“B Some 1, Vote 4 Peace”: A Case Study

As United States citizens, who have had the opportunity to express their opinions through the (peaceful) democratic electoral process; we often fail to recognize that this opportunity is not available to a vast majority of the global populace.

 

There are several non-governmental and international organizations who work in countries across the globe in order to guarantee that this opportunity be made available to their citizens. One group, the United States Institute for Peace (USIP), recently served to be an effective facilitator in helping the country of Nigeria to prepare for their April 2011 elections, and safeguard their citizens’ opportunity to exercise their voice in a democratic matter. The reflection of the processes utilized by USIP (found here) proves to be an effective case study in analyzing the means to which countries can utilize to in order to protect their electoral processes, in a country which has historically experienced much turmoil during election season (i.e. the elections of 2007). 

 

The complexity and comprehensive nature of this particular example would be best suited for a more experienced crowd (college level).  It can be used as a part of a conflict resolution and international relations curricula, as a tool to understand processes required to promote nonviolence in traditionally violent regions of the world. In this setting, it also serves as a tool of analysis, which can be manipulated by students, in order to understand what (if anything) made USIP’s plan successful. Furthermore, students should be encouraged to critically think about the word “successful” through open dialogue, in order to understand the broader picture of what exactly makes something a “success” in the realm of peace education.

 

An activity which can compliment this activity is a variation of the View from Windowactivity, also found on USIP’s site. Doing this activity prior to the introduction of the case study provides a smooth segue into understanding why violence often erupts in several countries due to elections; through the realization that everyone has a different perspective, especially in violent situations.

 

Goal:

A large issue with several educational materials is its applicability to real-life situations (or lack thereof). One can have several tools in their toolbox, but if they don’t know what tool to use with a pan head screw (for example), then their entire toolbox is useless. Utilizing this case study will aid in the development of both critical and analytical skills necessary for real life application, a necessary element to “liberating education” as Paulo Freire mentions in his book, Pedagogy of the Oppressed (1968). Thus, the goal with using a recent case-study in an educational environment will help to provide more concrete skills, for its applicable to situations that can often be very tense and violent in nature.

So, as the Nigerians preached leading up to the April 2011 elections, “B some 1”, and educate for  more peaceful (and fair) elections.

Calling all Educators! Challenge yourself to a Challenge Day!

I had only ever seen “Challenge Day” on MTV, but after participating in a Challenge Day activity I wanted to read more into the program and see what it has to offer young people in the public school education system.  I went online to the official Challenge Day website and read up on the program and how it is actually implemented.  http://www.challengeday.org/index.php

Does something like Challenge Day really work to bring peace awareness and education to youth?  I found the answer to this question to simply be, yes it does.  I had never thought something such as a Challenge Day or even one of the activities from it would have an effect on me or allow me to open up to my peers so they could genuinely understand who I was.  Then again, you never know what you are personally capable of until you allow yourself to move outside of your comfort zone and discover yourself.

Challenge Day is best suited for young adults starting at the middle school age and can be used from there on up, in my opinion.  One thing I do believe for Challenge Day to be effective is that the people participating have to be able to understand their emotions.  A reason I don’t think Challenge Day would have as much of an impact on young elementary aged children is because they may not be as developed  in comprehending and expressing their emotions.  Challenge Day goes through a series of activities that allows students who have never talked to one another to share stories, laughter, and a range of emotions throughout the day.  These activities can sometimes start out as weird or uncomfortable because you never know how deep someone will actually go, but the end results are so amazing!

I believe every middle school, high school, and even college level professor should implement at least one challenge day during the semester because of how much time it requires.  It does take 6.5 hours at least, so the professors would have to set aside an entire day to successfully complete Challenge Day.  Here is how it works:  http://www.challengeday.org/how-challenge-day-works.php. 

So here is what I’m going to do…I’m going to challenge teachers that come across this blog to plan and execute a Challenge Day with their schools, whether it’s this year or next year.  I never thought I’d be a believer of the phenomenon “Challenge Day” that was aired on MTV, but it does work.  It gives students the chance to dive into a form of Peace Education that doesn’t require reading books and articles, but gives them the first hand experience in seeing peace at work and them being the peacemakers.

I really wish that Challenge Day existed when I was in middle school and high school.  It is something I strongly believe should be implemented into the public school educational system.  I believe it can bring change and help develop peace education and conflict resolution techniques at an early age.

