Objective: Do you teach the same population I do?
If your district requires you to complete home visits prior to the beginning of a school year, do these visits impact your teaching? Now try this thought experiment:What would be your reaction if on one of your home visits, you were to see all of the families "inside" possessions lying "outside" on their front lawn or sidewalk not because of an eviction but as a display to be photographed. Would this type of encounter change the way you teach your population of students? Based on your observations of the items exposed for all to see, would you be able to identify the economic status of the family or families by the possessions spread out on the ground or pavement? Once you began to assess the items and their value, would you have a better understanding of the particular families social class or status? Their way of life?
If I were to stumble upon such a scene as I describe above, when visiting my students' homes or apartments, I would not be preoccupied with how many things were spread out before me; I would be more interested in what the items could tell me about my students as adolescents, family members and consumers. All of the items together give you a glimpse into one family's life, but the kids' possessions tell a whole different story.
Even though my students are only seven or eight years old and impoverished, they have a kind of "purchasing power" and that agency is based on many different facets of their lives and that of their parents. My goal is to help them define that power and discuss their habits of consumerism, while making sure that I am aware of the social and economic factors that surround their everyday life in and out of school. Are your students like mine? If so, this unit, which focuses on consumerism, is designed for you and your students.
My district does not require me to make visits to my children's homes, but I feel it would be a very empowering experience and enable me to create a better picture of my class and their social and family parameters. I used the analogy of all of the "inside" possessions displayed "outside" inspired by Peter Menzel's visual anthropology, Material World: A Global Family Portrait. (1)
In my sixteen years of teaching impoverished children, it was not until participating in the National Delaware Teachers Institute held at Yale University that I realized that when I am teaching a topic such as consumer literacy, I have to be cognizant of the meaning "consumption" in the real circumstances of my students' lives, homes, and their families financial status. To teach this topic effectively and with fidelity, I have to consider the culture, population and class of my students.
Peter Menzel's thought provoking book Material World: A Global Family Portrait is a round-the-world picture book that draws the reader in to the different full page photos that are presented. Using full-color photography, each country is highlighted first with a two-page photograph of an "average" family in the street (or a field) with their possessions and a listing of those basic possessions. Then, there is a summary of the country's history and the family's statistics, such as house size, family size, and income (which are average for the country). There is also an information bar with statistics relating to the country, such as fertility rate and country population. Text and photographs illustrate the daily life of the chosen families. (2)
This pictorial will be the first book that I show my students in order to springboard this unit. Beginning with such a strong visual prompt will set the academic tone, since it is the first opportunity for the students to begin hearing and using the terms "wants" and "needs. This strategy will also allow us the opportunity to discuss the author's purpose and the main messages to be taken from his pictorial collection. Menzel wants us to think about whether we as Americans, in a global economy, have everything we want.(3) The book will provide my students and me opportunities for rich discussions on population, culture and consumption. The pictures will also enable us to look deeper at whether the quantity or quality of the items matters, because students tend to look first at the number of things and/or the branding of the item.
The pictures will also lend a cultural feel to the lesson because it will allow for students to compare and contrast the availability and desirability? of items when learning about different cultures and customs. Culture is defined as the sum total of learned beliefs, values, customs, that, in this case, serve to direct and give meaning to the consumer behavior of members of a particular society. Allowing students to discuss and identify consumer choices is crucial when students are looking at the various pictures because they have the ability to expand on background and prior knowledge. My goal is to direct the students to look past the sheer quantity in order to concentrate on the particular items and begin to define them and categorize the items they feel are a want or a need.
Comments: