 to tie it in with the scene in the movie that depicts and explains the economic exploitation of India by the British, specifically the issue of cotton and cloth and the unfair balance of trade that makes Britain wealthy at the cost of poverty to the people of India. This also will give students background information on the homespun cloth movement and the significance of the spinning wheels. The picture of Gandhi next to his spinning wheel is an opening activity on Day five: The Man and the Wheel.

Dadabhai Naorohi’s essay was chosen because he plainly explains the benefits England gains in exploiting India, and was very honest in his opinion. He also was a powerful figure in India’s history.

In the viewing of the movie Gandhi, students often need explanation of various events taking place in the film and certain concepts. It seems logical to place readings and sources to tie into the film, because this film is accurate and powerful in its portrayal of the situation in India and Gandhi’s struggle for Indian independence.

Objective:

• For students to understand the British colonialism in India; British political hegemony over India, economic exploitation of India by the British and the mistreatment and inequitable treatment of Indians.

Summary:

• Students will watch the Imovie presentation and write their perceptions of Gandhi and his achievements.

• Students will read/analyze the handout “Dadabhai Naorohi: The Benefits of British Rule, 1871” and answer questions reporting their responses to the class.

• Students will view scenes from the movie Gandhi reinforcing the concepts presented in class in regards to the economic exploitation of India by British rule.

Materials:

• Imovie:Gandhi

• Handout: “Dadabhai Naorohi: The Benefits of British Rule, 1871”

• Movie: Gandhi

Procedure:

• Show the Imovie:Gandhi

• QW: What do you know of Gandhi’s life and his accomplishments? Does Gandhi fit the western stereotype of “native” under the “white man’s burden?” What image stands in your mind of Gandhi?

• Discuss the QW briefly.

• Pass out the handout: “Dadabhai Naorohi.” Organize students into groups.

• Have students answer the following questions:

o What does Naorohi state are the benefits of British rule?

o What does Britain gain in ruling India? Why does Britain want to retain control over India?

o Even with the benefits, does Naorohi believe that Britain should rule over India?

o Does the author believe in the concept of the “White Man’s Burden?”

o What is the irony in the statement, “The genius and spirit of the British people is fair play and justice?”

• Show the scene from the movie Gandhi depicting the plight of the village at the hand of an unfair British landowner.

• Briefly discuss with the class the following scenes from the movie:

o Gandhi’s transformation in clothing and demeanor.

o The village’s plight: unfair taxation under the British and the poverty caused by trade economics.

Homework:

• Reflect on the last conflict encountered. Did the quote that you focused on help in resolving that conflict? Why or why not?

Day 5: The Man and the Wheel

California State Standard:

4. Imperialism from the perspective of the colonizers and the colonized and the varied immediate and long-term responses by the people under colonial rule.

Brief Discussion:

The Intro activity of having students freewrite and respond to the picture of Gandhi not only has them recall information of the previous day but also brings to light the significance of the spinning wheel as a powerful symbol in the Indian nonviolence movement, but also the activity of boycotting British goods, and active protest. This was an effective method Gandhi employed.

The reading brings to life in Gandhi’s own words the reasons and logic for India to gain self-rule, and for Britain to give up control of India. The reading also gives students insight into Gandhi’s character, and portrays a man of conviction, intelligence, and activism. He is not passive. Gandhi also dispels the notion of “White Man’s Burden” in his argument and the stereotypes that are associated in that term. This activity ties the lessons from the very beginning of the unit, activating student’s prior knowledge.

Objective:

• Students will understand Gandhi’s rationale and reasons for fighting for Indian self-rule and independence from the British.

• Students will understand the political measures and methods Gandhi employed.

Summary:

• Students will freewrite and respond to the famous picture of Gandhi: “The Man and the Wheel.”

• Students will read “Mohandas Gandhi: Indian Home Rule” and answer questions and report their responses to the class.

• Students keep a timeline and record the events that occur in the film Gandhi.

