Page 165 - Powerful Social Studies for Elementary Students 4th Edition

CHAPTER 6 How Can I Teach Geography and Anthropology Powerfully? 137
possible) that anthropologists observe enough different situations and interview a suffi- cient range of informants to enable them to construct a reasonably complete and bal- anced depiction of the culture portrayed as insiders would portray it themselves, free of filtering through the anthropologists’ own assumptions and beliefs.
When it addresses ancient cultures, anthropology overlaps with archaeology, and some anthropologists view archaeology as a sub-discipline. When it addresses contempo- rary societies, anthropology overlaps with cultural geography. The main difference is that anthropologists tend to look first to belief systems as explanations for a culture’s social and economic activities, whereas geographers tend to look first to climate, landforms, and other aspects of the physical environment.
The social studies curriculum usually does not include formal courses in anthropol- ogy, and anthropological organizations have not established standards for K–12 educa- tion. Nevertheless, social studies includes a lot of anthropological content, especially in the middle grades when students study life in different geographic regions and in ancient cultures. Lessons usually focus on material culture (e.g., arts and crafts, household items, architectural styles, clothing, transportation, economic activities and the technologies involved in carrying them out), but they sometimes include coverage of religious or political beliefs and customs. Historical material is usually couched within a “develop- ment of Western civilization” theme. Contemporary material is usually either selected to illustrate geographical affordances to and constraints on human activity or couched within a “human family” theme that emphasizes commonalities and cultural universals over differences and exotic practices.
Developments in children’s knowledge and thinking about other countries and cul- tures were summarized in a previous section of this chapter. Most American children acquire early and retain a preference for their own country and culture but show mixed and evolving attitudes about other countries and cultures. They sometimes pick up neg- ative attitudes from family members or the media, but what they learn in school and through personal travel experiences usually supports positive attitudes (Barrett, 2005). Unless they have visited a country or studied it systematically at school, children’s impressions of another country tend to be limited to famous landmarks (e.g., the Eiffel Tower in Paris) and whatever they have gleaned about its culture (e.g., they may associ- ate eating fish, chopsticks, pagodas, samurais, martial arts, and tofu with Japan).
Given children’s implicit orientations toward chauvinism and toward noticing differ- ences (especially the exotic or bizarre) more than similarities, it is important for teachers to emphasize similarities first and to represent other cultures in ways that reflect the goals of anthropologists and social studies educators. Teachers can begin by capitalizing on the similarities in the classroom and school first, then address the existing diversity. For exam- ple, children in any classroom celebrate birthdays and holidays, but they may do so in dif- ferent ways depending on their family traditions and cultural backgrounds. Exploration of these differences can help students develop a mindset that variations are to be expected and that awareness of, or even participation in, different cultural practices can enrich our lives.
Working from this base, teachers can introduce the concept of cultural borrowing, using multiple authentic children’s books to portray a variety of traditions and customs. They also can engage their students in sampling foods, learning about unfamiliar tradi- tions, and so on. We encourage teachers to arrange culturally oriented visits to museums or other relevant local sites as well as to arrange classroom visits by parents or other relatives who can come to display and talk about their culture’s food, clothing, and so on. However, it may be better to avoid (or at least be prepared to help students place into a broader context) festivals, fairs, or performances that may induce a limited and stereotyped view of particular cultures. For example, not all Chinese people celebrate
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