DRAFT 2 -- Mapping out Global Learning Inequalities

Learning can occur in many non-conventional spaces and modes outside of school. For example, reading, watching videos, listening to music, wandering places are multiple ways to learn. Yet, depending on the region of the world we live in, we do not all have the same easy access to various modes of knowledge.

In this workshop, we will devise strategies to teach ourselves about inequalities and how to raise consciousness about global inequalities. Taking inspiration from initiatives such as Ms. Happy’s library in Tanzania, #HipHopEd, and a selection of political artworks, we will create visual media that will help us map out how learning is accessed and how diverse modes of learning can be better promoted globally.

Stories to Support Against Stereotypes of Syrian Refugees Lesson Ideas

Here are some initial ideas that we have for day-to-day plans thus far. Please, help and comment to give feedback for thoughts on these loose plans!

Should we only focus on stereotypes of Syrian refugees? Should we branch out by adding in activities to inquire about stereotypes and generalizations made about other groups as well? Initially, we did want to talk about several different groups of people.

Ideas for marginalized groups: Mexican, Syrian, Transgender

Artistic examples: Poetry, photography, Portrait and a Poem?

Driving questions: What are some walls between people

Ask Balfour Scholars what project they want to come up with: written children’s books, poems, narratives, etc.

Structure: Each day will start with an ice breaker, will follow up with a video, and then we will laugh into an activity. Then we will allow students time to work on and put together the pieces of their artistic representation. 

What I am looking to add to this would be some kind of reading material or articles that students could read and discuss. I will be on the lookout for articles for these day plans. I left blanks where I need to fill things in. I imagine with reading and discussing, that might take an entire 30 minute block of time each day.

How much time would be appropriate for student to work on their project planning each day? 10 minutes, 20, more? For the activities/videos/ice breakers, have I added too many "reflection" quick writes? Perhaps I could come up with another activity in place of a written "reflection".

Day 1: Monday, July 10

Hook for the unit (15 minutes):

Instructors will begin by standing with their backs to whiteboard. Participants will be asked to write words or phrases to describe these instructors (before making any introductions). The idea here is that we will make ourselves vulnerable to the commentary so that we are able to have the students make observations about people without having to take the risks on themselves or in other social situations. Following this activity, we can introduce ourselves and compare to the statements written on the whiteboard. Then we can allow for students to debrief and talk or possibly write a quick reflection about this activity. This is just meant to gear us up for the week.

Ice Breaker (15 minutes): 

Silent introductions between students- students will be paired off and will be asked to make introductions without using words. Pairs can discuss afterward what information they "learned" about one another in the introductions. Was any of it assumed or based on initial impression or were students able to communicate and take in information without making any generalizations.

Ask participants to share a 2 minute story of a time when they’ve seen or been stereotyped and proven wrong with partner, then come back together and share as a group if there are any interested in sharing out.

Video (10 minutes): 

Love Has No Labels  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PnDgZuGIhHs

What does this spark? What was the point of this video? Why was there an X-ray screen? Are there any critiques for this video?

Activity (25 minutes):

Identity Matrix activity- participants identify where they are on the matrix and discuss questions about how that represents/misrepresents them and what they can glean about others in the matrix.

Project Introduction (20 minutes): This might be a day where we introduce the project and ask for participants to brainstorm.

Day 2: Tuesday, July 11

Ice Breaker (15 minutes): 

"Four Corners"-each corner of the room will be set up with a "label" that could belong to a person. Students will discuss how that label has affected them positively or negatively. Students who do not identify with any of the labels will come together in the center and discuss labels they feel have represented them with or without their desire.

Video (10 minutes):  

What is America? Sketch/data activity- ask participants to come up with a representation of who they think makes up America.

We Are America: John Cena https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0MdK8hBkR3s

Activity (30 minutes):

JR portraits jr-art.net

Project Time(20 minutes)

Start finding or drawing portraits whose stories we will tell. Begin writing if time allows.

Day 3: Wednesday, July 12

Ice Breaker (20 minutes): 

I Am Poem- Introduce the I Am poem with personal examples. Ask for participants write their own I Am poems. Share out if there is anyone willing to do so.

Videos and Discussion (25 minutes):  

Question: Has there ever been a time when you felt that there would be a person from a specified "group" where you would not get along that individual? Who would you not see eye to eye with? This is all up for personal thinking and answering.

