controversial figure skating dance

[eclectic]

Well we discussed it. . . .

I was rather disappointed in my students lack of depth. (They are 11th and 12th grade)
Only 1 student who is a little more mature looked at the whole picture on how a culture is being portrayed to the entire world in a stereotypical fashion.

So of course that brought us to stereotypes. I was astounded to find out that most of the students thought stereotypes were just part of the scheme of things, natural and don't hurt anything and everyone knows they are stereotypes so you don't believe them

Luckily I have one girl who is a USAF kid and just got back stateside from Turkey. She said it was hard in Turkey because they had all the American girls stereotyped from what they saw on TV (sexually promiscuous, shallow, and rich)

We talked some about the Russian culture and whether they think they have cultural sensitivity training like the US does from Pre-K up. This was opinion not researched.

The overall agreement was the Skaters did it in ignorance and for artistic flair and show (one girl's example was wearing the red loincloth - red shows up and is more dramatic than say purple)
They did agree that more research should have been done on the part of the skaters.

Thanks again for bringing this to my attention - it was a great discussion anyway and a good example of culture merging with creative expression and that is what this class is all about.

[shootingstar]

Well we discussed it. . . .

I was rather disappointed in my students lack of depth. (They are 11th and 12th grade)
Only 1 student who is a little more mature looked at the whole picture on how a culture is being portrayed to the entire world in a stereotypical fashion.

So of course that brought us to stereotypes. I was astounded to find out that most of the students thought stereotypes were just part of the scheme of things, natural and don't hurt anything and everyone knows they are stereotypes so you don't believe them

Luckily I have one girl who is a USAF kid and just got back stateside from Turkey. She said it was hard in Turkey because they had all the American girls stereotyped from what they saw on TV (sexually promiscuous, shallow, and rich).

It may well be there were some shy students who just didn't want to speak up. You might have reached those quieter, bright students. I was a bright, quiet student but found it difficult to provide in a group classroom situation, my opinion at length.

It took me a long time to get over my inability to speak up off-the cuff and unrehearsed opinions in such group situations no matter how strongly I felt about something.

I commend you to even teach the topic of stereotyping, media images and problems with lack of seeking a broad range of reliable information sources. You probably did reach a few students who were feeling unsure how to articulate a complicated subject. Because it can be.

[eclectic]

Shooting star - before we discussed it I had the kids write their opinions on paper so they could think about it and not have to verbalize it in public. We just did a show of hands if they thought it was an issue or not. We then discussed it in small group, then as a whole.

You brought up a very good point and that is about trust building w/i a discussion group setting. I strongly believe opinions have to be respected. I try to teach that opinion is strictly that but it needs to be respectful and have substance to back it up. I was pleased in that aspect, they didn't bash each other and they did use examples to back up their opinion. (such as the young lady who contrasted the color red for the loin cloth vs purple and another girl who likened it to "hollywooding" everything)

Just my 2 cents worth. Most often I don't read opinions on articles or blogs because I am very tired of lack of respect, use of foul language and bashing. Hopefully I will reach some kids so they discuss opinion respectfully