I. Curricular Framework

Concept:

Worldviews

Essential Question:

How does the worldview during the Age of Enlightenment directly relate to a worldview of our curren

Bridge:

Perspective Change

Content:

The Enlightenment

Outcomes:

II. Standards Aligned

III. Instruction and Assessment

1. Connect: Connecting to the Concept Experientially

Objective: To get the students thinking about the issue of perspective and paradigms.

Activity: Show clip from Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, which deals with the Kobyaski Miru-the unsolvable dilemma faced in simulation by all captains. The most helpful clips are cued at the following counter numbers:
Beginning to the end of the Kobayashi Miru simulation
Skip to 0:35:25—0:36:10 (This is the discussion of the problem between Lt. Savak and Capt. Kirk)
Skip to 1:17:13 and watch until Capt. Kirk explains how he beat the simulation

Assessment: Students to consider the problem and the solution.

2. Attend: Attending to the Connection

Objective: The students will understand the need to change perspective sometime in order to solve a problem.

Activity: Small group discussion of the video.
What was the problem?
How did the trainee handle the problem?
How had Capt. Kirk handled the problem?
Have the students chart these answers on chart paper.

Assessment: Students ability to discuss and understand the technique used by Kirk.

Assessment, Phase One, Level of Engagement, Fascination:

3. Image: Creating a Mental Picture

Objective:That students see how a change in their own perspective can open up new ideas.

Activity: The task now is to get the students to see the importance of perspective change in their own thinking. In order to do this, show the students a series of optical illusions and have them tae some time to figure each one out and how they knew what each one was. Students should consider the need to look at the figures in different ways (from different perspectives) in order to solve the problems. These illusions can be found in any high school psychology text. If you do not have access to a text, you could simply draw a couple.

Assessment: The student’s use of perspective to solve problems and their ability to see the need to change perspective at times.

Assessment, Phase Two, Seeing the Big Picture:

4. Inform: Receiving Facts & Knowledge

Objective: The students will be able to see the worldview shift that occurs during the Enlightenment.

Activity: 1. Examine the philospohes and their impact on politics, society and economics.
2. Look at how the absolute monarchs in Austria, Prussia and Russia adopted the Enlightenment worldview in their regimes.
3. C/c Enlightenment worldview with medieval worldview
4. View videotape from History Through Art – The Enlightenment

Step 2
a. As students enter class the next day, you should be playing Mozart concerto or sonata. Explain that the focus of today’s class will be Rousseau’s Social Contract.
b. Give each student a sheet of 11x14 paper and have them fold it in half.
c. Have the students open the folded paper and on the left-hand side write down everything they remember about Rousseau from their assigned reading. Do this with no notes available. You should still be playing Mozart during this part of the activity. Take about 5-10 minutes for this depending on how much your students have retained.
d. Place students in 4 groups and gie each group on Rousseau quotation (see addendum for the quotes I used). The task for each group will be to create a living sculpture, and the sculpture may move or evolve if necessary to demonstrate the idea.
Give the students about 10 minutes to create their sculpture and then perform them in order.
Note: While the students create the sculptures you should play a Beethoven symphony or the Gloria from Beethoven’s Missa Solemnis.
When the sculptures are presented and explained, have your students take notes on the presentations on the right had side of their folded paper—opposite their own notes from Rousseau. This part of the process will probably take 20-25 minutes depending on the complexity of the sculptures and the clarity of the explanations.
e. Have students turn to the cover of their Rousseau book. They will now create a cover for the book. Emphasize that there should be minimal text0only the name of the work or Rousseau- everything else should be visual. While they do this (take about 5-10 minutes) play the final movement from Hector Berlioz’s Symphonie Fantastique.
When you are finished you can have the students reflect on what they now understand about Rousseau. In addition you can have them reflect on the music they heard throughout. The choice of music is intentional. Rousseau reflects the shift to the romantic period in literature with his emphasis on nature, etc.
The music shifts from Mozart (classical, precise-in line with Enlightenment rationalism) through Beethoven (the transition from classical to romantic) to Berlioz (romanticism at its height). In that way it reflects the change one sees in Rousseau’s writing.

Assessment: Level of understanding of worldviews. You will be able to tell a great deal based on student discussion and questions.

