Classroom
Welcome to the ITVS Community Classroom lesson plans for Pushing the Elephant, a powerful family portrait that unfolds against the wider drama of war in the Democratic Republic of Congo. When civil war came to Rose’s Congolese village, she was separated from her five-year-old daughter, Nangabire. Rose managed to escape with nine of her 10 children and was eventually resettled in Phoenix, Arizona. More than a decade later, mother and daughter are reunited in the U.S. where they must come to terms with the past and build a new future. These lesson plans explore the long-term and often hidden effects of war on women and families — financial despair, increased susceptibility to rape, and social ostracism. They also ask students to consider what it means to become an active advocate for a peaceful and hopeful future.
The curriculum is directed toward grades 9 through 12, and college students for use in the following subject areas: current events, geography, global studies, government, political science, social studies, sociology, women’s studies, and world history.
Lesson Plans
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In this lesson, students will make personal connections with a family that has been traumatized and displaced by conflict in their homeland, the Democratic Republic of Congo, or DR Congo. Doing so will help put a human face on a far away and unimaginable conflict that is the deadliest since World War II. Students will then investigate various events in DR Congo’s history, determine the causes and impact of the war, and analyze the effects that war has had on women in particular.
Film Module 1: "Reunion" [6:46]View lesson plan (PDF, 4MB)
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In this lesson, students will explore how storytelling can be a powerful way to illustrate how problems affect people and to inspire collective action that can bring about positive change. The class will first analyze the potential impact of the experiences described by Rose Mapendo, a woman whose family suffered severe hardships during violent conflict in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Students will then gather and share a true story from their own community that explains the human impact of a local issue.
View lesson plan (PDF, 4.4MB)
Additional Resources
Discussion Guide (PDF, 3.4MB)
Interactive Timeline of the History of the DR Congo
ITVS Community Classroom is an educational resource providing new documentary film content and accompanying curricular materials, lesson plans, and homework assignments to high school and community college instructors and youth-serving community-based organizations. Content is grouped into subject-specific segments that correspond to lesson plans and educational activities. All classroom materials are designed with key education standards in mind.
Educational content was developed with guidance from the ITVS Classroom National Advisors: PBS Teachers, National Council for the Social Studies, National Council of Teachers of English, National Association for Media Literacy Education, National Council of Teachers of English, National Women’s Studies Association, ConnectEd: The California Center for College and Career, KQED Education Network, and National Teachers of the Year Association.
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