The students working in groups will analyze each major political philosophy and complete a short video demonstrating how each philosophy affects economic policy, social welfare and human rights.
California Academic Standard(s)
- 12.9.1 - Explain how the different philosophies and structures of feudalism, mercantilism, socialism, fascism, communism, monarchies, parliamentary systems and constitutional liberal democracies influence economic policies, social welfare policies and human rights practices
Goal
The students will gain critical thinking, presentation, organizational, social and technical abilities while analyzing each major political philosophy.
Learning Styles
- Linguistic
- Auditory
- Social
- Logical
- Physical
Anticipatory Set (10 min)
The instructor will write a question on the board that states "How would the United States be different if our society was based on a communist philosophy?" The instructor will allow the students two minutes to think about the question. The instructor will call on random students to answer the question and write the responses on the board.
Direct Instruction (15 min)
The instructor will briefly describe the major political philosophies. The instructor will write the following on the board:
Political Philosophies
Working with your partner, write a brief one paragraph explanation of the following political philosophies:
- Mercantilism
- Socialism
- Fascism
- Communism
- Monarchies
- Parliamentary Systems
- Constitutional Liberal Democracies
Guided Practice (20 min)
The instructor will place the students in groups of two. The students will complete the brief summaries of the political philosophies.
Checks for Understanding (15 min)
The instructor will call on random groups to provide a summary for each of the political philosophies. The instructor will write the responses on the board.
Direct Instruction (10 min)
The instructor will provide the following handout to the students:
Political Philosophy Movie Short
Working in groups of three, you will create a movie short for one of the political philosophies. Dependent on the political philosophy assigned to your group, you will create a scene that demonstrates how the philosophy will react to the following situations:
- An entrepreneur starting a new business
- An older worker who has a physical disability
- A protestor marching for individual freedoms
The team will work together to complete the video. Each member of the team will be responsible for directing one of the three situations.
Have fun and be creative!
Modeling (5 min)
Using the computer and overhead, the instructor will demonstrate potential scenes to describe how the political philosophy of feudalism may treat the individual in the provided situations.
Guided Practice (100 min)
The instructor will place the students in groups of three. The instructor will assign a political philosophy to each group. The group will work together to complete the political philosophy movie short.
Checks for Understanding (50 min)
Each group will show their video to the class. By secret ballot, the students will vote on the best video. The winning group will receive a trophy for best movie short.