The DNA Project https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7mqWYuKvbXYVisual: 

https://www.momondo.com/letsopenourworld/dna

Activity/Reading (30 minutes):

In search of a reading that would tie in nicely.

Project Time(20 minutes)

Finish finding or created portrait. Work on the writing or the I Am poem or other poetry to go along with the portrait of the person who is going to be represented.

Day 4: Thursday, July 13

Working on an ice breaker, a video or visual, and perhaps a "charge" or inspiration message to wrap things up on this last day. 

Activity/Reading and Discussion (30 minutes):

Look at the Cultural Iceberg and discuss how to be cognizant of that when working on the project. Do any revisions need to be made?  Look up Cultural Iceberg graphic- when I tried to copy this into the blog, it seemed to pose some security/licensing issues.

Maybe there could be time for students to make their own iceberg?

Project Time(20 minutes)

Finish projects.

Group Room Assignments and Schedule

View/Download the Schedule (xlsx)

Feedback Comments Encouraged:)

Everyone--This is what we have so far. Please feel free to comment, even challenge us on how we are going to streamline all of our info into just 4 days of 90 minutes each lol. I would love to hear all your thoughts, both positive and improvement-based. Thanks!

Before the first class, we are posting printed images of global migration and images of social movement signage at the front of the room in a collage grouping. We thought this could not only spark conversation but provide our students with inspiration for their own designs for their migration/movement T-shirts they will be making that week.

As the class begins, we plan to introduce ourselves and our goals for the week as it relates to our topic. We have two videos we are considering for our intro section. One shows the trajectory of migratory patterns for thousands of years, and this is the link:

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CJdT6QcSbQ0

We then plan to open the discussion in a participatory format based on the following video. We don't think we will show the actual video, as they would have already seen the first one and this one moves a little too slowly, but the ideas are key to the introduction of our topic. We thought it would be more engaging if we did an activity involving the wipe off board/chalkboard, and we could either have volunteers come up to the board to write their own ideas of what either "pushes" or "pulls" people from their original home and to another, or we could teach it by asking the class as a whole and writing it down ourselves as the discussion commences. Here is the "Push/Pull" video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rF86TGM3eSE

Then we thought we would move them into a personal ice-breaker, which has two goals--to get them up and moving around after listening to us talk, and to help them get to know one another. Derya came up with an ice breaker of pairing them with a piece of construction paper and one marker, with the point of the activity being both people have to hold the marker together and find a way to draw their "dream house" without being able to verbally communicate with each other. The goal of this activity would be to show them that all people have their own ideas about home and life in general, in life our own personal ideas are impacted by the presence of others, and in the process of learning to work together we gain knowledge of another's perspective, as well. 

To end the first day, one of us is going to tell our "life bios" with regard to our own experiences as migrants. After explaining our story, the class gets a chance to interview us on whatever they would like to know about our life up to this point. We plan on either preparing a short PP of ourselves and/or bringing in a personal item or two that means something to us and our personal identity/home. 

We have more ideas for the remainder of the week, but I thought I could walk you all through them one day at a time, as setting them all out for you on here might be a little too overwhelming for one post. Below is a very rough skeleton schedule so far. 

I think the challenge for us is to streamline everything we want to do because we have the large topic of migration/movement (which I think is important to introduce a few social movements as a form of migration--imagery ties in to that concept and we are having them incorporate imagery in the form of T-shirts) and two art forms. Just to break the days down, here is how I see the schedule so far. These times could be off, so see what you guys think. With this schedule, we are doing an up-and-down type of session, with them starting and ending each day in a a group lesson of some sort, broken up in the middle with a classroom activity where we move around. 

Monday:

First section--30 minutes: Introduce self and concept (Video, Push Pull factors). 

Second section--30 minutes: Ice-Breaker of House drawing

Final section--30 minutes: Personal Bio/Interview 

Tuesday:

First section--15 minutes: Introduce social movement/imagery as form of migration (Video, images on internet)

Second section--45 minutes: T-shirt art and clean up

Final section--30 minutes: Personal Bio/Interview

Wednesday:

First section--15 minutes: ???

Section section--45 minutes: T-shirt art and clean up

Final section--30 minutes: Personal Bio/Interview

Thursday: 

First section:

Second section: Digital Project--Selfies and group pics, then PP creation?

Final section:

Group 4 Title and description

The poetry of Living Healthy in a Globalized World

The focus of this session is to broaden student's understanding of the issues related to global health as well as the diverse ways that different cultures and societies approach healthy living. From Gnawan spiritual healers in Morocco to Yoga practice on the sub-continent, we will explore the myriad paths to being healthy.

