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What Roles Do Philanthropists Play in Influencing Others? Cesar Chavez and the Farm Worker's Struggle
Lesson 9:
From Unit Concepts of Leadership
Focus Question(s):
- What are the social conditions under which an individual realizes his or her full potential as a leader who is willing to take private action for the common good?
Purpose:
To enable students to list the conditions which led César Chávez to direct the farm workers' struggle for economic wellbeing and to evaluate current issues facing farm workers and the American consumer today.
Duration:
One Fifty-Minute Class Period
Objectives:
The learner will:
- list three conditions that led Chavez to form the Farm Worker's Union.
- cite the main ideas behind Chavez's philosophy and identify various examples of the actions he took to insure the welfare of his community.
- cite examples of issues that continue to face farm workers today.
Service Experience:
Although this lesson contains a service project example, decisions about service plans and implementation should be made by students, as age appropriate.
Students will provide an action project to the community highlighting the dangers of pesticides and their benefits.
Materials:
Video: The Grapes of Wrath
Instructional Procedure(s):
- Anticipatory Set:
Ask the class how many of them still live on farms or know a person who currently farms for a living. Make a list of concerns current farmers face.
- View the video The Wrath of Grapes.
- After the movie, ask the students to make a list of conditions faced by the farm workers in the mid-'80s that resulted in the grape boycott. They should:
- identify three conditions that led Chávez to form the Farm Worker's Union
- cite the main ideas behind Chávez's philosophy
- identify various examples of the actions he took to insure the welfare of his community
- cite examples of issues that continue to face farm workers today.
- In teams, students should use the Internet to research articles about air, water and ground pollution caused by pesticides today, as well as the benefits of pesticides.
- Students should then come to some conclusion about the danger of toxic chemicals on today's food.
- Students will work with partners to develop an action project to make the community aware of the dangers and/or benefits of pesticides today. An example might be to provide a display in the school or local library on this topic.
Assessment:
Have the class create a rubric for presentation of ideas created in last bullet above.
Bibliographical References:
- http://www.pbs.org/itvs/fightfields/ufw/index.html
- Video: The Wrath of Grapes. United Farm Workers (1986).
Lesson Developed and Piloted by:
Kristine GrunwaldWilliamston Community Schools
Williamston High School
Williamston, MI 48895
Handouts:
Unit Contents:
Overview:Concepts of Leadership Summary
Lessons:
- 1.
- How Do Societies Ensure Leadership Takes Place?
- 2.
- How Do Leaders Communicate Their Ideas?
A Look at the Words of John Brown,
Frederick Douglass and Sojourner Truth - 3.
- How Are Leaders Role Models for Their Beliefs? The Mormon Trail—Road of the Saints
- 4.
- What Choices Do Leaders Have to Make? Ida B. Wells
- 5.
- What Roles Do Philanthropists Play in Influencing Others?
Andrew Carneige-The Gospel of Wealth - 6.
- Teddy Roosevelt's View on Citizenship and the Environment
- 7.
- Margaret Sanger—Risk Taker, Law Breaker, and Promoter of Change
- 8.
- Michigan's Philanthropic Tradition—Charles Stewart Mott
- 9.
- What Roles Do Philanthropists Play in Influencing Others? Cesar Chavez and the Farm Worker's Struggle
- 10.
- Lifelong Leadership—Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter
- 11.
- Incorporating Leadership Into My Own Life
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