Here are research and evaluations about Challenge Day from the website: http://www.challengeday.org/challenge-day-evaluations-research.php

Here are some articles about schools and Challenge Day:

http://gilroy.patch.com/articles/gilroy-high-school-to-challenge-day-on-wednesday

http://perkiomenvalley.patch.com/articles/challenge-day-returns-to-perkiomen-valley-high-school

Is Spiderman The Key to Educational Success?

http://www.comicstriparchive.com/category/spider-man

Some of you may be surprised to find out that the answer is partially YES! In recent years, reports have been made claiming that adults exiting school and entering the work force are not meeting the demands of their employers. Employers are complaining that young workers do not have the writing capabilities and the critical thinking and analysis capabilities that are crucial to be successful in the world today. Our economy is extremely vulnerable and employers need workers who are able to adapt to constant fluctuations and still turn some type of profit. Why are people leaving school today and not being able to fill the needs of their employers? What must our educators do in order to change this trend of students leaving school who are ill equipped to be successful in today’s economy? Well, its simple…put the fun back into learning!

The International Reading Association (IRA) has proposed an alternative form of writing other than the standard book reports that all grade school students are required to write at some point. The IRA suggests teachers to have students to create their own comic strips for books instead of writing a standard book report. Asking students to create their own story line for a comic strip regarding the books they read for school will enhance their critical thinking and analysis skills far more than a book report could. Through creating their own comic strips, students will be forced to access the creative thinking parts of their mind in order to symbolically depict the characters in a way that is congruent with their portrayal in the original text.

The education system that is used in the United States and majority of the world today has been the same for centuries now; a very structured student-teacher classroom where the teacher relays information to their students that the students need to report back to the teachers verbatim in order to achieve “success.” In his book Out of Our Minds: Learning to be Creative, Ken Robinson refers to this as the banking method of education. However, this removes any opportunity for students to develop critical thinking and analysis tools from a young age. As you grow older, these tools are harder to develop. In order to start promoting this type of creative thinking that is necessary at an early age, we must start using alternative ways of learning.

This type of “alternative book report” can be a key alternative form of learning in the coming years. It could be used successfully at any grade school level; first grade all the way through twelfth grade. The amazing thing about asking students to write a comic strip instead of a book report is that the teacher is still providing students with a structured assignment. The comic strip would have to depict the major scenes of the novel and the assignment would still have a due date such as any other traditional school assignment. The difference is you are providing the students with creative ownership over the final outcome. How they choose to depict each of the major scenes is entirely up to them. Thinking of interesting and innovative ways to portray the characters will force them to think in ways they never have thus sparking their critical thinking and analysis tools. Also, providing student with this type of alternative assignment can allow them to be excited about their work again. I know that I am more likely to put effort into an assignment that I feel passionate about and that I feel I have ownership over. This type of assignment provides exactly that for our students. Why shouldn’t we provide them with an opportunity to have fun with their homework?

Improving your Interpersonal Skills: theripplesguy.com

Theripplesguy.com was created by Paul “The Ripples Guy” Wesselmann with the mission of inspiring others to achieve their full potential in life. He does this by traveling around the country giving presentations on interpersonal, leadership and motivational skills. Many companies and organizations contact him to give group presentations on: personal and professional growth, interpersonal skills and motivational skills. I learned about theripplesguy.com while attending one of his presentations at George Mason University but anyone can review his presentations on his website for free. In this blog I will discuss his presentation, Reaching Out: Achieving High Levels of Interpersonal Effectiveness and demonstrate how it is related to peace education.

Reaching Out: Achieving High Levels of Interpersonal Effectiveness is a presentation about how to get along with others, especially those you don’t like by using effective interpersonal skills. Interpersonal skills are essential to peace education because  how you communicate and interact with others matters! Therefore by using effective interpersonal skills you can prevent conflict, promote peace and make the world a better place.

I recommend that all resident directors or supervisors use this resource to ehance their staff’s interpersonal skills. Wesselmann’s presentations should be taught at a conference or at a weekend retreat. This  allows employees to step away from their work and really absorb the material. In my opinion, his presentations should be taught to high school students and above because effective interpersonal skills are needed when working with others on teams, projects, jobs and organizations.