Materials:

• Picture: “The Man and the Wheel”

• Handout: Mohandas Gandhi: Indian Home Rule

• Film: Gandhi

• Handout: Timeline

Procedure:

• QW: (Have the picture titled: The Man and the Wheel on the overhead—cover the explanation of the picture). What does the picture depict? What is the significance of the spinning wheel? What emotions does this picture bring to mind? What kind of man is Gandhi?

• Handout: “Mohandas Gandhi: Indian Home Rule.” Have students read the handout in groups and answer the following questions:

o What are the main points of Gandhi’s argument?

o What does Gandhi want for the future of India?

o What are his reasons?

• Handout: timeline. Give students a blank timeline. Inform them that they are to make a timeline on the events that take place in the movie.

• Show scenes of nonviolent resistance, including the making of homespun cloth to the Salt March from the film: Gandhi.

Homework:

• Students will keep an anger/conflict journal and describe any conflicts that have occurred during the course of the day. Students should also describe what occurred after the conflict and if there was a resolution to this conflict.

• Look back on your notes on the ideals of practicing Some Rules of Satyagraha—specifically the rules of the Individual. How can some of these rules be applied to your life?

Day 6: The Importance of Salt

California State Standard:

5. Imperialism from the perspective of the colonizers and the colonized and the varied immediate and long-term responses by the people under colonial rule.

Brief Discussion:

This lesson ties in concepts from all of the previous lessons. It ties in the concepts of British procedure and negative attitudes toward the Indians; “White Man’s Burden.” It ties in the concept of Satyagraha resistance put into practice with the “Day of Prayer and Fasting,” the march to the sea, and other tactics Gandhi employs during the film.

Students keep a record of the events and the methods Gandhi uses. They are to understand that he planned the resistance just as carefully as any military tactic general would during a time of war. Gandhi is very specific in what laws are broken, and what actions will enable the movement to meet its goals, and in the education of the people. This is not an action in which people are just sent out in force to strike and voice their opinion. Each action taken has symbolic, political, or economic purpose behind it.

The segment of the video also shows how Gandhi keeps the people from violence and employs the principles of Ahimsa of love, compassion and forgiveness. Gandhi does not react in anger to the lapses in the judgment of the people, but takes the route of responsibility as a leader to model the principles he teaches.

This lesson ties into the last lesson which compares/contrasts the Indian nonviolent movement to the movement in China.

Objective:

• Students will understand Gandhi’s rationale and reasons for fighting for Indian self-rule and independence from the British.

• Students will understand the political measures and methods Gandhi employed.

• Students will see the teachings of Satyagraha resistance put into practice with the March to the Sea.

Summary:

• Students will watch the movie Gandhi, recording key events on their timeline, and after viewing scenes from the movie will record their impressions of events in their journals, and then discuss the treatment of the Indians, and the methods employed by Gandhi.

Materials:

• Film: Gandhi

• Handout: Timeline

Procedure:

• QW: Is nonviolent protest as brave as fighting a conflict with a weapon? What do you think? Explain.

• Show Film: Gandhi

• Stop film at scene of the debriefing of the Indian massacre and scene following the March to the Sea to make salt and have students record in their journals their impressions.

• Briefly discuss:

o British procedure and attitudes towards the Indians

o Gandhi’s tactics of nonviolence

o How Gandhi kept the people from turning violent

Homework:

• Students will keep an anger/conflict journal and describe any conflicts that have occurred during the course of the day. Students should also describe what occurred after the conflict and if there was a resolution to this conflict.

• Extra Credit question: What is the importance of salt?

Day 7: Freedom at Last!

California State Standard:

6. Imperialism from the perspective of the colonizers and the colonized and the varied immediate and long-term responses by the people under colonial rule.

Brief Discussion:

The three articles used in this lesson show the change in British perspective on the nonviolence movement in India. The article of Sir Stafford’s Cripps statement is showing the British notion that India would be in chaos without a firm British presence. The Churchill report to the House of Commons on Indian policy show how England is still trying to hold onto India, with the last article of Churchill's announcement of sending Stafford to India to help India in the process of self-rule.

