Michael Vander Wal

Professional Literature Section

Teaching Strategy

The Art and Science of Diplomacy: A World War I Activity by James J. Sheehan describes

a five day long activity in which groups of students take the role of one of the major belligerents

of World War I, and has them negotiate with the other nations in order to prevent World War I

from happening. This is supposed to be a five day long activity, but Sheehan gives an option to

do it in only two days.

In this activity, students are divided into six teams (representing the major European

nations at the brink of war), and those teams are further divided into individuals with specific

rolls to fill. Each group/country will be represented by one leader, two diplomats, and two

special foreign and domestic advisors (2005). In the five days, students are supposed to design

a flag, come up with a national anthem, present a brief history of their nation, explain their

nations flag and anthem, journal about their nations strengths, weaknesses, and goals compared

to the others (students will be provided with a fact sheet), have to react to the assassination of

Franz Ferdinand, hold diplomatic negotiations, issue final statements, and finally receive a

debrief about the activity from the instructor. Sheehan makes it clear that groups may end up

going to war anyway, as they may now be personally invested in their nation (2005). In fact, that

is why students are supposed to come up with a flag and anthem in the first place. By creating

these things from scratch, it makes the outcome of negotiations a lot more personal for them.
The purpose of this work is to give students a fun way to study World War I and its

events, but to also allow students to see how modern diplomatic negotiations can also be very

difficult and unproductive. Sheehan actually compares this activity to the lead up to war in Iraq.
This article shaped my unit plan by providing me with a concise series of events I can

pass on to my students. I had been stressing out about how to convey such a complicated bit of

history to 10th graders, but this article provides a fairly uncomplicated way to do it. I want to do
this activity in its entirety, but I dont think Ill have the time. This activity is, of course, directed

completely at teachers. The article simply describes a creative way in which teachers can give

their students necessary knowledge about WWI.

In reading this article, I found myself wishing I could do this activity, but I also

think Sheehan misses the mark on a couple things. First, he seems really concerned with

students knowing about the importance and value of steel. He even lists knowledge of steel

production as a main goal for this lesson. Steel is definitely important when thinking about

modern warfare, but the stress he puts on it seems fairly odd. He also states that this activity can

be done in only two days, but only gives a model for the five day option. As it stands, however, I

really like this activity, and I wish I had the time to do it in class.

Michael Vander Wal

Professional Literature Section
Content

Alien Enemy Registration during World War I by Helen Divjak and Lee Ann Potter gives

information about the U.S. governments actions after war was declared on Germany in 1917. It

discusses how German nationals living inside of the United States were forced to register as

alien enemies, or face internment and prosecution by the federal government. Divjak (2002)

stresses how every male German national degraded themselves by listing themselves as an

enemy of the United States. Women and children also had to register, but they did not have to

declare themselves enemies of the United States.

The article goes on to explain the various restrictions these alien enemies faced. The

regulations prohibited unnaturalized Germans from owning fire arms, operating an aircraft or
wireless apparatus, or entering the District of Columbia. The proclamations prohibited alien

enemies from going to the beach, traveling, or moving to a new house (Divjak and Potter 2002).

The overall point of this article is clear. The authors want to make the readers aware of what

German nationals had to endure during WWI, and bring to light a subject not often tackled in

modern high school History textbooks. The article ends by giving teachers strategies to teach the

texts content.
The articles audience is both teachers and students. The meat of the text is written at

about an eighth grade level, so students can easily understand what it says. The article also gives

clearly written dates, which happen to correspond directly with events related to the subject

matter. This is done so students can map out a timeline in their notes or journals.
As far as how this article and subject affects my unit plan, I think it will only have a little

value. Im teaching World History, and I am also required to teach a less US centered unit. This

subject area, while very unique, is not related to my personal requirements for the unit. I did,

however, see the value of producing and using timelines and debating tough issues. I will find a

way to incorporate a debate (even a short one) into my unit plan. I will also make my students

write a concise timeline of WWI events in their notes.

Michael Vander Wal
Professional Literature Section
Teaching Strategy Part II

In Pedagogical Content Knowledge for World History Teachers: What is It? How Might

Prospective Teachers Develop It? by Lauren McArthur Harris and Robert Bain is the description

of a study involving historical connections using notecards with historical topics on them. While

this study doesnt explicitly give tips for World History teachers, it does offer some insight into

what is necessary to be a good teacher of any historical subject.

In the study, world history teachers of various experience levels were asked to make

concept maps with various world historical topics on note cards. The authors stated that these

topics had no purposeful relation to each other, but that these topics were picked out more or less

at random (Bain and Harris 2010). What struck the authors about this experiment is that, even

though the chosen topics were not purposely related, the more experienced teachers concept

maps made much more of an effort to connect the various subjects to each other. Meanwhile, the

less experienced teachers organized their concept maps more linearly (Bain and Harris 2010).
One reason the authors give for this discrepancy among experience levels is that college

level History courses cover very specific topics, and are usually taught in a vacuum (Bain and

Harris 2010). I cannot personally change how college courses are taught, so I cant really affect

how other new teachers behave, but I can work toward bettering myself as a teacher. I can

consciously think about how one topic Im teaching relates to another. Specifically, for my unit,

I can try to relate Marx, nationalism/imperialism, and World War I together. Not only that, but I

can try really hard to bring in content from previous units to better help students understand the

topics currently being discussed. Specifically, I will talk about how the Haitian revolution ties in

to nationalism, and how Napoleon Bonapartes attempted reintroduction of the slave trade into

Haiti was an example of imperialism.

 What I learned from this experiment is that everything is connected even if the

untrained eye doesnt see it right away. Im sure finding these connections in my subject matter

will involve a lot of extra effort (at least in my first few years of teaching), but the extra effort

will most likely deepen my students understanding of every topic I cover in World History.

Bibliography

Divjak, Helen, and Lee Ann Potter. (2002) Alien enemy registration during World War I.

(Teaching with Documents)." Social Education, 66, 263. Retrieved April 1,2017 from Academic

OneFile, go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?p=AONE&sw=w&u=lom_calvincoll&v=2.1&id=GALE

%7CA92081393&it=r&asid=3192e4c44fbfe3e7ca2d7d6a02ee969e. Accessed 2 Apr. 2017.

McArthur, L., & Bain, R. (2010, December 29). Pedagogical Content Knowledge for World

History Teachers: What is It? How Might Prospective Teachers Develop It? [Electronic

version]. The Social Studies, 102(1), 9-17.

Sheehan, James J. (2005) The art and science of diplomacy: a World War I activity. Social

Education, 69, 214. Retrieved April 1, 2017 from Academic OneFile, go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?

p=AONE&sw=w&u=lom_calvincoll&v=2.1&id=GALE

%7CA132849851&it=r&asid=8b4084754f6951cfb72093a01de2bce1. Accessed 2 Apr. 2017