Fantastic Social Justice Lesson

One the greatest impacts to me from my PLN occurred today. I was quickly breezing through some of the class tweets, and I noticed Mallory’s reference to “What does learning look like” and a photo link. Prior to reading her post and subsequently educating myself on the issue, I was somewhat ignorant to the atrocities being committed by Joseph Kony in Uganda. Like everyone who sees the video, I was appalled at the level of degradation we as humans are capable of. Then I recalled some of my students during CP1 asking why we would ever get involved in another country’s affairs. Why we would ever risk American lives in a foreign land? As this was asked during an Earth/Space Science class, I could not spend too much time on the subject. However, thinking back upon the question, I see a tremendous opportunity for a Social Science or English class to investigate where students stand on international policy and social justice. If facilitated well, this could be a significant and everlasting lesson for the students. They can understand the complexities of foreign policy and the decisions that affect all of our lives.

Having been on the business end of our foreign policy, I can understand how my students would feel about the costs in lives when we send troops abroad. The interesting part of the question is what is the point of commitment. When do we decide to become involved as a nation and intervene. I believe few students in our classes, would ever deny that something must be done to counter these crimes against humanity. The question for the students is how we get involved, and what if we are not wanted by the ruling party. These are the kinds of discussions that make me envy my Social Science brothers and sisters.