Today with an S1 class we were discussing issues surrounding inequality and discrimination. Although this was within the modern studies part of the social subjects course, I decided to engage with the pupils with a historical slant (no surprise as history is my first teaching love!)
After a initial recap and overall discussion of inequality and discrimination we listened to Bobby Kennedy's 'Mindless menace of violence speech' that responded to the assassination of MLK in 1968.
I approached the activity with an open mind, the speech is about 9 minutes long and I wondered if some kids switched off. As they listened they created a word cloud in their jotters of what they heard / noticed / felt.
The results were both interesting and heartening. They all responded positively to the exercise, identifying the key themes of the speech and then comparing them with discrimination issues today.
However, on a personal level, seeing how the kids reacted to such an emotionally evocative speech and then how they conveyed their own empathy will have a lasting effect on me. Personally, this it what I feel teaching is all about and hope that these are the lessons that pupils take the most from.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uQjAR7mOvgc
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