Invitation

I was asked how to develop an active learning process for students to understand the history and development of democracy in the USA.

In particular, I wanted to help students to better understand The American Revolution.

Democracy is about the involvement of citizens through discussion and interaction. So, I suggested, that we commence by asking students to become emotionally involved by reenacting the big decision – ‘to be or not to be revolutionaries’?

In conjunction with a teacher in a Californian school, Melissa Akana, students were asked to meet in groups of four or five and the groups were named P or L.

The ‘P’ groups were Patriots, who supported the revolution.

The ‘L’ groups were Loyalists, loyal to King George III and who opposed the revolution.

Would the students find it interesting, and rise to the challenge?

The Theme – ‘We The People’

These are the first three words of the USA Constitution. The phrase indicated that the new country would not be ruled by a King or Emperor, but by the democratic votes of its citizens.

Therefore, I created a series of classroom sessions to engage students in the events that led to the formation of the USA. These included key dates such as:

• 1765 – Sons of Liberty group formed and protested against direct taxation imposed by The British Stamp Act.
  
  

• 1770 – Protestors in Boston were killed by British soldiers.
  
  

• 1773 – ‘Boston Tea Party’ – revolutionaries refused to pay tax on tea imports, and threw the sacks of tea into the river.
  
  

• 1774 – First National Congress met to discuss independence.
  
  

• 1775 – Second National Congress met and formed the Commonwealth Army, led by George Washington.
  
  

• 1776 – The Declaration of Independence was circulated to thirteen colonies.
  
  

• 1775 – 1781 – Revolutionary War of Independence.
  
  

• 1783 – Treaty of Paris – formal recognition of the United States of America.
  
  

• 1789 – First Government of USA formed under President Washington.

There were many events in between these dates that led to families and friends having to decide if they were Patriots, supporting the revolution, or Loyalists who wanted to continue as colonists ruled by laws made in England.

Case Study – Re-enactment of the American Revolution

Through active learning by role playing both sides of the real issues, students gained valuable experience, in a virtual way, of the original decisions of the Patriots and Loyalists.

Melissa Akana has used the ‘We The People’ educational resource in her History classes in her Californian school. She has recorded a video indicating how her students responded positively and improved their learning. –  view HERE.

This is based on group discussions based on the five-minute videos that were developed about the events covered in the timeline which led to the formation of the USA Government.

To start each classroom discussion, one of the five-minute videos from the series was shown, highlighting key features of the American Revolution. In the following example, the one-hour lesson is based on the historic events that took place in Boston during 1773.

Active Learning Timetable

Introduction – 5 minutes – Teacher informs students that the objective is to learn how a group of North American colonies, ruled by Britain from London, started to become an independent democratic country. Students are told they will see a video based on the events.

In this example, the one-hour lesson is based on the historic events that took place in Boston during 1773.

Video – 5 minutes – Group Discussions – Students are asked to meet in groups of 4 or 5. Those groups labelled P are Patriots and are for the revolution.  Those labelled L are Loyalists, and are against the revolution.

In the following 15 to 20 minutes, the Patriot groups discuss how to persuade the Loyalist groups to change their views and join them. Likewise, the Loyalist groups discuss how to change the views of the Patriots.

The classroom ignites with discussions, as students share their ideas. There is also a lot of laughter, which is indicative that they are enjoying the process. Each group is asked to appoint a note-taker, and someone to present their key points.

Presentations – 15 minutes -The Patriot groups present their points, and the Loyalist groups present their views. This is invariably done in good spirits, with some heckling.

Personal Reflections

Afterwards, each student is asked to write a few sentences on two questions:-

1. What did I learn about the American Revolution history from the discussions and presentations?
   
   

2. What did I learn about myself from participating in the discussions?

Students are then asked to meet someone from a group that had supported the opposing approach, and share what they had written.

The responses received from these activities done in classrooms have shown a high level of engagement and personal insights. Students indicated that they found it was interesting to play the role of a Patriot or a Loyalist, and enjoyed having the opportunity to voice their thoughts.

Effective Active Learning Via Role Play

Active learning involves both virtual engagement and real time personal understanding. The above example shows how it has been applied effectively in a History class to help students learn about The American Revolution.

As a result, students also learn about the psychology of choosing sides and seeing different perspectives. This is an approach which enables both academic learning about the events and also personal social emotional understanding from the virtual involvement in the issues.

The full video series of ‘WeThe People’ is now available, and examples are provided at –

https://www.wethepeoplelearn.website/