In Reaching Out: Achieving High Levels of Interpersonal Effectiveness, Paul gives us three techniques to improve our interpersonal skills: Vegetables are Gross, Create Deposits and Get out of Your Chair. Veggies are Gross is a theory that explains that to stay healthy you have to eat vegetables. However you don’t have to like vegetables to eat them; you just have to eat them to stay healthy. When applying this concept to interpersonal skills in the workplace it means to work with people you don’t have to like them; you just have to work with them.  Creating deposits is the concept that explains what you put in something, is what you get out of it. When applying this concept to interpersonal relations we can say that we invest more in people we like then people we don’t like. With that said, if you don’t like someone try depositing more in them, try building a relationship with them and see if your attitude towards them changes. The third technique is Get out of Your Chair in other words make an effort to interact and get to know people you don’t like, instead of writing them off. In addition, by learning to work with other more effectively you are better equipped to prevent and resolve conflicts and inequalities in the workplace. With that said, there is no guarantee that these techniques will prevent conflict in the workplace because conflict is inevitable but in some cases these techniques will help.

Ways to use this resource is to contact  Paul “The Ripples Guy” Wesselmann  to come and do a presentation. However, if you have already attended one of his presentations, you can shared the information with others by visiting his website.  As a supervisor, I would incorporate this presentation after  your employees are well acquainted with each other. During this time, it will help strengthen their current relationships as well as challenge them to interact with other co-workers that they don’t necessarily get along with.  It will also encourage them to step outside of their comfort zones and enhance their interpersonal skills. This resource should be used along with team builders, ice breakers and group outings to check the temperature of the group and the group’s dynamics. Paul’s presentations are useful because they help employees grow on a personal and professional level.

Participatory and experiential peace education methods are most supported by this presentation. By utilizing this resource employees will enhance their communication, interpersonal and leadership skills as well as develop a change in attitude towards interacting with people they don’t like. For more information on how to build peace in the workplace you can check out the 7 Pillars of Peace Education by clicking on the hyperlink.

References

Cambridge, Daryn. (2012). 7 Pillars of Peace Education. Retrieved February 21, 2012, from https://peacelearner.org/about-2/7-pillars-of-peace-education/

Wesselmann, Paul. (2012).Contact. Retrieved February 21, 2012, from http://theripplesguy.com/

Wesselmann, Paul. (2012). Great Work, Great Life: Five GREAT Actions for Success in Work & Life. Retrieved February 21, 2012, from http://www.paulwesselmann.com/files/File/key/great.html

grab your nikon. create an ikon.

See what I did there?

Seriously though, grab your Nikon or whatever other photographic device you’ve got (I personally prefer my iPhone on the hispstamatic, ya dig?) and let your voice be…seen? You can do it all with a little help from IGVP, International Guild if Visual Peacemakers. They are a group of visual communicators who are dedicated to breaking down barriers and stereotypes in order to create peace. They strive to display the dignity and beauty of cultures all around the world. Once again, I have to accredit my find to Google.

So listen up photography teachers, cultural studies teachers, and just about any other teacher that can tie this into their curriculum. Regardless of your students’ ages, this one’s for you. Make it an in-class thing and just give your students a couple of cameras and a couple of minutes. Or make it a homework assignment and give em the weekend to do it on their own and show you what they came up with. What’s peace in their eyes?

It’s an easy way for students to think creatively, do something a little outside the box, and really involve the community. It’s an application of what they learn, how they feel, and what they think. It’s their perspective and dammit I like it! There’s no right or wrong answer.

Once you’ve got the pictures just create a gallery by creating an account on the IGVP website and post em for all to see! But that’s not all ladies and gents, you can spread the peace in other ways. After your students snap a few shots, they can talk about it by submitting entries for the guest blog! They can even start a discussion on the IGVP blog. Blogging’s all the hype.

This snazzy-so 21st century medium is a simple way to teach people to embrace and accept others. With so many colorful galleries to look through it’s easy to see beauty and common humanity through other’s eyes. Seeing pictures full of so many emotions and truths it’s hard not to empathize with other cultures. Not to mention it teaches students how to express themselves in ways other than in writing.

So, find a day to take that camera out when the sun rays are a blazing. Or not. Hey, it’s your artistic eye and your iconic representation of peace. I’m just the messenger. 

How about a day for peace?

Actor turned filmmaker Jeremy Gilley founded Peace One Day after realizing that there was no starting point for peace, no day of global unity, no day for intercultural cooperation, and no day for when humanity came together. Gilley felt that if we united as one then that might be the key to humanity’s survival. He started his advocacy for his Peace Day by writing letters to every state leader, their ambassadors, Nobel peace laureates, NGOs, faith based organizations, and other various organizations. Then in 1999 his dream of Peace One Day came true. In 1999 all the member states of the United Nations adopted the 21st of September as Peace Day. This day is recognized as an annual global ceasefire and non-violence day.

