Allen 1
Ashley Allen
8 December 2014
CRIN S00
Absolutism:
A Concept Formation Project
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Overview:Absolutism is a key construct for World History students to understand. Absolutism is a style of government in which a monarch, sultan, emperor, etc. has absolute and total power over a given nation or kingdom's government and its people. There is no popular sovereignty in absolutism, and power is largely - if not entirely - centralized under the ruler. Though legislative or judicial bodies may, technically, exist in countries with absolute rulers, these bodies have no legitimate ability to levy checks and balances against the absolute ruler. Absolutism also has a religious component, as absolute rulers claim the divine right of kings to justify their rule. Divine right of kings essentially suggests absolute leaders where given their rule by God, that their power was ordained by God, and, as such, their subjects have no right to try to limit or challenge their absolute power. Absolutism, following the onset and spread of Enlightened philosophy, has largely been abandoned as an effective form of government in the Western world, but there are still instances of its use in the present-day in regions like the Middle East, Africa, and Southeast Asia, where autocratic and absolute rulers use absolutism and its corresponding tenets to justify their often harsh, restrictive rule and as an explanation for their continued oppression of the people to grow and maintain their own centralized, absolute power.
Rationale:
Absolutism is a key point of focus emphasized on the Virginia Standards of Learning (SOLs) for World History II courses. It is also part of the AP World History curriculum as well. Absolutism is important to study not only because it is, in itself, an important concept within the history/social studies discipline, but also because it provides a lens through which the influence and proliferation of other important historical events and processes (i.e. the Scientific Revolution and the Enlightenment) can be studied, especially with regard to how they affected preexisting norms and societal structures.
Absolutism is an ideal topic to teach using the concept formation strategy because absolutism is a concept. The concept formation lesson, unsurprisingly, necessitates a concept for the lesson to be a success. Rather than giving students the name of a concept or a conceptual term (like absolutism) and then giving them a corresponding definition and examples, the concept formation lesson forces students to work backwards from that routine. Students instead begin by reading and analyzing written examples about a given (but as-yet-unnamed) concept. They will use these examples to determine what differences and - most importantly - similarities the examples all share, and students will then use the most important shared characteristics to draft their own working definition of the concept and will try to hypothesize as to what the concept might be called. Only after students write and offer their own definitions will the actual definition and the actual name be revealed. When students engage with a concept formation plan, they are forced to engage in critical, analytical thinking. In doing so, students often emerge with a better grasp on the content area material being studied using the concept formation strategy rather than the inverse, in which students are not forced to truly engage with the concept and are instead given all the information about the concept without really having to learn about it.
Grade Level: I designed this lesson with 10th grade World History II students, as I will be teaching it to at least one WHII class at my practicum school. It could be adapted to be used in AP classrooms, particularly for use as an introductory activity before beginning a unit on the age of absolutism.
Length of Lesson:70-80 minutes (longer if you include the writing assessment as an in-class assignment). This lesson could be adapted to fit different lengths of class periods if necessary. It would depend on how much assistance a given class of students needed in completing the chart.
Objectives:
Content:
- The student will demonstrate knowledge of scientific, political, economic, and religious changes during the sixteenth, seventeenth, and eighteenth centuries by: (WHII.6)
a) Describing the Age of Absolutism, including the monarchies of Louis XIV and Peter the Great
- Students will learn to examine and analyze examples of absolutismin order to determine the key characteristics of the concept so that they can create a working definition of absolutism
- Students will categorize and distinguish examples from non-examples of absolutism/absolutist monarchs to further test and solidify/challenge their definition of absolutism
- At the end of the lesson, students will write a response to prove their understanding and knowledge of the defining characteristics of absolutism by researching and identifying examples/non-examples of absolutism and explaining why or why not these examples meet the criteria for absolutism
Skills:
- Students will be exposed to and will learn norms for participating in class wide/large-group discussions
Resources:Sufficient number of copies of all worksheets for students; whiteboard, dry-erase markers (one color for similarities and one color for differences), Powerpoint with examples typed onto slides for class-wide viewing
Assessment:
To assess students' understanding of absolutism as a concept, I will use informal and more formal assessment options. Informally, I will be monitoring student progress as they work on the worksheets and handouts associated with the concept formation lesson. I will informally grade their examples vs. non-examples worksheet. I will also be walking about the room during the lesson to gauge students' group work abilities and whether or not they are practicing appropriate behaviors for group-based activities.
