BCTF/CIDA Global Classroom Initiative 2005

The International Monetary Fund (IMF),
the World Bank and the World Trade Organization (WTO):
A help or a hindrance to developing countries?

by Alan Gee and Murray Sasges

Subject: Social studies
Grades: 11
Lesson title: The IMF, the World Bank, and the WTO: A help or a hindrance to developing countries?

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Brief overview:

Using examples of IMF, World Bank and WTO practices, pose the following critical question: Do the interventions of the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank, and the World Trade Organization help or hinder the overall health of developing countries?

CIDA development theme:

Learning outcomes:

It is expected that students will:

Time required:

Four 60 to 70 minute class sessions

Required materials and/or equipment:

Supplementary resources:

Procedure:

Critical question: Do the interventions of the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank, and the World Trade Organization help or hinder the overall health of developing countries?

Session one: Gathering information

  1. Introduce the class by asking what the students know about the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank, and the World Trade Organization. Give them one minute, working independently or in pairs, to put forward information about each of the organizations.

    Present a brief overview of the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank, and the World Trade Organization, using the lecturette notes at the end of this document. You may wish to give the students a minute to correct errors or omissions in their brainstormed notes following your lecturette. (Have students use a different coloured pen to highlight new information.)

  2. Divide the class into groups of four. Each group will need:

    For a concise overview of these and other useful group roles for co-operative learning, see the Doing CL web site—http://www.wcer.wisc.edu/archive/cl1/CL/doingcl/grproles.htm

  3. Working in their small groups, students research and explore perspectives. Using information from the book Rethinking Globalization and the web sites identified, students:

    Research tasks are to be clearly articulated and fairly distributed among group members. Students assigned to research on the web will need access to computers in the classroom, the school library, or a computer lab. Alternatively, the research could be assigned as homework.

Sources supporting these agencies

Sources criticizing these agencies

Session two: Sharing the research findings

Student groups meet to share their research findings. Highlights of findings are charted by group recorders, preferably on large sheets of chart paper or newsprint that will then be convenient visual references for group reporters and the class as a whole.

Group reporters share the research findings of their groups with the class as a whole. Recorders’ notes are taped to a display board or the chalkboard beside group reporters, to serve as a visual reference. Each reporter should lead a brief class discussion on her or his report, if time permits.

Session three: Summarizing the research; answering the critical question

  1. Ask students to meet in their small groups.

    Instructions to students
  2. Group reporters share group findings with the class as a whole.

  3. Students independently select and complete one of the following two options:

Assessment strategies:

Together with students, develop a template with clear criteria for assessing the independent writing and poster projects.

Suggestions to extend the lesson:

Move from the academic to the experiential.

Participation in the role-play referenced below will increase students’ understanding of an indigenous population burdened by an enormous debt to international banks and subjected to intensive exploitation by transnational oil companies. The simulation will develop students’ sense of empathy with the people whose lives are dominated by these forces.

Bigelow, B. (2002). Oil, rainforests, and indigenous cultures: A role-play on oil and the Huaorani Indians in the Ecuadorian rainforest. In Bigelow, B., & B. Peterson (Eds.), Rethinking globalization: Teaching for justice in an unjust world (p. 268–279). Wisconsin: Rethinking Schools Press.

The role-play is well suited for inclusion as the third session of this lesson, preceding the final session in which students finally seek to answer the critical question, "Are the IMF, the World Bank, and the WTO a help or a hindrance to developing countries?"

The role-play lesson is beautifully prepared and clearly presented.

Teacher lecturette

Overview Notes: The IMF, the World Bank, and the WTO

  1. World War II is raging across Europe and the Pacific

    In July, leaders from the U.S. and Britain convene a meeting in New Hampshire, to establish a multilateral institution that could enforce rules favoring the free movement of capital internationally (to ensure a liberal, capitalist world economy after the war).

    Outcomes of the meeting include the formation of:

    The unwritten goal of both the IMF and the World Bank is to integrate or bring countries into the capitalist world economy.

    Critics of these agencies say that, in practice, they pave the way for large corporations to gain control of the markets and resources of developing countries. In so doing, they ensure the continued indebtedness of those countries.

  2. The debt crisis begins

Critics point out that there is little accountability for the way the money lent to recipient countries is spent; the borrowed dollars too often end up in the hands of the richest citizens, making them even richer while the poor are kept poor. Sometimes the funds are even used to keep military dictators in power.

  1. Interest rates rise in the U.S.
  1. The World Trade Organization (WTO) is established.

    The function of the WTO is to remove barriers to trade so that commercial interests can proceed.

Critics say that the WTO takes away the sovereignty of the member countries.