Jeremy Gilley’s Peace One Day is recognized every year, but unfortunately the day hasn’t gotten the full attention it deserves. Gilley was to make a statement with Kofi Annan on September 11, 2001 to advocate for his event, but because of the attack on the World Trade Center the statement never happened. However, the events on September 11, 2001 made Gilley work even harder. He was even more empowered and inspired to move forward with Peace One Day. This led to Gilley, along with actor Jude Law, to start work for peace in Afghanistan. Because of the pair advocating for Peace Day the Taliban sent him letter and said they would observe the day, and not engage in violence. The Taliban doing this led to 1.6 million people vaccinated for polio and violence on that day was down by 70%.

Due to this success Gilley has initiated a new plan for 2012, a Global Truce Day. This day will show younger generations that we can make a stop to violence with small acts of non-violence in our everyday lives. Gilley wants to utilize all kinds of resources from dance to social media and globally network with government, intergovernmental, and education leaders.

Gilley’s idea of utilizing education into his plan for 2012’s Global Truce Day helped persuade me to write this blog post about his event. Gilley wants to get young people to be the driving force to inspire individual action, so he has complied an educational resource for teachers to implement non-violence and other peace concepts into the classroom.

I can see this educational resource implemented in almost every formal grade level classroom. The students would need a little background on what conflict is, so because of this, starting at the fourth or fifth grade level would probably be best. However, this could fluctuate determined on how the students are influenced by conflict in their everyday lives. By implementing these resources in a classroom setting these children can practice non-violence in their schools, and also bring what they learn outside of the school setting and teach others.

Ways to use this resource:
Gilley includes many different types of lessons in his educational resource. This comprehensive resource includes 21 one-hour lesson plans for exploring issues of peace, nonviolence, and the protection of the environment, with extended projects for Peace Day on September 21st. I think this resource would be best integrated by first starting with showing Gilley’s documentary for one day of class, doing the lesson that corresponds to that, then moving on to the individual lessons maybe once a month until the actual Peace Day on the 21st. The students could help plan how they want their school to recognize and celebrate the event. In addition to using Gilley’s lesson plans I think it would be important for each teacher to incorporate their own discussion in their classrooms on non-violence, and other peace education areas. This would help each individual classroom relate to what types of conflict are going on in their societies.

The goal of each lesson, whether it be with Gilley’s lesson plans or the teacher’s, would be to spread knowledge about ways to bring about peace in small ways. These can be from their knowledge on non-violence to their knowledge of eco-resolution. Each lesson will more than likely encourage a student to go out and spread what they learned to another, and therefore spread the movement of peace.

“We should oppose violence in all situations and of course there’s no better way of bringing that about than through the power of education.”-Jeremy Gilley

Resources:
Peace One Day website: http://peaceoneday.org/
Peace One Day’s educational resources: http://peaceoneday.org/teachers/

The Dhanak Film Club

Image

I first came across this film club through a friend in my Globalization and Culture (CULT 320) class last year who was specializing in South Asian relations.  The Dhanak Film Club is sponsored by the Institute for Peace and Secular Studies in Pakistan.  The Institute is a community supported voluntary effort for the attainment of a peaceful society through non-violent means.  The Dhanak Film Club is one manifestation of this effort.  According to it’s promotional poster, it’s a “film club which goes beyond the black and white categorization of our usual cinematic experience.  Dhanak represents a rainbow of ideas, theme and issues thus providing a unique experience every week” (http://peaceandsecularstudies.org/?p=333).  One university student, Umer Latif, said “the basic idea behind Dhanak is to raise social and political awareness among the masses as well as underline the importance of common human heritage transcending the bounds of caste, creed and nation” (http://myclassiccollection.wordpress.com/2011/01/18/cinema-for-peace-building/).  The club, hoping to promote empathy and peace through the movies, briefly introduces each movie and follows it with a 15 minute discussion (http://peaceandsecularstudies.org/?p=333).

This concept of promoting alternative discourse through popular movies is definitely transposable to all cultures.  I believe film clubs would not only be applicable to U.S. educational settings, but would also be very popular among students.  Who wouldn’t want to watch a movie?  There is also a natural desire to discuss the movie with friends afterwards.  I think the key is the way in which that discussion takes place.  This peace-building activity would be very useful in the high school setting where teachers often eliminate most forms of creative learning from the curriculum in an effort to increase the efficiency of lecture-style teaching.  Using popular films in the classroom to engage students in thinking about the nature of societal issues would encourage many students-at-risk in conflicted urban neighborhoods to continue coming to school instead of dropping out.

