Mandela at 90 in Schools
July 18th
For many schools Nelson Mandela's birthday is the last day of the sumer term, why not get your class or school to mark the ocassion with their pledges for development, justice and rights?
 
Teaching materials and resources
A wide range of teaching materials already exists on Nelson Mandela, the struggle against apartheid and the apartheid regime.

South African History Resources Online
The South African History website ‘History Classroom’
Includes resources and teaching materials for all ages on the history of the struggle against apartheid.

Further materials and information can be found at ‘South African History Online’

One of the best teaching resources on Apartheid south africa is Hamish McDonald and Barry Williamson's, South Africa, Key History for GCSE, Stanley Thornes 1997, ISBN 0748725857 and the accompanying teachers guide of the same name ISBN 0748726004.
This text book and accompanying resources, aimed at KS4 are suitable for students of mixed ability. The textbook takes pupils through the history of apartheid from its roots to post apartheid South Africa.

Nelson Mandela
A number of Nelson Mandela teaching resources are also available online, including:
A KS2 assembly on Mandela, apartheid and the right to vote.

Teaching resources produced by channel 4 as part of their heroes or villains series. This lesson and accompanying film focuses on Mandela’s earlier years as an ANC activist.

A series of teaching resources devised by Oxfam, primarily for upper KS2 English.

An overview of a KS3 English lesson focusing on emotions and letter writing, using Mandela as a case study.


Africa in the classroom
For teachers looking for resources focused more of southern Africa, the following sites provide links to a broad range of materials.
 
Teachernet’s links page to a series of resources on Africa

Learning Africa's site provides a series of classroom activities and learning resources which draw on and help to address the issues raised by the Commission for Africa report.
 
A wealth of resources from a range or organisations on global citizenship, many of which focus on South Africa.

Developing a school link
Links between schools not only add an extra dimension to children’s learning but create a positive dialogue and friendship between two groups of children that will contribute towards their social development.

The occasion of Nelson Mandela’s 90th birthday provides an ideal platform to develop a link with a school within southern or South Africa. Fortunately there is a wealth of best practice, resources, organisations and even funding to support this kind of work including the following:

A series of best practice guides and links on twinning

Tools advice and resources from the British Council on partnerships between schools

Link community development, promotes links between schools in the UK and Ireland and a number of countries in Africa including South Africa.
 
Other ideas
In addition to the many teaching resources available on Nelson Mandela and southern Africa, for all key stages, there are numerous other ways schools and councils could work together to feature Mandela at 90 in schools.

School students might be encouraged to produce art work including, paintings, drawings or crafts which could be displayed in a school or the town hall on the theme of Mandela at 90.

Children could be encouraged to write poetry on the theme of Mandela at 90, which could be featured online.

Councils, through their LEAs could highlight some of the resources they might already have available to promote Mandela at 90:

School libraries could feature books about southern Africa, South African literature, African women's literature  and some of its leading figures such as Nelson Mandela and Steve Biko.

There are many films that highlight the fight against apartheid and the challenges facing post apartheid southern Africa. In addition to the major blockbusters available, there are also a number of films produced by smaller independent companies.

Southern African music could be studied in music lessons as well as political music calling for an end to apartheid. For example Ladysmith Black Mambazo, Miriam Makeba, Hugh Masakela, The Manhattan Brothers, Jerry Dammers & The Specials, and Peter Gabriel.  Schools could invite local southern African artists to create music with children, for example drumming and rap.
Your local authority could also provide schools with a list of speakers for example local councillors, MPs who were involved in the Anti Apartheid Movement and could be invited into schools to talk about their experiences.  If your council does not have this information then contact ACTSA.