Written by “Nobody made a greater mistake than (s)he who did nothing because (s)he could do only a little” – Edmund Burke
In my 3rd year of University, I embarked on a 2-week journey with 19 of my classmates who all aspired to be teachers, like myself. We were the final group of an 8-year study started by our professor, Dr. James Mandigo at Brock University. We travelled to three different schools every day for the duration of our trip, collaborating with a new physical education program at the Universidad de Pedagogica. Our common goal was to make a difference in the lives of children in San Salvador, El Salvador, who had been struggling with extreme gang violence since the Salvadoran Civil War. We aimed to do this by teaching life skills such as cooperation, inclusion, teamwork, and communication through games and activities with meaningful debriefs at the conclusion of each game.
“Danielle, do you really think you will make a difference? You will only be there for two weeks, do you sincerely believe this will leave the lasting impact you hope?”
This question, asked by a family friend who meant well, lingered in my mind for the weeks leading up to our trip. I thought to myself, this issue is larger than I can imagine… can a little bit of help make a difference?
“Can a little bit of help make a difference?”
This is a question I asked myself before a recent lesson in my Grade 11 Media Studies class. I could feel my students becoming more and more overwhelmed as we began to study social, moral, and privacy issues in media. They felt heavy, helpless, and concerned that there was nothing they could do to help these larger problems in their world.
How can I teach my students to search for solutions when I do not have the solutions to these problems myself?
I have always believed that it is the little things that make a huge difference. Things such as smiling at a colleague or student in the hallway, complimenting a customer service representative at the convenience store, or high fiving your gym mates after a workout all have immense power to make someone’s day a little bit brighter. I began to think about how this concept could be applied to how we express ourselves by means of media…
Well, here is what I have so far… and I am looking for any and all input that you have for me! As it stands, each class we try to reflect on what we have posted online in the past 24 hours. Individually, we brainstorm. Was it positive? Relevant? Purposeful? Respectful? Appropriate? Does it reflect who you are as a person? Does it represent who you want to be?
On a larger scale, our next project involves the exploration of television shows and the codes and conventions that make each genre unique. Their task will be to pick a 5-minute television clip from any genre. After analysing the technical and symbolic codes used, they will try to recreate the clip. For further enrichment, the girls are intrigued by how gender is represented among different genres. Rather than recreating the clip with similar gender stereotypes, they will try to change the clip to challenge these stereotypes. In my mind, the girls will be contributing “a little” to the problem that is gender stereotypes in television shows by creating a clip that has a fresh, inclusive perspective.
“You can’t be what you can’t see” – Marian Wright Edelman, Miss Representation
To answer my friend from earlier, yes – a little bit can make a difference. Just as I was able to put my effort towards making young children in El Salvador smile, our students can put their efforts towards making a difference in their own ways. So why not start to recreate media with strong role models for our young men and women?
Now I am asking you, Cohort 21:
What do you think of these concepts? Have your students been overwhelmed with the pressure of problems in society? Have you addressed gender stereotypes in your course before? How have you explored these concepts? Do you have any suggestions for my unit?
P.S. Some exciting news! Trafalgar Castle School is hosting the CIS Ontario Visual Arts Festival this year. Our theme is Gender: Defined and Redefined. I am hoping this project will help my students in their journey of defining who they are and what they stand for. Find out more about the festival here: https://www.cisstudentvisualartsfest.com/
@dduguay, what an incredibly thoughtfully woven piece! It’s been a long time since I’ve heard from Sir Edmund (undergrad I think). Thank you for sharing his wise words, your amazing experience in El Salvador and the incredible initiatives you’re undertaking with your girls. I think it’s really powerful that you’re able to track the concept so present in your initiative through your own experiences. Maybe that begins to describe what passion is and your students are clearly lucky to have a passionate teacher.
At our school, with current cohort member @jdykerman , I’ve helped create what is essentially a “core course” to our 9/10 program called Discovery. Throughout the year, the students are asked to prepare a series of Growth Presentations in which they attempt to connect all of their learning and situate themselves as students and people. One of the presentations asks them to think critically about how the world – particularly media and social media – messages and impacts them. Gender stereo-types occupy a huge portion of this discussion and YES, it can be difficult to overcome the larger forces to even feel like they have the ability to control how they’re affected, let alone taking meaningful action against the message. I guess sort of by accident we’re starting with the person and working outward from there: what’s truly important to you? what’s in your way? how are you going to fight for it? In our course, we give them opportunities to take action – through a genius hour, through service initiatives (YPI) – and I guess just sort of hope something resonates and sticks.
I’m sorry I’m not more helpful (I’ll keep thinking about it!), but I think in some ways, what you’re doing is potentially more powerful. If I’m understanding your project, you’re giving the students an opportunity to witness the affect of their own action but literally changing the message. Also, this idea of tracking online behaviour is amazing and my wheels are absolutely spinning (I can wait to in some way steal this!).
Clearly you’ve got some amazing ideas to bring into our next F2F Danielle. I look forward to continuing the conversation.
@tfaucher @nbendle
@dduguay you have given me so many ideas to bring to my classroom as we dig into our “Media Constructions” unit in ENG2D. Be warned: I’ll be asking you questions about this at the 2nd F2F.
In the unit, we look at constructions of gender and gender stereotypes through a variety of different ways/texts (happy to share my resources with you). One of the bigger texts we study is “Tough Guise 2” by Jackson Katz. It looks at violent masculinity in North American culture and explores gender constructions well. We pair this with Miss Representation and eventually, students write an essay on how the texts we have studied contributes to or battles against media messages/constructions. I love the idea of having students reflecting on their own online activity.
From the beginning of the year, I work with my students on having respectful conversations/community in the classroom knowing we will be building towards this unit. Some of the topics can be polarizing for the students and hard to confront, so I find they need to feel comfortable expressing their opinions and they need to work to understand those of their peers. Sometimes I feel like I am not doing a lot with my students in our discussions and our conversations feel “little” but like you have said, I hope these “little” things we do will add up and multiply as they move forward in their lives.
Looking forward to chatting with you about this on Saturday!
@tfaucher@gvogt
@dduguay, I must amplify what my fellow Cohortian @gvogt has already said. You have done a remarkable job here of connecting the micro-lessons of your class to the macro-purpose of a liberal arts education.
Seeking solutions and asking questions is far more important than solving problems and providing answers. Ultimately, our role as teachers is to model the social responsibilities embedded in lifelong inquiry.
Your little post has already made a difference. Your lesson plan will too.
E.B. Daigle
Danielle, such a thoughtful post. I really enjoyed your stunning use and placement of your quotes. It inspired me to find one to use in my comment here 🙂
“We get wise by asking questions, and even if these are not answered, we get wise, for a well-packed question carries its answer on its back as a snail carries its shell. ” – James Stephens
The more that we as educators can use out short time with our students to help foster a desire to question, and more importantly, a desire to help and to serve those who have been dealt a tougher hand is important. Imagine if everyone helped someone somewhere for 2 weeks!
Your choice of topic is so timely and necessary to bring to the fore font of discussion. I cannot wait to hear your updates as the year moves along.
Tracy