In terms of more formal assessments, I am have drafted the option to ask students to respond to a writing prompt that will (hopefully) force students to analyze modern-day national governments to gauge whether or not there are still today examples of absolutism/absolute monarchies in the world.
- PROMPT: Students will use the similarities and differences determined via the chart and subsequent class discussion to find ONE (1) example of a modern-day absolutist monarchy and ONE (1) modern-day non-example of the same. They will need to include evidence from their worksheets and class discussion (and the generated results) in their written response. It is crucial they use the critical attributes of absolutism in their determining what is and is not a modern example of absolutism/absolute monarchies/ or absolute rule. The student response will be graded on a rubric to be designed later.
Ideally, this would be completed before the class period ended, but depending on how long the actual activity itself takes, students could have this portion of the lesson assigned as a homework assignment.
Potential options:
- Examples:
- Saudi Arabia, Brunei, Bahrain, Oman, Qatar, Swaziland
- Non-examples:
- U.S., U.K., Germany - basically any democracy, representative democracy, constitutional monarchy, etc.
- Interesting option - Russia
- Has a representative legislative body (the Duma) but do they really have any power/say in government matters under Putin?
Lesson Layout:
1. Understanding the Concept: What is absolutism?
A. Definition: Absolutism is "the political doctrine and practice of unlimited, centralized authority and absolute sovereignty, as vested especially in a monarch [...] The essence of an absolutist system is that the ruling power is not subject to regularized challenge or check by any other agency, be it judicial, legislative, economic, or electoral" (Encyclopaedia Britannica).
- For the purposes of this lesson, the examples/non-examples focus more on absolute monarchies rather than dictators, even though the definition above includes dictators in its explanation.
B. What are the critical concepts of absolutism?
a. The ruler (king, emperor, sultan, president, etc.) centralizes power and authority over the nation and the people
- The people have no authority
- EX: No (impactful) legislative body with representatives elected by the people
b. The ruler's power is not checked by a system of checks and balances or by a separation of powers amongst different branches of government
c. Justify rule by claiming divine right
2. Introduction and/or Hook:
1. Students will analyze the cartoon/drawing found on page 6.
2. I will ask them to first list what they see in the image on their own. I will then have them pair up with a person near them/next to them to discuss what they see.
3. I will then ask them - in the same pairs - to start to infer what this image might mean.
- What could its message be? Its purpose? Do they have a guess as to when it was written? Why is the image drawn how it is (i.e. size of the king, etc.)? Does the quote matter?
4. We will discuss as a class what these inferences are before we begin the activities in the concept formation lesson plan.
3. Student Investigation and Discussion, Part One: Introduce Chart Work
1. Students will receive TWO (2) handouts. Handout #1 is entitled "Forming a Concept." This worksheet includes a chart in which students will answer questions about four provided examples of absolutism in practice by absolutist monarchs. The four monarchs used in these four examples are: 1) Frederick the Great of Prussia; 2) Charles I of England; 3) Louis XIV ofFrance; and 4) Peter the Great of Russia. The second handout will include summaries about these four monarchs rule; the summaries will include the main characteristics of absolutism/absolutist monarchs so that students will be able to begin to associate these qualities with the concept. The students will not be told who these examples are profiling and the examples will be identified as either "A, B, C, and D" or "1, 2, 3, and 4."
- Louis XIV and Peter the Great were chosen expressly for inclusion because they are the two names mentioned in this particular targeted SOL standard, but they are also ideal examples of absolutist monarchs.
2. After students receive this handout, I will explain to them the goal for this activity. We are aiming to define a concept by identifying and examining its critical attributes or key characteristics. I will emphasize that when reading the examples, they should pay close attention to the prompting questions at the top of each column on the table, as that will direct their attention to what details in the textual examples are most important and relevant to the activity.
4. Collective Examination of an Example
1. I will announce to the class that they should turn their attention to the first example.
2. I will give the students time to read the first example on their own.
3. I will then have the class reconvene as a large group, and we will read the first example out loud.
- I will also have Example #1 on the Powerpoint visible in large print. Reading it out loud will serve to help my lower-level reading students as well as the ELL students in one of my CT's WHII classes.
4. After reading Example #1 out loud, we will answer the questions at the top of the columns on the chart together as a class. This will allow me to model proper answers for the class and to make sure the students are aware of the processes they should be following to fill out their charts.
