1. Now What?? As an educator, reflect on how Adichie's TED Talk might help our community, our school, and your classroom.
- I absolutely love this TED talk on “A Danger of a Single Story”. I find it so valuable for every individual to hear and so applicable to the history classroom. I think every person should see this and watch it from time to time to remind themselves of the differences that are out there, how people may see things from an alternate lens, and to remind us to be more understanding before we jump to conclusions and assume we know it all. This is far too often how our communities, social groups, and even political leaders act. We are quick to assume and do not take the time to examine and appreciate the many perspectives that are out there and what others may be dealing with. I will most definitely use this in my classroom as an intro to one of our perspective lessons. I just did this today in class and will probably play this video tomorrow to lead off a reflection post lesson. I do a lesson called “Power of Perspective” in a few different units during the year to help students expand their views and look at things from different angles. For the Rape of Nanjing, Estates of France, European and Africans during imperialism, etc…. The list for where this could be applied in Global Studies is infinite. As a Social Studies teacher, I personally prioritize teaching more than one story to teach the content, but more importantly to build empathetic and social developed citizens in my students. We are shaping future voters and civic participants in our classrooms. I can think of no better place or way to teach our students to understand the humanity around them more.
- I think the part 1 and part 2 videos are paired together because it bridges the importance of understanding background and personal history to fully capture what is going on in the world around us. The world around us and our individual lives have been shaped for hundreds of years based on the experiences of those who came before us (both good and bad). Having a full understanding of what got us or our community to this point will make us more informed and capable of choosing the best path possible. Today we are much more than a teacher, a student, a wife, a friend, etc…. We are a religion, a social class, a community member, a victim of abuse, a person struggling with mental illness, a child forced to move to a new school. Scenarios and circumstances are abundant and shape who we are. It is our responsibility as humans to receive all of the circumstances of those who surround us and make up the world. In the age of social media there is so much more exposure for the youth of today. Sometimes this makes me scared, but sometimes I think this is such a gift to be celebrated. The youth today have the world of other people’s stories at their fingertips. My hope is that we consistently teach them to be open minded, consider the whole picture when trying to understand a person or event, and to take accountability that circumstances for one are far different for another and we need to embrace that.