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QOTW // How do you incorporate decolonization and the Cold War? // 04-15-2024

Kathy Hays

After World War II, millions of people under colonial control just weren’t willing to take it anymore. Modern colonial empires made a lot of money for some people, but for many others, colonialism was a devastating violation. Young nations emerged from the grip of colonialism, armed with the very ideas of sovereignty their oppressors had preached, but then failed to deliver. But these struggles for independence quickly became entangled with the Cold War struggle between the United States and Soviet Union. 

Activities such as Comparing Women’s Role in the Decolonization Efforts, Connecting Decolonization in Africa and the U.S. Civil Rights Movement (article) and the Graphic biography Kwame Nkrumah provide opportunities to examine decolonization movements around the globe. 

Our questions for you this week are: 

  • How do you address the issue of decolonization?
  • What are your favorite Cold War activities?
  • What questions do you have for veteran teachers about teaching decolonization and the Cold War?

Share your thoughts and questions in the comments below. We look forward to hearing from you. 

  • My favorite Cold War activity has always been the Cold War Crisis activity because it really does put history in the hands of the students.  In addition, an informal assessment I do is a Cold War thermometer.  In groups, students have to decide which events were the "hottest" and "coldest" during this time period. 

    Thanks for making the post Kathy.  I don't thinik I ever used the Kwame Khrumah graphic bio but I definitely will be using it in about a week or so.  I always use his quotes, but I think the graphic bio will give my students more background info. on who he was.  

    PDFDOC

  • in reply to Todd Nussen

    This is an amazing worksheet, Todd! When I used to cover the Cold War in my global history class, we would always have a class debate on whether or not the Cold War was actually cold. I wish I had created a worksheet like this back then for the students to complete prior to the discussion. This is a great way for students to evaluate what parts of the Cold War were actually cold and which were debatably hot. 

    Do you have students complete this worksheet over the course of the unit, or is it covered in one lesson?

  • in reply to Adriane Musacchio

    I've always done this at the end of the unit.  It works nicely as a group activity, where we get to have more of a conversation, as well as an individual assignment.  I've done both; it just depends on my pacing. 

  • in reply to Todd Nussen

    Great idea as an activity to be completed at the end of the unit! I’m curious- which event usually gets marked as “hottest” on the thermometer? 

  •   I superficially covered this topic because the scope of Big History is very broad and the time to cover the main contents is constrained. However, after perusing and reading the documents you posted, I am considering adding one more class, possibly incorporating the Kwame Nkrumah biography and the article 'Devastation of Old Markets' using the three close reads method.

    I am enrolled in the upcoming session, anticipating that the synergy these events bring will provide me with great ideas to implement in class. I am looking forward to learning from this event!

  • in reply to Todd Nussen

    I like this activity  I came across it this past summer during an APHG session. How did your students respond to it? Were they engaged?

  • in reply to Laura Massa

    Absolutely.  I've always found it to be an excellent way to connect all the events they have examined in the unit and actually get them to think about the history they have (or were supposed to have) learned.  I prefer the group activity but when I just don't have the time in class, I'll use it as an individual homework assignment as well. 

  • in reply to Todd Nussen

    This is a great idea! The last time I used the Cold War "thermometer" was right before schools closed for the pandemic. I assigned regions to groups of students and they had to create annotated maps indicating the events/developments that were influenced by the Cold War. For each one, they had to evaluate the impact by using a thermometer.

    Unfortunately, it's been very difficult for me to spend time on projects. We don't have enough time to teach 20th century history in a meaningful way. Now I can still get the students to engage in a meaningful critical thinking exercise even if we can't afford time to do a project-based activity.