Nelson+Mandela

**Subject Matter Background:** South Africa lies at the southernmost tip of Africa, bordering the Atlantic and Indian Oceans. The country has a total land area of 1.2-million square kilometers, making it one-eighth the size of the United States. South Africa has an abundance of natural resources, including gold, nickel, salt, diamonds, and coal. The country is very dry, as its biggest natural disaster fear is prolonged droughts. However, the climate varies across the country, including some grasslands, mountains, and savannas. South Africa was under apartheid from 1948 to 1994. The government of South Africa, allowing the white people of the country to rule the much larger non-white population, enforced apartheid, legal racial segregation. Racial groups were classified into different categories and residential areas were segregated into certain homelands called Bantustans. In 1993, Nelson Mandela and F.W. de Klerk were awarded the Nobel Peace Prize “for their work for the peaceful termination of the apartheid regime, and for laying the foundations for a new democratic South Africa.” South Africa had also had previous Nobel Laureates, Albert Lutuli (1960) and Desmond Tutu (1984). All four of these men made important contributions for racial equality in South Africa. Mandela and de Klerk developed a policy of peace and reconciliation in South Africa, which called for a one man-one vote policy. F.W. de Klerk became State President of South Africa in 1989, and he immediately called from racism to end in the country. He lifted the ban on the African National Congress and released Nelson Mandela, who had been imprisoned for 26 years after protesting against apartheid. While in jail, Mandela consistently refused to alter his political views in exchange for his freedom. Mandela was elected the President of the African National Congress in 1991. Together with de Klerk, these two helped to end apartheid in South Africa and began to strive for peace. ** Instructional Ideas: ** I think there are many instructional ways to approach this idea. First, I could see myself using the activity that I am doing right now. In the 7th grade, the students learn about Asia, Africa, and Australia. I think this activity could be something that was helpful to jump-start the school year and to get the kids excited about what we will be learning. Then, when teaching about a certain area, say South Africa, I can resort to the project someone created about Nelson Mandela. When it comes to South Africa, however, the main thing that students will learn in class is about apartheid. I think it is a very important issue to discuss because racial discrimination is found all over history, and even still in the present day. One of the first thoughts I had, was to teach about South Africa, Mandela, and apartheid around Martin Luther King, Jr. Day. In his acceptance speech, Mandela cites King for his “contribution to the just solution of the same great issues of the day which we have had to face as South Africans.” South Africa is thrown into a unit called Southern Africa, which includes Namibia, Botswana, Zimbabwe, and a few other countries. It is only given a very short chapter in the textbook. However, if I were to pair this discussion with something about Martin Luther King, students will have a reference point and be able to make sense of apartheid and what is it. I will want students to know what apartheid is and how it affected the people of South Africa. I will have students do research comparing King and Mandela and everything they both did for their countries. Students will write about the similarities and the differences between each case after a lecture from me and after researching the two figures in the computer lab. I would work with my language arts teacher as well. I would want him or her to have the students look at the acceptance speeches of MLK and Mandela in order to do a document analysis of the two. Which issues did both speeches mention? How do their situations differ or compare to one another? I think it is very important to give students a reference point (MLK), something they understand and know already, in order to make the personal connection to Mandela and his peace efforts. Students will be graded on their essays they write for language arts and for the research they complete during the social studies classes. When writing the research portion of their paper, I will look for comparisons between Mandela and MLK as well as differences. I will want the students to mention some of the key moments with each man and why each man won the Nobel Peace Prize. By reading their papers, I will be able to determine if they have made a connection between Mandela and MLK and I will be able to see if they understand the idea of apartheid. []
 * Nelson Mandela (and F.W. de Klerk) **