Gandhi speaks of transforming the aggressor through nonviolent means, and one does see a change from the two articles to the third with England conceding change to benefit India’s state status.

Objective:

• Students will understand the British perspective of the nonviolence movement in India

• Students will understand British attempts to keep power and the loss of that power to the final agreement to help India to establish self-rule.

Summary:

• Students will read one of the three articles and summarize the main ideas of the articles and give a brief report to the class.

• Students will take notes of these reports.

Materials:

• “Prime Minister Winston Churchill’s Announcement to the House of Commons of Sir Stafford’s Mission to India.”

• “Prime Minister Winston Churchill’s Report to the House of Commons on the Policy of the British Government in India”

• “Sir Stafford’s Cripps Statement on India”

• Film: Gandhi

Procedure:

• QW: Do you feel the nonviolent methods are working as opposed to resorting to violent means towards resolution? Explain.

• Because of time constraints it would not be feasible to spend time for all the students to read every article, so the task will be divided.

• Divide students into groups. Assign each group one of the articles listed in the Materials section of this lesson plan.

• Each group is to summarize the main points of the article. Each person is to make a copy of the summary.

• Divide each group into half. One half of the group stays at the table and the other half will rotate to another table. So for example, in a group of four people, two people will stay at the table, and two people will rotate into another group, changing the dynamics of every group in the class.

• Since there are new groups formed. The members of the group will not share their information. Each student will take notes. Follow the pattern as previously mentioned. The two people who rotated into the group will now rotate to another group and the new group will share the information.

• Each rotation should be about 7-8 minutes.

• Rotate until all members of the class have information on all three articles.

• This method is referred to as a jig-saw activity. This method is particularly useful when short on time and one must cover a bulk of material. The students enjoy this method because it gets them up and moving and sharing with different people.

• If time allows, you may use the Socratic Method to discuss the following concepts:

o How did the Winston Churchill view Gandhi and the Indians?

o How did Churchill portray the nonviolent movement to Parliament? Why?

o What is Cripps view of a free India?

o Is the rationale of “White Man’s Burden” evident in the comments made by Winston Churchill and Cripps?

o Why is Cripps eventually sent to India?

o Is Gandhi’s goal achieved?

• Students will view the scene in the film Gandhi where India gains self-rule.

• Students will add information to their timelines.

Homework:

• Compile all your journals into a packet and read them. Bring them to class tomorrow and be prepared to pick one incident to reflect upon.

Day 8: Ahimsa—Principles to live by

California State Standard:

7. Imperialism from the perspective of the colonizers and the colonized and the varied immediate and long-term responses by the people under colonial rule.

Brief Discussion:

It is important to teach Ahimsa as defined by Gandhi. The questions included in this lesson are meant for the students to ponder, think deeply, and grapple with. Students should see that nonviolence has logic, and is not passive, and is a viable alternative to violence.

The assignment to write about a time when the students were wronged and then write from the adversary’s perspective, enables them to see their adversary as another human being, and to empathize with the other, and perhaps gain forgiveness. This assignment is reflective of Ahimsa principles in that it allows students to option for a response based on love and sacrifice and not on violence.

Objective:

• Students will understand the principles of Ahimsa as defined by Gandhi

• Students will write a reflective essay on one of the conflicts recorded in their homework journal, and utilize principles of Ahimsa.

Summary:

• Students will read the Ahimsa handout

• Students will discuss the ideas presented in Ahimsa

• Students will write an reflective essay as a culminating project for this unit

Materials:

• Handout: “Ahimsa or the Way of Nonviolence.”

Procedure:

• QW: Could India have succeeded in self-rule if protesting turned violent? Why or why not?

