Geography lesson plan: the legacy of European colonialism

The detrimental impact of European colonialism continues to endure and reverberate through political systems, economies, and societies across the globe. This lesson engages students with colonial practices and their implications on people's lives in the past and present. The lesson also steers students towards assessing responsibility for existing challenges across post-colonial countries, especially in Africa (with a focus on the DRC), and potential interventions directed towards making amends.

Introductory hook

Students can be invited to brainstorm and share examples of the legacies of colonialism they're familiar with.

Video examples

We watch the following three videos: 'How British colonialism increased diabetes in south Asians', 'The British Museum is full of stolen artifacts', and 0:00-12:00 of 'Colonialism in Africa: Yesterday, today and tomorrow'.

As the students are watching, they are tasked with taking notes: What are some of the legacies of colonialism mentioned in the videos? What are commonalities between the cases? What do people want done now or what would be a reasonable response/demand?

After each video, the class pauses for discussion to engage with these questions and other student comments/questions that arise. Should the looted artwork, for instance, be returned? What are possible workable compromises? What about land redistribution for the cases of Namibia/South Africa - is it feasible? Should Britain be contributing to paying the bills for India's healthcare system? Does it make sense to take down old monuments and tributes in general, be that via debates in Ukraine, the US, Europe, or Africa? How could having statues of local figures instead help?

The Liberating Narratives article, 'Less Scrambling, More Reflecting: How We Can Better Teach about the European Colonization of Africa', provides a myriad of enlightening maps on the European drawing of borders in Africa (and their consequences on people) and art that can accompany the discussions - I always work them into the lesson to promote student engagement.

I also show my students some of the recent headlines on the topics, such as the loaning of plundered art back to Ghana and the recent snubbing of the Greek Prime Minister by the British PM over the topic of the Parthenon marbles. I further share the possible compromise floated by the Labour Party that would see the marbles returned to Greece in exchange for a rotating mix of precious artworks to British museums.

My students also tend to make connections to previous topics we've covered such as the poor borders devised by the British in South Asia post-colonisation and the British reintroduction of the caste system in India to divide and conquer the population. Such connections and their effects can also be further explored if students hold this knowledge.

Case Study - Congo/DRC

The lesson next turns to examining an in-depth case study, tracing colonial impacts on the DRC over several centuries. For this, students read this BBC text - 'DR Congo: Cursed by its natural wealth'.

Discussion Questions

The territory of the DRC has always been an unstable and disorganized area mired by conflict and fragile governments. True or false. Explain.

What countries have been involved in Congo and what did they have in common in terms of their approach?

“Of 5,000 government jobs pre-independence, just three were held by Congolese and there was not a single Congolese lawyer, doctor, economist or engineer.” How is this observation relevant to the story of post-independence Congo?

Students are notably steered towards identifying five distinct periods in the DRC's history mentioned in the article - they are the Kingdom of Kongo (prosperous period), 1480s-1500s (enslavement by Portuguese), 1880s (King Leopold brutal terror for rubber), early to mid 20th century (Belgian colonisation period/enslavement for raw materials), 1960 (independence).

We devote some time to discussing the ramifications of the fact that there were only 30 native-born university graduates pre-independence and just three Congolese citizens had served in prominent positions in the Belgian administered colonial government. How did Belgium's colonial approach leave the country in terms of its ability to succeed post-independence? Would it be valid to blame the DRC for its present instability and economic development struggles based on this information? Does Belgium owe the DRC compensation for its past atrocities and/or leaving the country in a state of instability and ungovernable?

After the lesson

This lesson serves as an intro to a multi-class exploration of the case of the Great Lakes Region of Africa. In subsequent lessons: (1) we watch the excellent BBC documentary (around 0:00-28:00), 'Congo: A journey to the heart of Africa', to further digest and expand upon our knowledge of the DRC, (2) explore the resource curse (with a focus on Virunga via the Netflix documentary and cobalt mining), (3) examine the topic of sexual violence as a weapon of war, and (4) learn about the Rwandan genocide.

Additional materials

There are numerous possible resources available to explore the legacy of colonialism around the world - a couple more from Vox include 'The disastrous redesign of Pakistan’s rivers' and 'Why Jakarta is sinking'. Johnny Harris's 'France Still has an Empire' is also illuminating - I use it in a different unit as a hook to promote student research on some of the numerous French impacts on various people across the planet throughout the past and present.