5. Student Investigation and Discussion, Part Two: Students Finish Chart Work
1. I will then give students sufficient time to read through Examples #2 & 3 and to fill out the corresponding boxes on the "Forming a Concept" handout. Students will have the option of working with a partner or working alone during this activity.
- I will determine which course of action I believe is best based on the specific group of students I am teaching this lesson to at my practicum school.
2. As the students work on completing this chart, I will be circulating throughout the room so students know I am available to answer any questions regarding the assignment at hand. I will continue to remind them to pay attention to the questions at the top of each column when reading through the remaining three examples.
6. Collaborative Discussion and Idea Formation
1. Once the vast majority of students have finished filling out the chart handout, I will bring the class back together to work as a whole.
2. As a class, we will then go over each example so I can make sure the students' answers are narrowing in on the critical attributes of absolutism.
- Because the goal of the concept formation lesson strategy is not for students to necessarily be accurate in their own hypotheses, I will discuss with the students the correct answers for each example and will allow them to revise or add to what they had previously written (either on their own or in pairs) on their chart.
3. I will then pass out to the students another handout (#3). This handout is modeled on the similarities/differences sheet used (or rather, not used) in the example we worked on in our class regarding judicial review.
4. As a class, we will work to fill out this worksheet, which asks students to identify the differences and similarities between the example case studies, identify the three key characteristics of the yet- unnamed concept, and to try to define and identify that concept using those critical attributes.
A. Differences (possibles):
- Different countries
- Different religions (in terms of sect) used to justify rule (but same justification is at the heart of all the examples)
B. Similarities (possibles):
- Time period (it was called the "Age of Absolutism" for a reason!)
- Where they got their right to rule
- No checks and balances
- No functioning legislative branch/power
5. I will ask students for their answers to the questions listed in directive #4. The goal will be to create possible definitions for this concept as well as to identify it by name. After gathering student hypotheses on what the concept might be, I will give them the dictionary definition and identify it as "absolutism."
- I do expect to have to give this term to students because my CT wants to use this lesson plan as an introduction to the concept of absolutism, so my students in WHII will have had no exposure to the concept in previous classes.
7. Student Investigation and Discussion, Part Three: Examples v. Non-Examples
1. After we, as a class, have established the definition of "absolutism" and unveiled it as a concept, I will pass out the fourth and fifth (one double-sided paper) handout. The front of this worksheet (Handout #4) will include 3-4 examples and non-examples of absolutism. These examples will be (for the most part) historical contemporaries - or at least not modern-day examples - of the four absolute monarchs discussed earlier.
- Possible examples/non-examples will include:
- Examples:
1. James I (UK)
2. China ("mandate of heaven")
- Non-examples:
1. The United States
- Controversial example:
1. Frederick the Great (Prussia)
- An Enlightened absolute monarch (but does not believe in divine right of kings)
2. Working either alone or in pairs again, students will read through these examples with the purpose of identifying them as either examples of absolutism or non-examples of the same concept.
- They will be told to keep in mind the identified critical attributes/key characteristics identified earlier in the activity.
3. On the reverse of this handout, students will find a chart (Handout #5) that will help them pick out the important details from the examples in their efforts to define the examples as either examples/non- examples of absolutism.
4. After most students have completed the chart and arrived at a conclusion for all the examples, I will review with the class and see if we can come to a class consensus on each example and how it qualifies (example vs. non-example).
- I can either ask individuals/pairs to offer their answer, or I can have all those who said it was/was not an example to raise their hands to increase the likelihood of student participation, even amongst those who are wary to talk in class.
- The second option I feel would be especially beneficial for my ELL students in my CT's WHII classes, who can typically understand spoken (especially conversational) English well enough but written English remains a struggle for some of these specific ELL students.
5. I will then reveal the answers and help the students work through any that did not have a majority leaning either way (example vs. non-example).
6. Upon completion of this final worksheet and its corresponding discussion, students will be able to ask any clarifying questions they may have before the assessment (a writing response) is assigned.
8. Assessment:
- See above in section labeled "Assessment" for information about both formal and
informal assessment options for this lesson plan.
Differentiation/Adaption:
This lesson plan calls for the students to do most of the chart work either individually or in pairs (ideally, I would give the class a choice), but if I was teaching a group I knew had a fair number of low readers, all examples may need to be reviewed collectively rather than just the first one. In a high-level (i.e. above-grade-level readers, or in a class where absolutism has been discussed in brief beforehand) class, it possibly could even take less than 60 minutes as well.