• Students will read the Handout “Ahimsa or Way of Nonviolence”

• Students will work in groups and discuss the following questions:

o Gandhi states that nonviolence is “mightier than the mightiest weapon of destruction.” What does he mean by that?

o “Non-violence has no cause for fear.” Explain.

o “It is no non-violence if we merely love those that love us.” Respond.

o Gandhi speaks of sacrificing one’s life for the greater good. Do you feel that there are instances in which this is true? Are there causes worth dieing for?

o Ahimsa is love, and loving one’s enemy. Do you agree or disagree?

o Gandhi states that non-violence is active. Explain the truth in that statement.

o Gandhi speaks of love transforming one’s enemy. Can this occur through violent means? Is this transformation desirable?

o Do you feel Ahimsa is more difficult than resorting to violent means?

• Students will look through their homework journals and pick one incident to reflect upon.

• Assignment: Pick one conflict either in your journals or a conflict you feel you have been wronged. Freewrite for 5 minutes on that conflict.

o Rewrite the conflict from your adversary’s perspective. Were you able to experience forgiveness?

o How is this reflective of Ahimsa principles?

Success and Failure of Nonviolent Movements

Lesson Plan on Tiananmen Square uprising.

California State Standard:

10.9 Students analyze the international developments in the post-World War II world.

10.0.4 Analyze the Chinese Civil War, the rise of Mao Tse-tung, and the subsequent political and economic upheavals in China (e.g., the Great Leap Forward, the Cultural Revolution, and the Tiananmen Square uprising).

Brief Discussion:

This lesson was included in the end to show to students that successful nonviolent protests rely upon strategy and thoughtfulness in both feeling and action. Gandhi’s movement was successful because he carefully thought out which laws to break, when to strike, how to unify multiple groups of people, educate and train people to protest, communicate to a mass group of people, and boycott specified goods—it was all strategized.

Unfortunately, the student uprising in Tiananmen Square was not as well organized, lacked unifying many groups in society (only consisting of students), failed to educate and communicate to the masses, and made mistakes in negotiating with the government, as in showing rudeness to the speakers, and not utilizing the teachings of Satyagraha and Ahimsa, giving the government the false justification needed to engage in violence against the students.

Many students have a concept that nonviolent protests were simply getting a group of people to walk off the job in protest, or picketing arbitrarily when they were disgruntled or unhappy about a policy. It is a process, not one day of action. It is a process one must commit to. In making the comparison/contrast of these two nonviolent movements, students can see for themselves, the reasons just enumerated in this brief discussion.

Objective:

o Students will compare/contrast the nonviolent protest under Gandhi and the Tiananmen Square.

o Students will understand the events leading to the Tiananmen Square massacre.

Summary:

o Students will read a selection from the book: A Force More Powerful.

o Students will refer to their notes on the nonviolent protest under Gandhi and make a chart summarizing the similarities and differences between that protest and the protest in China.

Materials:

o All student notes from a previous unit on Gandhi

o Handout from “A Force More Powerful” pages 421-427

o Student homework from website: “The Gate of Heavenly Peace”

o Butcher paper and markers

Procedure:

o QW: Refer to your notes. What were nonviolent methods employed by Gandhi to force the British to grant independence to India?

o Have students break into groups and read the Handout from “A Force More Powerful.”

o Have students share their homework assignment to the group.

o The homework assignment from the previous night was to access this website: “The Gate of Heavenly Peace” and make a timeline of the events leading to the Tiananmen Square massacre, and to download an article relating to the nonviolent student protests.

o Pass out butcher paper to the groups.

o Have groups respond to the following statements on their butcher paper in regards to India and China:

o Pragmatic vs. Principled Nonviolence—these terms will need to be explained

o Methods of non-violent action

o Which methods were more effective than others?

o Impact of non-violent action

o Have groups present their posters

o Socratic seminar

o Why did the actions led by Gandhi succeed while action taken by students end in failure?

Homework:

o Explain what makes for effective nonviolent protest. Why is just getting a group to protest an injustice not effective? What steps need to be taken to reach the goal?

................
................

In order to avoid copyright disputes, this page is only a partial summary.

Google Online Preview   Download