Rise of Dictators

The aim of this lesson is for students to judge how much love there was for Mao Zedong in China and his Chinese Revolution. .

There is also some retrieval practice which can also be used to tie with the other Dictatorships of Hitler and Stalin.

This lesson can be delivered over two as there is quite a lot of information given so that students will be able to make their own assumptions and judgements.

The lesson begins with questioning what the students already or might know about China throughout its history.

Students will learn about the background of communism in China and Mao’s rise to power as well as his Great Leap Forward, which they will answer key questions on.

They will ultimately be required to evaluate Mao’s term in office and decide how much love there was for him amongst the Chinese population with his policies on industry, land reform, women, education and youth for example.

There is also an extended writing task to complete for students to show off their new found knowledge.

They are some key words and phrases to analyse such as the Long March, collectives, purge, anarchy, the ‘New Leap Forward’ as well as the ‘Cultural Revolution’.

The lesson is enquiry based with a key question using a lightbulb posed at the start of the lesson and revisited at the end to show the progress of learning.

The resource includes retrieval practice, suggested teaching strategies, differentiated materials and comes in PowerPoint format if there is a wish to adapt and change.