Planting seeds of solidarity - 1

Radical Teacher, Summer, 2001 by Bob Peterson

One challenge is to make sure that from the very start that such immense problems are not seen as "foreign," only occurring among "others." Thus I like to start my in-depth study of world justice issues at home. Some of my students bring to class certain stereotypes about the rest of the world, especially stereotypes they have gotten from TV and the media. Starting with problems in this country acts to counter stereotypes of "poor" Africa, Asia, and Latin America. It also centers the children in something that is familiar to many of them: poverty and homelessness in the United States.

One of my first reading/language arts units is on homelessness in the United States. I begin by displaying on my overhead projector a photo of a snowy scene in front of the White House. Before showing the caption I ask students to make observations. They ultimately are surprised that what they guessed were snow-covered rocks or garbage are actually sleeping homeless people (the photo is reproduced on p. 32 of Rethinking Our Classrooms). As with other photos I use, we make observations, talk about how we feel, connect it to what we already know, ask why the situation exists, and think about what might be done.

EVICTION STORIES

After this introduction, we take a few days to read Sharon Bell Mathis's Sidewalk Story, which tells of a family being evicted from their apartment and the role of a nine-year old neighbor girl in fighting the eviction. We also read Langston Hughes's Ballad of the Landlord and Lucille Clifton's poem Eviction and write some of our own poems.

I also share news stories that talk of the continuing poverty in the United States and the intense poverty in some places overseas. I find it beneficial to begin with discussion of U.S. poverty because it is close to home and virtually all my students have stories to tell about homeless people who are relatives, or who they encounter in their neighborhoods or when they travel.

During these discussions, I occasionally find that some of my own students or members of their families are homeless. Because the stories and poetry I use portray homelessness as mainly a social problem--and not something to be ashamed of, my homeless students are usually willing to describe their situation; their classmates listen with respectful curiosity.

One year a student explained that during summer his house burned down and he was living in a motel room with several other family members. Once he shared the story, his classmates were more sensitive to some of his moods and needs. One student assisted him in co-writing a dialogue poem between a small home, the motel room, and a big home, the apartment where his family finally relocated. In a dialogue poem, two characters talk to each other; the dialogue poem is particularly effective in getting kids to understand how things are similar yet different. (An example is on p. 28, the Student Page; for teaching ideas see p. 42 of Rethinking Our Classrooms.)

With the children having some basic background about conditions in the United States, I feel more comfortable exploring poverty and injustice in other countries. Helping the students recognize there is a commonality to such problems helps lays the groundwork for developing attitudes of solidarity that go beyond mere charity. In other words, I want students to recognize patterns in world problems and how those patterns are connected to problems in our own communities and country. Then students are more likely to begin to understand that working for global justice also involves changing "our" world as well, and that when we help to change conditions for "others" we are helping to change them for ourselves.