We are getting deeper and deeper into our inquiry into discrimination (based on a false belief one way of being is better than another), diversity (as defined by a wide variety of attributes), and world cultures. I am so inspired each day by the sincere thoughts and questions the kids share as we read books, watch videos, and share personal stories.
We've spent the past week or so reading and analyzing a wide variety of books that share the stories of a person (or entire group) being mistreated or denied basic human rights based on some difference. These stories have included off-reservation boarding schools designed to strip Native American children of their culture, groups of kids on a bus teasing a girl about her Korean name, girls in Pakistan fighting for the opportunity to attend school, a child being excluded for having clothing that is older and out-of-style, and segregation in the South during the 1950s and 60s. Each of these stories has provided us an opportunity to identify what is being normalized or positioned as better, who has the power to do this, the effect such beliefs and practices have on the lives of those around us, and the actions people take to push back and even change such thinking.
To support this work, we watched a video today from the show "What Would You Do?" in which a young Muslim woman is denied service in a Texas bakery. The clerk and customer were both actors but the bystanders to the hateful speech and denial of service were not. We were shocked to see six people stood by the clerk and proclaimed it was his right not to serve the young lady simply because her religion was different than his. On the other hand, we were proud to see thirteen people stand alongside the young girl and demand she be treated with the respect she deserved. At the end, I shared that I was most disappointed in the fact twenty-two people in the experiment stood by and did nothing at all. They tried to stay out of it and remain neutral. We discussed the fact that remaining neutral when you see bad things happening around you is no different than supporting those things to continue. The only way to stop them is for people to band together and support one another. We concluded by sharing stories of times when we have stood up for our friends and others around school when we saw or heard them being treated unfairly.
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| Screen shot form a short video we watched about children in Pakistan |
I first developed this inquiry years ago when a group of children in my classroom saw a picture of an aboriginal Australian boy, took notice of his differences in appearance, and responded with a chorus of "EWWWWW!" I was shocked. And disheartened. Now, as we study different cultures and countries I work hard to root this work in building a greater sense of appreciation, respect, and social empathy for others. This fits perfectly within the framework I've established for our curriculum where I focus on helping each and every one of the kids to build a strong sense of social identity (take great pride in who they are), better understand and navigate diversity (take joy in our similarities as well as our differences), identify instances of injustice (think critically and understand not everyone experiences the world the same way we do), and take action on our convictions (work to actively create the sort of world we want for ourselves and for others).
Grounded in all of this, we are now working as a class to collaboratively study the country of Pakistan. I chose Pakistan because we had read a book earlier in the week about the life and work of Malala Yousafzai and the kids were so incredibly enamored by her. We are now using our whole-class study of Pakistan to build the skills and knowledge we will need to be successful in launching independent research projects of other countries.
For our research, we are working online (scdiscus.org) to find facts that are either interesting or important. The kids LOVE to research.
They are recording their new learning on sticky notes which will later be organized into various categories and subcategories requiring headers and subheaders. This, of course, allows us to engage in a rich study of non-fiction texts, their structures, and their features. Over the coming week the kids will transition into their individual projects. Much of this work will happen at school. Though, there will be a few times when I'll ask them to catch up at home if they're starting to fall behind or if they require a little extra support.
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