Assessment, Phase Three, Success with Acquiring Knowledge:

5. Practice: Developing Skills

Objective: Students will chart the worldview development through handouts and student generated charts.

Activity: 1. Handouts based on chapter 17 of Winks, A HISTORY OF CIVILIZATION
2. Read excerpts from the writing of the major philosophes in THE WESTERN TRADITION. Pages 213-238 deal with Montesquieu, Voltaire, Rousseau, Beccaria, Condorcet. The students will create charts that compare the contributions of each of these philosophers. Pages 249-260 have excerpts from the enlightened despots.
3. Read and fill out handout on chapter 10 of HISTORY THROUGH THE EYES OF FAITH. This deals with the changing worldviews from the Middle Ages through the Renaissance/Reformation to the Enlightenment.


Assessment: Student handouts-correct responses. Test on material

Assessment, Phase Four, Success with Acquiring Skills:

6. Extend: Extending Learning to the Outside World

Objective: Students to begin to apply their understanding of the Enlightenment worldview.

Activity: In groups students will create magazines of the Enlightenment. Each magazine will include the following:
a. a feature story on the worldview shift in the Enlightenment
b. 2 cartoons with written explanation showing the worldview shift
c. An editorial offering a perspective on the new worldview
d. A fictional interview with a current person who represents a shift in the current worldview.
It is important that at this point the class agrees on the rubric to be used for assessing the magazine. While each class will differ to a degree, the following standards should be considered.
a. Feature story – Is it written in a clear fashion? Does the worldview shift in the story coincide with the worldview shift discussed in the INFORM section of this unit? Is the grammar, sentence structure, etc., proper?
b. Cartoons – Is the message of each cartoon clear? Does the worldview shift in the cartoon coincide with the worldview shift discussed in the INFORM section of this unit? Has color been used in appropriate ways?
c. Editorial – Is the opinion of the writer clearly stated? Does the worldview shift in the editorial coincide with the worldview shift discussed in the INFORM section of this unit? Is the grammar, sentence structure, etc., proper?
d. Interview- Is the choice of current character appropriately explained? Is the worldview of the interviewee clearly one that is testing the current paradigms? How appropriate are the questions in the interview and the answers?
e. Overall – Is the magazine appropriately titled? Is the layout neat? Have any additional sections been added? (e.g. –ads, other letters to the editor, …)

Assessment: Student understanding of and ability to apply worldview.

7. Refine: Refining the Extension

Objective: Student groups will get feedback on their magazine submissions and revise them prior to publication.

Activity: Groups will exchange magazines at least twice. Each students will evaluate at least 2 other articles, cartoons, etc. S/he must write a review of the submission paying careful attention to accuracy of information, mechanics, clarity of theme in visual representations, validity of modern character. The reviewer prior to being returned to the author must sign all reviews.

Assessment: Accuracy and clarity of magazine submissions. Students are assessing each other in this step.

8. Perform: Creative Manifestation of Material Learned

Objective: To have students publish and celebrate an Enlightenment Day in class.

Activity: Group magazines will be published and placed in the school library. The modern characters ill participate in a meeting of the minds discussion on worldview. Each group member will participate in this conversation. If you have never run a meeting of the minds you are in for a treat.
The key to a successful meeting is the ability of each group to have internalized both the information about the Enlightenment and the ideas of a modern character. The role of the teacher in this meeting is that of facilitator.
You need to get it going by asking each character to introduce him/herself to the rest of the group. That introduction should include some information about his/her role in society and important contributions. Students should be in character that day and feel free to question each other.
If they ask no questions you’ll need to facilitate – ask about a current issue and how each of the guests might view it. Ask them to suggest reasons that their worldview is different, or superior to either the Enlightenment worldview or the current worldview as they understand it.
Note: It is easy in a group meeting of the minds for one person to dominate each group’s response. This can be avoided by having a prop of some type which gets passed along to another group member after someone has contributed. In that way, the most talkative students get one chance and then have to listen until the prop gets back to them.
It would be appropriate to have some classical music played in the background and have each group bring in some food for the celebration.

Assessment: Creativity and accuracy of magazine submissions. Ability to discuss modern issues from perspective of group’s modern character.

Assessment, Phase Five,Performance, Creative Use of Material Learned: