Lesson Plan: Socialization and the Traditional Role of Women in the South
A lesson plan for grades 11 - 12 Social Studies - By Lee Adcock
Students will define traditionally accepted notions concerning behavior and expectations for women in the South using the investigation of oral histories, cultural institutions and methods of socialization pre-WWI.
Learning Outcomes
Students will analyze the Southern conceptualization of women's roles in light of the Civil War and Reconstruction.
Students will define socialization and list possible agents of socialization for Southern women prior to World War I.
Students will explain the functions and roles of these socializing agents in relation to traditionally held beliefs about gender.
Students will discuss the historical development of formal education for women at women's colleges.
Teacher Planning
Time required for lesson: Two or Three 50-minute class periods
Materials/Resources
Resource list for research of women's colleges (see below.)
Southern Women Trailblazers
website
Technology Resources
3 oral history excerpts (mp3 format):
Access to Computer Lab.
Computer with Internet connection
(if streaming oral history excerpts directly from this site.)
Speakers
CD player, if burning a CD of oral history excerpts
TV/DVD player
LCD projector
Activities
Pre-Activities
Teachers should listen to the oral history excerpts, review discussion questions, prepare scene from the film for efficient viewing.
Students should come to class with a short paragraph of their personal conceptions of what a 'traditional' Southern female was defined as prior to WWI.
Main Activities
Activity One: Defining Acceptable Roles for Women pre-WWI.
A. Discuss students' pre-activity writings about their understanding and generalizations about gender roles during this time period. List on the board adjectives and phrases students use to describe women during this time period. Discuss similarities and where students believe they received these notions about female roles.
B. Define socialization and agents of socialization. >Create a list of Socializing Agencies during this time period. Discuss with students how they believed institutions such as church, schooling, Plantation culture contributed to the 'idealized' version of a 'Southern Belle.'
Activity Two: Listening to the Oral Histories and Film Viewing
A. Introduce the concept of an oral history and discuss their value as we study important events.
Mention that oral histories provide a chance for the "regular person" to record his or her experiences, not just the well-known or famous people often recorded in written history. Ask students to come up with more reasons we should value oral histories - such as allowing minority groups to record and publicize their experiences, making connections between generations, passing on the art of storytelling, etc.
Hand out transcripts of the oral histories, and ask students as they listen to take notes on the speakers' experiences as they relate to traditional gender roles.
B. Play the following oral histories:
Possible questions for discussion:
Activity Three: The Women's College
Place students in small groups (3-4 students per group.)
Assign each group one of the following topics:
Possible guidance for discussion: Education for women was quite important and widespread in the early part of the twentieth century. Southern states had been home to many women's colleges since before the turn of the century, and the number and size of these programs grew steadily into the early 1900s. For Southern families who could afford to send their daughter to a women's college, the education she received there was thought to help refine her character and better prepare her for her roles and responsibilities as a wife and mother. The South also boasted several successful institutions that prepared young women to work as schoolteachers. The Women's College of the University of North Carolina, located in Greensboro, and Winthrop in South Carolina were examples of such well-regarded teacher training programs that got their start in the late 1800s. The curricula of women's colleges were fairly standard and reflected the many responsibilities faced by young Southern women in the early twentieth century. The accepted path for an educated young woman was to work as a teacher (or later, perhaps as a secretary, nurse, librarian, or office assistant) until she married. Once she was married, she was expected to leave the workforce and focus on her duties to her family and home life.
Take students to the computer lab for part of the class to collect their information on the above topics.
Students will present their findings to the class and can choose to turn in a group paper to the teacher of their cumulative research, they can offer a 2-3 page handout to their classmates OR they can provide a substantial visual representation (such as a powerpoint, etc.) for their assessment.
Assessment
Electronic Resources for Women's Colleges
Women's Colleges in NC
Bennett College for Women
Meredith College
Peace College
Salem College
Other Prominent Women's Colleges in the South
Agnes Scott College
Columbia College
Converse College
Hollins University
Mary Baldwin College
Mississippi University for Women
Randolph-Macon College
Sweet Briar College
North Carolina Curriculum Alignment
United States History, Sociology - Grades 11 - 12 Social Studies (2003)
North Carolina Standard Course of Study - Grades 11-12 United States History
North Carolina Standard Course of Study - Grades 11-12 Sociology
