Blogs: Elena Aguilar
How to Discuss the Haiti Disaster with Your Students
By Elena Aguilar
1/14/10
The unthinkable happened in Haiti on January 12, when a massive earthquake destroyed the nation's capital city and killed tens of thousands of people. The magnitude of the devastation is still unknown, but the stories and images coming out of Port-au-Prince are haunting. There is no doubt that life in Haiti -- already the poorest country in the hemisphere -- has just become much, much more difficult.
All day long, as I heard the news and read reports coming from the island, I was overwhelmed by my feelings of wanting to do something, and by the frustration of not feeling like there is anything I can do. It doesn't feel like it's enough to donate money to relief organizations (although it's definitely needed).
Teachable Moments
Today, I really missed being in the classroom. When I was teaching and a catastrophic event happened, I felt like I could do something: I could support kids in how to think about a tragedy like this one, I could cultivate empathy in children, I could help them analyze media coverage, or I could provide them with history to understand the situation.
If I was in the classroom right now, I think I'd also take the opportunity to teach kids something about Haiti: play Haitian music, read a folktale, learn some geography -- and for older students, I'd teach them something about Haiti's amazing history.
For those who don't know, Haiti was the first independent nation in Latin America, the only nation whose independence was gained as part of a successful slave rebellion, and the first postcolonial independent, black-led nation in the world.
I'd expand students' knowledge of the country and its people so that their impressions of Haiti are not only one of tragedy.
I was teaching when Hurricane Katrina struck New Orleans. I helped students organize a drive to collect donations for schools. I designed a number of lessons on critically analyzing the media coverage. I also pushed students to explore the concept of a natural disaster.
I thought about this today. The earthquake in Haiti is not a natural disaster; the disaster is the result of underdevelopment, poverty, and a complex series of political and economic decisions made by first world powers over the last 200 years. The earthquake has exposed Haiti's desperate poverty; it is underdevelopment that is a disaster.
If I was teaching kids right now, I'd find some way to communicate this fact to them. It feels urgent. It makes what has happened in Haiti something that the world is responsible for -- particularly the United States and France, Haiti's former colonizers. But you'd have to understand something about Haiti's history in order to understand why I'm saying that.
Service and Solidarity
I'd help students think about what they could do to help others -- what they can do right now to help Haitians, and what they might do one day to help others. I'm really big on the idea that everyone should contribute to the world, and I find that children are easily engaged with this notion. They want to be of service to people, or animals, or the environment. In my experience, kids really want opportunities to volunteer and help.
Perhaps in learning about the desperate need in Haiti right now for doctors or nurses, or for sniffer dogs or people who speak French or Creole, a child might be inspired to pursue a career that one day could lead them into a tragedy like this one to help others.
And so I'd use this situation to push this idea: We all belong to the same planet and have a responsibility to help each other. What can you do? What will you do?
I think I'd also push the idea of solidarity, a concept we should reclaim and resurrect: What can a group of kindergartners do in solidarity with the people of Haiti? What does it mean to be in solidarity with a group of people? What are the many ways we can show our solidarity?
It's really about building empathy, opening our hearts, and expanding our notion of who belongs in our community. As an educator, I often feel like this is my primary charge -- all I really aspire to do.
Readers, please share: How have you addressed catastrophes like the earthquake in Haiti in the classroom? What have you done or what might you do with students in response to the earthquake? What are the opportunities for teaching that can come out of this tragedy? Please contribute your thoughts and ideas.
Comments
Thank you!
I will share this with my teachers. They have been talking about what to do and how to react. I like the idea of having a day dedicated to studying about Haiti, a sort of celebration. I wonder if we could "adopt" a school there, a sort of sister-school which we could try to support? I may look into this. I've been deeply affected by this disaster. Thank you for writing this.
Right on!
Thanks for the post. I think it is important to address these types of tragedies in the classroom even if you as an adult and teacher cannot make sense of it yourself. Sometimes teachers feel pressured to go about business as usual when students just need a time and place to share their thoughts and feelings.
My students (juniors) have been very upset by this all week. They would like to create some kind of altar for those who passed away. Many of them are Mexican-American and want to do something like the day of the dead altars. They asked about doing research into how Haitians honor and remember their dead. Some students took lead into this and are going to present next week. They are having a hard time expressing their feelings. We do a lot of art at our school and they know this is a way to express emotions. I was surprised by their desire to do something like this, but I think kids, especially kids from poor countries, have more empathy for those in other places.
Thank you for writing this. I hope we can share what our students do to respond to this tragedy.
I am an unemployed teacher on supply in Scotland (Scottish/Somali). I'm sitting researching about Haiti so that I can hopefully provide Scottish teachers with some resources, ideas and stimuli - like teachers everywhere they are hard-worked and creating new resources is time consuming. As I'm unememployed I have little money to donate but hope that this can help teachers clear some time in a busy curriculum to deal with this important issue and support their learners to develop a constructive response as it is all too easy to feel powerless to make a difference, short and long term, when faced with this scale of suffering. I empathise strongly with the Haitians as I have never been able to return to Mogadishu - the place of my birth - which I fear will never be rebuilt in my lifetime.
If you are looking for discussion prompts about the situation in Haiti you might check out my blog: Techo Lesson. I have written four different posts filled with questions.
Thank you Andrew for sharing your ideas and links - you've posed thought provoking questions.
Elena thank you for your blog - you've lead me to Edutopia through googling this disaster.
I am a high school French teacher from Michigan. I am devastated by these events as are my students. We "adopted" a young Haitian girl about five years ago and have been sending her letters of support/encouragement as well as money over the past five years. We do not know if she is injured or even alive at this point. We are awaiting word. We too feel helpless. My French students mobilized last week and we will be selling "HELP HAITI" tshirts starting tomorrow. We are hoping to be able to send $1000 or even $2000 to Haiti. At least it is SOMETHING. The world must not forget the catastraphe of this, one of the poorest countries in the world!
Haiti: What can you and your classes do right now to help
Thanks for your blog Elena.
For those of you that may want some additional resources on Haiti, I've started discussion in our new online community that has some great resources.
Haiti: Moving beyond the rhetoric and tragedy
With world interest focused on Haiti, now is an excellent time to explore Haitian history. A quick overview, including a plea for an indepth look at Haitian history can be found at the Democracy Now!, wihich features an interview with Randall Robinson, founder of TransAfrica, who offers a non mainstream take on recent political events in Haiti.
Peter Billingsley
Instructor
Florida Virtual School
Thank you for writing this! There was an excellent interview on CBS last night about Haiti. I recorded it to show my students. We will use some of your ideas and I'll let you know what we do. I agree that kids should not just learn about Haiti as a tragedy, but as a complex society with its own history and culture. Teachers have a moral imperative to educate kids about this tragedy.