How can I teach beyond the four walls of the classroom?  I’ve mulled this question over long before I landed in South Africa, but far more seriously now that I’m here.  This experience has exposed my family and me to an unimaginably rich culture, rooted in complex and beautiful literature, art, and history.  I certainly didn’t know 1/10 of it before I arrived.  Why?  Because I grew up learning about my immediate, small world, mainly through textbooks and worksheets, and I was never urged by my own teachers to look much further.  But as a teacher myself, I want to provide my students with a much broader perspective, to teach well beyond the confines of the high school.  This demands considerable creativity on my part.  How can I best engage students at AHS so they feel that what they learn bears upon their lives and their world in profound and relevant ways? 

Teaching here in Africa has opened my eyes to such possibilities.  My students, both here in Arlington, clearly want to learn at a high level – especially about their role in the world.   To ensure that, I need to give them a sense of ownership and connectedness to global events.  They need to understand others’ perceptions and cultural contexts in relation to their own.  Using literature, history, art, and popular and social media as a platform to engage students to think about their world could be an exciting way to achieve that.   Interestingly, I am currently working with a few junior classes in SA to incorporate popular media analysis into traditional learning.   This realm appeals powerfully to them, and through it they are able to more fully grasp the different ways in which people from around the globe relate and communicate with one another. 

I’m also exploring ways to connect students here in South Africa with those in Arlington. This might include Skyping over mutually selected texts in both the English and History departments. Even more promising is the prospect of integrating opportunities for students on both sides to address and debate issues of considerable global gravity – climate change, human rights, social justice, access to water, etc.   This venue will undoubtedly transform learning in my classroom, further motivating students to govern the momentum of the curricula and setting the foundation for proactive, collaborative experiences in the future.  Most importantly, such a dynamic approach will hopefully convince my students that the world is smaller than they think, that their voices indeed matter, and that change is possible if we collectively work together for it.

Beyond the classroom, I am pursuing opportunities to better understand how public speaking – which has strong and growing cultural importance in the fabric of South Africa – empowers and excites leadership and civic engagement among adolescents and young adults here.  More to follow…

My very best to all of you, and Happy Halloween!