Logistically-speaking, the teacher could spend one-third of class lecturing on the historic context and educational knowledge needed to understand the film; one-third on watching the film; and the final third of class on discussing the implications of the themes in the film.  Considering it is impossible to watch the whole movie in class, the scenes selected could be used to promote a full-length screening of the film after-school in a film club meeting.  With the use of a TV, a DVD player and access to a public library’s DVD collection, the teacher could easily incorporate this concept into the classroom.

The key is using the film for educational purposes rather than simply making it a free day with no work.  It’s important to use this resource as a pedagogical means to encourage critical thinking on the values promoted through film.  The teacher should make equal time in passively watching the film and actively discussing how the film could be viewed through a peace-building lens rather than a violent one (as is often the case).  The teacher may also choose a film that specifically highlights problems also present in the students’ environment to not only give students alternative endings, but to make students question why these problems are present in their community.  The application of film can be used to promote first empathy and then, community building.  The goal of using this film concept is promoting human rights education in the classroom by teaching students the skills (critical thinking and public speaking) to fight for democratic justice in their own community.  I think both high school teachers and film students/human activists could benefit from starting film clubs in their schools/communities.

Resources:

http://peaceandsecularstudies.org/?p=333 – The Dhanak Film Club website

http://myclassiccollection.wordpress.com/2011/01/18/cinema-for-peace-building/ – An article from the January 2011 edition of “Trail Blazer” (An Indian youth magazine) describing the power of film screening as a peace pedagogy

Video Games for Peace

Three of the top ten best-selling video games of 2011 are characterized by explicit violence and main objectives which celebrate using various means by the user character to destroy other characters (1). While there has been very little clear evidence linking violence portrayed in video games to violence by users, the game market is notably void of games made explicitly for peace.  Video games can be used by educators to promote peaceful ways to conflict resolution without distracting from the education system’s core curriculum.

Video games as explicit means of peace education do not form an established genre in the gaming world. But, some games have been developed that reward peaceful means of conflict resolution and penalize violent behavior. For example, the video game Civilization tasks the user with building a thriving civilization from the ground up, but the user is penalized if major violence and riots occur in the user’s civilization. The 2007 video game PeaceMaker, tasks the user with taking one side of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and implementing a peaceful two-state solution, all the while being challenged by realistic events occuring during the user’s play.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7iPvWefuPwo

A short video on PeaceMaker

In what context can video games for peace be used in learning? What type of lesson plan can be used with the goal of peace learning in mind? One possible context is for these video games to be integrated into the computer classes present in primary and secondary education. Simple point-and-click mini-games, which reward win-win situations between the user and computer intelligence and penalize aggressive behavior, can demonstrate peaceful ways to deal with conflict and are appropriate for users with relatively basic computer skills. These games can be used by educators to reward excellence and progress in computer classes, and since they are cheap and easy to produce, can be integrated into existing computer literacy programs. Certain classes in the social sciences could play a short video game that explains peaceful methods of conflict resolution and challenges students with finding the most peaceful solution in relations between people and groups of people. Students with advanced computer skills could play role-playing games, such as Civilization and PeaceMaker, in classes, clubs, and camps. In all these examples, it is essential for the educator to review the rewards-and-penalties systems existing in the game and prompt the students to reflect on how these games simulate decision making in conflicts.

Implementation of a lesson plan using video games is hampered by two problems: a lack of resources and a lack of pedagogy. Many education systems do not have computers available for student use aside from special computer literacy courses or lack adequate computer labs for students to use in this lesson plan. The use of video games geared for peace in a school curriculum could face problems in implementation because video games are often associated with laziness and distractions from education, rather than a form of education itself. Peace education through video games would receive less criticism in being implemented if educators demonstrated the success of other interactive games in teaching educational topics and assisting core curricula.

Video games can be used as an educational resource for peace. Video games designed specifically for demonstrating and rewarding peaceful solutions to conflicts can be integrated into existing educational settings and can fit into larger lesson plans on conflict and peace. Peace educators can use video games as a way for students to explore peace in an accessible environment and apply peace education topics to simulated conflicts.

