TL;DR:
- It is critical that we realign the lens of experiential learning to include the domains of social (justice) studies. This will help to truly engage students in their worlds.
- Experiential learning in the classroom needs to make space for areas in social studies and the world in which we live. It takes those issues on from a lens of inquiry and problem-solving.
- Educators have a lot to do to help nurture a generation of change agents who will speak truth to power.
The insurrection at the Capitol Building on January 6, 2021 left educators with some immediate questions: Should I discuss this in class? How should I discuss this in class tomorrow?
Those with the first question came from the place of administrative and parental concerns. For example, would it be acceptable to talk about a political event in class? Should educators always be neutral and not take sides? How much truth is too much truth?
Those with the second question came from a place of realization that everything is political. Being neutral in the face of oppression is racist, as Dr. Ibram Kendi suggests. Children need truth-telling and not sheltering from the very real systemic oppression that surrounds us.
On the evening of January 6th, as calls were made saying “this is not America,” educators wondered then, what is America?
And how do we teach the dichotomous narrative of America to our students the next morning? I created a sample lesson plan that night to share with middle and high school teachers on social media. Within a few days, it had reached more than 5K views as teachers across the nation looked for avenues leading towards critical conversations.
When we think of experiential learning, we often see it in the most obvious tie-in to fields in STEM. Project and inquiry-based learning seek to solve real-life problems through an exploration of materials and invention of sorts in most experiential learning classrooms. We have for so long emphasized on fields in STEM. Thus, we have often put aside real-life problems that require solutions in the domain of social studies, government, and civics.
Now, more than ever before, we need our youth engaged, empowered, and heard in the areas of social equity and systemic oppression. Put the big problems in the hands of the youth so they may not take recourse to white-washed history or color-blindness or an avoidance/denial of what ails us as a nation.
Experiential learning in the classroom needs to make space for areas in social studies and the world in which we live. It takes those issues on from a lens of inquiry and problem-solving.
When we look at the curriculum of English Language Arts, math, science, and social studies across the country, we often give the least time to social studies in elementary and middle grades. However, the need today is greatest there.
Any good lesson centers itself around experiential learning. The scope for critical, deep, and cross-curricular learning can take place if we ground ourselves in issues within this domain.
Now, more than ever before, we need our youth engaged, empowered, and heard in the areas of social equity and systemic oppression. Click To TweetRelevance
The first step is to be bold in picking an issue that holds proximity and relevance. Often, educators can achieve this by passing on the baton to students. For an 8th grade Capstone Project, we created an overarching theme titled Platforms. This gave students enough wiggle room to determine the medium they would use as a platform to speak about a social concern that needed awareness. As a result, students created spoken word, art, poetry, brochures, and the like. Topics ranged from domestic violence, to inequitable pay, to war.
Situate History into the Present
Oftentimes, around election season, schools will hold mock elections. This is a great way to situate topics of national and current relevance within the classroom. Educators can discuss how campaigning works, as well as recommended policies by the candidates engaging in debates. Any grade level, as early as elementary school, can discuss these topics.
It also becomes important to situate the conversation around the history of voting rights in our nation. It is also important to discuss the role of the Electoral College and other topics generally considered sticky. We do this so we can prepare a generation that is engaged in the very process that is central to their lives, experiences, and reality.
Multi-Faceted Approach
Within the framework of issues around social awareness, students develop areas of both skills and content. The content base is developed through the topic they are researching and as they plug in societal implications of their area of study. Additionally, students learn to conduct interviews with experts in the field, learn to write formal emails or make phone calls to build networking skills, research their surroundings for who can guide them, conduct research, write research papers, and develop solutions.
In another example of a social justice-centered lesson, students reached out to the Native American tribes of Massachusetts. They learned so much from the experience about marginalization and history while also being embraced by the community.
In another instance, students connected with shelters to create care packages. They researched poverty and homelessness in Worcester. They figured out how to generate money for the cause. And they researched necessary items. Finally, they came out of their comfort zone to go make the deliveries.
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Story-Telling
Perhaps most important in our world today is to create a space for story-telling that is not sabotaged or othered by the mainstream. Listening to the stories of our students and not invalidating their lived realities and experiences is essential as we embark on the work towards equity. Media literacy provides us with power avenues for story-telling and experiential learning, as young people see social media and news reporting bring forth images that have stories and narratives to share from across the nation about the insurrection and other political acts that we see.
The themes shared in the lesson as it centered around media literacy are exploring critical concepts such as the role of people in power, symbolism of the attack carried out, the sanctity of spaces, what their vandalism represents, and the like.
If we will help nurture a generation of change agents who will speak truth and power and lead the narrative of their lived experiences—things that are foundational to true experiential learning—educators have much to do, in the words of Edward Said.
About Noor Ali
Dr. Noor Ali is the principal at Al-Hamra Academy, Shrewsbury, MA and has been a veteran teacher of fifteen years in elementary and middle school grades. She is an Assistant Professor at Worcester State University. Noor is actively engaged in efforts towards social justice, inter-faith dialogue, community networking, and youth development. Noor earned her Ed.D. in Curriculum, Teaching, Learning, and Leadership from Northeastern University & an MS Ed. in Inclusion Education and an MA in Literature in English. She is involved in work around mental health and equity in her community.
