History and Citizenship Education, Secondary Cycle One (Secondary 1-2)

Unit 1: Sedentarization

How settling down changed everything: agriculture, villages, crafts, trade, and the first division of labour in Neolithic societies - and what that says about how we organize life in society today.

• How we organize life in society today
• Agriculture, villages, and the first crafts
• Sedentary life then and now

Unit 2: The emergence of a civilization

The birth of writing and the first cities: Mesopotamia, its city-states, its laws and cuneiform writing - and why written rules still matter in society today.

• The role of writing today
• Mesopotamia: city-states, social order, and law
• Cuneiform and the spread of culture
• Written rules in society today

Unit 3: First experience of democracy

Democracy is born in Athens: who counted as a citizen, how the Ecclesia worked, and the limits of Athenian democracy - and what democratic citizenship means today.

• How political power is organized today
• Democracy in fifth-century Athens
• Being a citizen in a democracy today

Unit 4: Romanization

How Rome ruled and spread its way of life across an empire: citizenship, conquest, law, and infrastructure - and how citizens relate to public institutions today.

• How empires exert influence today
• Roman society, citizenship, and conquest
• Roman law, infrastructure, and legacy
• Citizens and public institutions today

Unit 5: The Christianization of the West

How the Christian Church shaped medieval Europe: feudal society, the roles of Church and clergy, castles, monasteries, cathedrals, and the Crusades - and the influence of religion and identity in society today.

• The influence of religion on society today
• The Church and feudal society
• Castles, cathedrals, and the Crusades
• Identity and values in Western society today

Unit 6: Growth of cities and trade

The medieval revival of towns and trade: the commune, craft guilds, large-scale commerce, fairs, and the rise of the merchant bourgeoisie - and how institutions and social groups relate today.

• The impact of trade on society today
• Medieval towns, guilds, and the bourgeoisie
• Institutions and social groups today

Unit 7: A new vision of humanity

The Renaissance and Reformation: humanist thought, the arts and sciences, the printing press, and the challenge to Church authority - and the humanist values that endure in society today.

• Our concept of human beings today
• Humanist thought and Renaissance art and science
• The Reformation and the challenge to the Church
• Humanist values in society today

Unit 8: European expansion in the world

The age of European exploration and its first world economy: the great voyages, colonial empires, the triangular trade including the trade in enslaved people, and the devastating consequences of European expansion for the Native peoples of the Americas. Taught truthfully and unsoftened.

• Commercial colonialism today
• The great explorations and colonial empires
• The triangular trade and its consequences for the Americas
• Economic and cultural relationships between societies today

Unit 9: The American or French revolution

The age of revolutions: Enlightenment ideas, the separation of powers, and how the American or French revolution won and recognized fundamental rights - and how rights are affirmed and guaranteed today.

• The affirmation of fundamental rights today
• Enlightenment ideas and the age of revolution
• Guarantees of rights and freedoms today

Unit 10: Industrialization : an economic and social revolution

The Industrial Revolution in Britain: mechanized production, new social classes, harsh working conditions, and the rise of unions and socialism - and the effort to improve living conditions today.

• The impact of industrialization today
• Industrial Britain: production and new classes
• Workers, unions, and socialism
• Improving living conditions today

Unit 11: Imperialism and colonization

The expansion of the industrial world into Africa: the motives and justifications of imperialism, the Berlin Conference's division of Africa, and how European domination affected and was resisted by African populations. Taught truthfully and unsoftened.

• Imperialism and colonization today
• The motives of imperialism and the division of Africa
• The African experience of colonization and resistance
• Relationships among societies today

Unit 12: Winning of civil rights and freedoms

The 20th-century struggles that won civil rights and freedoms: the feminist movement, the Black civil rights movement, and decolonization - their wrongs, figures, actions, and gains - and the individual's responsibility in defending rights today.

• Civil rights and freedoms today
• The feminist movement
• The Black civil rights movement and decolonization
• The individual's responsibility for rights today

Unit 13: Techniques used in History and Citizenship Education

The historian's toolkit: reading and building timelines, drawing and interpreting historical maps, and interpreting written, illustrated, and statistical sources. Method skills taught in their own right, woven through the study of every phenomenon.

• Reading a chronological scale
• Constructing a timeline

• Drawing a historical map
• Interpreting a historical map

• Interpreting written and illustrated documents
• Interpreting and constructing a table and graph