History of Ireland

Section 7: Conformity and Obedience

Part 1: Overview

The purpose of this section is to explore essential questions such as:
? What is propaganda? How can propaganda be distinguished from other forms of media?
? How do you know when information is accurate? Under what conditions do you believe what you see and hear?
? What type of schooling prepares young people for their role as citizens in a democracy? What type of schooling prepares young people for their role as citizens in a dictatorship?
? What is dehumanization? What conditions allow a group to become dehumanized?
? What is the difference between obedience and unconditional (“blind”) obedience? What can be the consequences of unconditional obedience?
? Under what conditions is it appropriate to obey authority? Under what conditions is it appropriate to resist authority?

The lesson ideas for this section are built around these core resources:
← The Nazis: A Warning from History, episode 2, Chaos and Consent (film)
← Nazi propaganda posters
← Childhood Memories (film)
← Readings from Chapter 5, Facing History and Ourselves: Holocaust and Human Behavior
← Obedience (film)

Background information
To support the teaching of this section, we strongly recommend reading chapter 5 in the resource book Facing History and Ourselves: Holocaust and Human Behavior.
FIND SITES FOR BACKGROUND

Rationale: What is the purpose of this section? Why teach this material?

Part 2: Lesson ideas
These lesson ideas suggest ways to the core resources in order to support students’ exploration of the section’s’ essential questions.   They should be adapted to meet the needs of your students and context.

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Lesson idea #18 – Propaganda and conformity

Suggested duration: 90-120 minutes

Key terms: propaganda, conformity, dehumanization

Materials:
    ← The Nazis: A Warning from History, episode 2, Chaos and Consent (24:00 – 38:27)
    ← (Handout 18.1) Definitions of propaganda
    ← (Handout 18.2) ”Healthy Parents Have...