Workshop Description

Learning and Inequalities

When we think about learning, we often think about school, but there are other ways we can expand and acquire knowledge outside of school. In our group we will explore issues of learning and inequalities in two ways.

On the first hand, we want to think about learning inequalities. The books we read, the media we explore, the places we go are all different ways to learn. Yet we do not all have the same access to knowledge. For example, in zones of conflict or of extreme poverty, access to knowledge is made more difficult.

On the other hand, there are ways we can teach ourselves about inequalities. For example there are organizations raising consciousness about such inequalities and that try to bridge the gap. Simultaneously, popular artists such as M.I.A, Beyonce or Kendrick Lamar are trying to bring issues of global inequality at the forefront of their art -- what can we learn from that?

Over the course of the week, we will reflect on learning and inequalities by exploring a range of visual arts and media. We will create selfies, maps, short videos, and short texts to investigate where we stand in terms  of learning and inequalities as well as devising our own strategies to become better global learners.

Group 2: Group Title and Course Description

Group Title: 

Glocal-Trotting: Localizing Migration Through T-Shirt Design and Digital Photography

Course Description:


When you think about migration, what concepts occur to you--Displacement? Distance? Discouragement? While migration--the movement of things or people from one place to another--can be challenging at times, this course will offer you new ways to consider this concept. The reasons people migrate are varied, but all have certain particulars in common, such as new experiences in unfamiliar locations, expanded opportunities for personal development and an enhanced view of the world, both global and local.

In this course, you will learn of the history of migration, hear personal stories from each of your instructors and design and digitize your own ideas of migration in the form of T-shirts and digital photos you can take with you when the program ends. By the end of this course, you will also have discussed the history of T-shirts and artwork in modern political movements, practiced your interview skills on your instructors regarding their diverse backgrounds, and had endless fun creating your own works of art. Come Trot with Us!  

Working Title and Course Description

Breaking Down GALACTIC Stereotypes

Stereotypes are toxic, but we all use them! People all around the world feel misrepresented and misunderstood. One group that have been heavily stereotyped are Syrian refugees. Refugees from Syria have been blamed for all kinds of violence and endangering our way of life, and have been exploited as political chess pieces all over the world. The truth is very different, and understanding that truth can help us better understand the world and our place in it.

This week, we’ll be breaking down the stereotypes we experience and the ones we place on others. When we understand people beyond the stereotypes of culture, race, gender, sexuality, religion, and ability, we’re able to become better global citizens.  By the end of the week, we will create a compilation of short stories representing characters we create together that go beyond their stereotypes.

Initial Ideas for Monday Instruction

Group 2

This is somewhat disorganized, but let me know what you think about any of it. These are ideas for Monday's 90 minute instruction. I will do some more tomorrow night and really focus on it this weekend. Txs-Amy

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CJdT6QcSbQ0

animated map showing how humans migrated from Africa, goes back tens of thousands of years

ominous music but other than that is ok

Reasons for Migration

Push Reasons:

1.     Social—Poor Services, Lack of Education, Poor Medical Care

2.     Economic—Unemployment, Poor Pay, Hazardous Work Conditions

3.     Political—Persecution, War

Pull Reasons:

1.     Social—Plenty of food, Available Services, Lots of Doctors

2.     Economic—Job Opportunities, Better Quality of Life, Good Pay

3.     Political—Democracy, Freedoms

Could be taught by drawing out on board in a creative diagram using a drawing of the world as the center, stick figure person on each side of the world, one figure representing Pull and other representing Push concept.

Introduce topic of migration through definition and opening video of the history of it

Waves of Migration:

Gold Rush-US migrants out west

Jewish Migration to Europe

US Migration from Europe

US Migration from Africa

The Great Migration-African Americans north after Civil War

Refugee Migration-Syrian and others from Middle East

Australian Migration

Viking Migration-from northern Europe southward

South Pacific Migration

Ideas for making this a local issue:

Personal Stories from each of the facilitators

Personal Stories from participants if they feel comfortable

Examination of IU’s student base based on home locations

Examination of Personal Factors stemming from Migration:

1.     Identity—decision to keep home identity, to assimilate, or to blend both into self-identity

2.     2^nd and 3^rd Generation experiences much different than 1^st Generation

3.     Increased openness to other cultures-Diversity and Acceptance

4.     Rounded experiences—new food, traditions, awareness of global-social issues