Great or Terrible Leaders: You Decide (Ongoing)

***This class format has been changed from a 10 week set format to an ongoing class format.  You can join at any time and leave at any time.  Reviews for this class can be found at the listing for the 10 week class. Examples of reviews for this class include: 

"Excellent class! Covers a wide and interesting range of leaders, engages the kids in dialogue about what makes a leader great. Superb teacher."

What makes a good or bad leader?  This course will be a mix of geography, economics, law and government, culture and history.  We will be looking at all these areas through the focused lens of leadership, with issues of social justice being discussed throughout.  A short reading (maximum one page) we be posted on each leader the week of class and we will have discussions and debates during class as well as learning some new content through games, video clips and brainstorming.  There will also be  the opportunity to write and engage in some projects together.  

This is an ongoing class, and students are welcome to join the course at any point. Each class will be independent of itself meaning students will not require any prior knowledge to attend. Each week will focus on one or two leaders and at the end of the 12 week cycle, we will begin again.  

Week of January 23- A comparison of two very different leaders: George Washington and Nero of the Roman Empire  

Week of January 30 - This class will focus on government leaders. Here we will focus on leaders who advanced system of government for the people they led.  We will look at Pericles, democracy's first great leader and  Thomas Jefferson, founder of modern democracy.  

Week of Feb 6 - This class moves into Military leaders looking at Napolean Bonaparte, and Ghengis Khan. This  class gives us a chance to gain understanding of geography and how countries have moved and changed through military leadership.  

Week of Feb 13 - We move to focus on social justice in leadership as we begin to look at leaders and the law.  Hammurabi who developed the first code of law will be briefly touched on.  Abraham Lincoln and his use of the law to advance leadership will be studied.  

Week of Feb 20 - This week we focus on non-violent leadership.  Giants in this art form, Mahatma Gandhi and MLK will be the focus.  Malcolm X will also be studied.  

Week of Feb 27 - We will continue to look at non-violent protest and social advocacy with the added tilt of gender, race and leadership.  To study these concepts, we will look at Elizabeth Cady Stanton, and Frederick Douglas.  

Week of March 6 - This week moves to consider the issues of race and gender in another century looking at and the duo of Ceasar Chavez and Delores Huerta.  

Week of March 13 - We will focus on leaders who sought to fight for not only society, but for the earth.  Chief Joseph and Wangari Matthai will be the focus, a comparison of their leadership styles and the outcomes they were able to achieve.  

Week of March 20 - In the ninth week we will study leaders of WWII, focusing on Hitler and Stalin.

Week of March 27 - Finally we will turn to FDR and Churchill to round out our historical leaders

Week of April 2 - This week will be learners choice.  During this week, learners can present to the class their favorite leader.  

I have been offering this same course on Outschool in a 10 week format for the past 5 years.  You can find reviews for my multi week class here: https://outschool.com/classes/great-or-terrible-leaders-you-decide-SbG1jylW