Empathetic Images
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As a Teaching Fellow, it is such a pleasure to engage with a host of forum posts. This is never truer than when facilitating a cohort on a tutored course. This week, as we looked at creating ‘hook’ tasks for engaging young writers, I was drawn to a few teachers’ ideas regarding visual literacy. Both Amy Cutmore (at Regents School, Pattaya) and Rachel Rawsthorn (at Abu Dhabi) have recently covered, or will be covering, themes of ‘migration’ with their Year 6 or Key Stage 3 students. Many ideas were posited and deliberated, including the use of powerful images to stimulate discussion. What really stood out to me was a simple but powerful activity idea – show students half of a very powerful image, particularly one that depicts a sharp contrast, and discuss it before showing the other half. Then, when the second half is revealed, the contrast is made all the more obvious.
In the example image given above, the juxtaposition is between wealth and poverty. The activity will, I’m sure, encourage thought-provoking discussion around human rights, equality and migration; all relevant topics within the international communities in which we work. However, it struck me as poignant and perhaps also melancholy that the two halves of the image need separating before the juxtaposition of their realities can be given prominence. It left me wondering both about how our teaching tools, activities and methodologies encourage empathy; and also about how we practice and model empathy ourselves.
Where then, can we best locate resources to encourage empathy and understanding, particularly in the cross-cultural contexts that so many of us teach in? The simple answer: in our classrooms. Our students are a goldmine of varied experiences, different backgrounds, contrasting languages, and sometimes, conflicting ideas. As teachers, we have the opportunity to facilitate and guide discussion, to empower and motivate, and we can use this power to promote change in our world. I feel we should always be guided by the wise words of Dr. Seuss:
“Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better. It’s not.”
If you are looking for texts about migration, to inspire empathy, or to open up discussion about diversity and difference, here is a list of some texts that teachers within the group are currently looking at:
Rachel Preston
Teaching Fellow, Literacy
Y6 Teacher/Curriculum Leader of EAL
Nord Anglia International School Shanghai, Pudong
3-8 Year Olds
Mirror – Jeanie Baker
The Sneetches – Dr. Seuss
Amazing Grace – Mary Hoffman
Giraffes Can’t Dance – Giles Andreae
8-18 Year Olds
The Arrival – Shaun Tan
The Fox Girl and the White Gazelle – Victoria Williamson
Refugee Boy – Benjamin Zephaniah
Feel free to share any resources you use or create on the English Community, where a ‘Spotlight’ task has been started!