(1): These three games, (Call of Duty: Black Ops, Mortal Kombat and L.A. Noire), are noted by the Entertainment Software Rating Board for blood, gore, and intensive violence.  The best-seller rating comes from a CNBC article.

Useful Links:

Antony Adolf article on peace-based video games

PeaceMaker video game official website (can be purchased for download)

World Peace… and other 4th grade achievements

As an adult, I’ve been involved with an inter-agency simulation, here in the Washington, DC area sponsored by the United States Institute for Peace called Strategic Economic Needs and Security Exercise (SENSE). SENSE has been used in peace talks across the world and is a great resource and training tool for governmental leaders and public servants who wish to understand the complexities of war and building sustainable peace in a conflict, or post-conflict country.

This all sounds very boring (yawn), right? To be honest, it’s the most fun I’ve ever had in my (adult) life. Over a three day period, these often well-known and extremely intelligent adults are brought back to their basics: scheming, negotiating, collaborating and finding creative solutions to current world issues. We’ve done simulations for inter-agency adults who are ruthless, to Conflict Analysis and Peace Operation students who are actually too collaborative and sometimes unrealistic; but I’ve always wondered, how would children react?

Little did I know, an educator named John Hunter has been playing this simulation with his 4th grade classes for more than 25 years and loving every surprising and challenging moment along the way. Here he is speaking about his experiences on Ted Talks in 2011:

What I find most amazing about the idea of holding ‘World Peace Games’ for classrooms of children is that they have the opportunity to face struggles, frustrations, and conflict with peers head on while finding creative solutions through negotiation, collaboration, effective communication, and most importantly- without violence. These are traits I wish I had learned at any level before college, which is sadly when and where I’ve learned most of them. Additionally, it gives children the idea that they are intelligent, realistic, and smart individuals who can find the solution to relevant and world-wide issues; and hopefully, the confidence to solve any other problems that evolve in their day-to-day life. Plus, it’s fun!

This is probably why John Hunter was named in Time Magazine as one of the 12 Education Activists of 2012, and was also featured in a documentary based around his experiences with 4th graders and the World Peace Games; which you can see the trailer.

Personally, I think this model is highly applicable at any level of school. John Hunter’s website World Peace Game features details on what the game is and how to play it although unfortunately, it appears as though they don’t give exact instructions; only the ability to contact John Hunter and have him teach your class the game. However, this doesn’t mean you can’t implement your own similar simulation with the same basic formula: 5 countries, specific resources, a driving issue, and a board in which they can actively witness the consequences or benefits of their actions…

For teachers, administrators, and school systems who are unsure, can watch the movie and judge for themselves; or better yet, show it to their students and gauge their interest in playing the game themselves…

Art + Sports = Peace Education!

In order to meet children where they are developmentally and intellectually, the Arts Olympiad program combines art, sports, and technology in a multi-level program to teach children aged eight to 12 years about peace. The program, implemented by the International Child Art Foundation (ICAF), is a worldwide initiative that engages children in peace-building on local (classroom), national, regional, and global levels, teaching them cooperation, positive identity formation, empathy, creativity, leadership, and multiculturalism (see more information here).

This specific program is intended be utilized by elementary school teachers (and possibly after-school childcare providers and other informal educators), and adaptations of it could be effective for children from early elementary school through middle school. By employing media that are universally accessible – visual art and sports – this program is both highly inclusive and successful at connecting children from vastly different regions and cultures. At the same time, the elements of collaboration and cooperation built into the program (for example, classes work together to select which artworks will be submitted to the next level of the competition) teach children tolerance and community.

Participation in the Arts Olympiad could be easily implemented in classrooms as well as in informal settings. Because the only materials required are art supplies (crayons, markers, paper, pencils), this project needs virtually no preparation. Ninety minutes should be plenty of time for children to draw their favorite sport, share their artworks, and decide together which pieces will be entered to the next level of the competition. Teachers should supplement the project with a discussion of sports in an international context, such as exploring the Olympic Games or the World Cup. They could even go one step further and use sports as a metaphor to talk to young students about conflict, collaboration, and healthy behaviors.

The Arts Olympiad supports learning about cooperation, tolerance, identity, empathy, creativity, and leadership throughout the four levels of the competition, as children are increasingly exposed to their larger local, national, regional, and global communities. It teaches multiculturalism and international relations in a way young children can understand, and exposes them to the understanding that, though people may have many differences, they also have much in common.

(By Emily Ludwin Miller, emillerk@gmu.edu)