Standards

National Council for the Social Studies (NCSS)

VI. Social studies programs should include experiences that provide for the study of how people create and change structures of power, authority, and governance.

IX. Social studies programs should include experiences that provide for the study of global connections and interdependence.

Materials

Suggested time

Two class periods

Procedures

1. Locate the Baltic countries on a globe or world map. Begin with a class dialogue about the situation in the Balkans. Ask them to express all they know about the region -- names of countries, leaders, key terms, reasons for conflicts, etc. -- and write them on the board.

2. Have students read the CNNfyi.com article "Rebels, ideas clash in Macedonia" Then ask the following questions:

   • Who is fighting in Macedonia? What is the situation for civilians living in the crisis area? What events occurred in the 1990s in Macedonia that have led up to the current conflict? What is the PDP, and who are its members? What are both the Macedonian government and the PDP doing to end the conflict? What is the relationship between the PDP and the Albanian rebels?

3. After discussing the article, have students add to the information they already have on the board. Then, on another section of the board, list what they tell you they still do not know about the situation and details they feel they need to know in order to have a clear understanding of the situation.

4. Instruct students to imagine that they are a Macedonian ambassador and must brief governmental representatives of your country on the situation in order to begin a dialogue about ways in which your country can help. Working individually, in pairs or in groups, direct students to organize the information they already have and to do research to answer the questions they still have in order to create a clear, well-organized report. Direct them to use textbooks, the CNN in-depth "Macedonia: Next Balkan powder keg?" and other articles in the box on the story, the sources found in Holt, Rinehart and Winston's "Conflict in the Balkans," and other print and online resources to answer their questions. Also discuss with them ways in which to evaluate the materials they find in terms of accuracy and balance.

Assessment

Students can hand in written reports or present their reports orally as though they were delivering the information to the government official. If they are presented orally, students listening can take the role of the officials and ask any questions that have.

Accommodation

Affective learning Discuss the role of the civilians who are trapped in the area of fighting. Ask students to write about a time when they felt very trapped, either physically or mentally. (Or simply give them several minutes to think about such a time and to jot down some notes about it.) Direct them to consider how they felt and how they finally worked through the problem. Then return to the discussion about the refugees. Challenge them to use their own experiences to empathize with those caught in the Balkan conflict. Ask: Do their memories of personal feelings of entrapment help them to better imagine how frightening it must be to be a civilian caught in a conflict zone? In what ways? Can they think of literature that has helped them empathize with people who have been in situations that are remote from their own experiences? Do they think it is important to empathize with distant countries? Does it make them want to be better informed about others' life challenges or to do something to help? Why or why not?

Challenge

Based on the information students collected in their reports, ask them to take the next logical step by arranging a mock meeting, in which one-third of the students represent the Macedonian government, one-third represent the PDP and one-third represent your country. Ask them to return to the situation described in the news story, in which there was agreement to form a coalition government and to negotiate some action steps to stop the fighting and begin to build a peaceful multi-ethnic society.

Yugoslavia continues Kosovo transformation
April 25, 2001
Conflict in the Balkans
March 8, 2001

CIA -- The World Factbook 2000 -- Macedonia, The Former Yugoslav Republic of
Republic of Macedonia: The First Macedonian WWW Page
US Institute of Peace Special Report: Ethnic Albanians in Southern Balkans
The Albanians of Macedonia

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