What can Brené Brown, the well-known sociology professor who writes eloquently about human vulnerability and the deep need for personal connection, tell us about learning and teaching a language? What can we learn from her work about skillfully bringing social justice curriculum into our classrooms? She would suggest that we humans crave language, in all its communicative forms in order to connect with others and to express ourselves. While we feel vulnerable when we reach outside ourselves to connect especially in a new language, we cannot live fully without reaching past our fears. While we all need some mental, emotional, and physical space, humans do not live well in isolation. So, when teachers understand the dance of vulnerability and connection, we work hard to foster strong connections that feel safe and a shame-free environment for all.
One way to explore this dance can be bringing mindful movement and creative activities into our classrooms and also to talk explicitly about the value of doing so. We can share the three-fold fact with students that we each possess a mind with its thoughts, a heart with its feelings, and a body with its actions and experience. We all think, feel, and act. In many social situations, such as classrooms, we live with an imbalance of the three. We focus on thinking to learn, yet if we have a deep sadness or excitement, we think less clearly. Also, if our bodies are tired or aching, we cannot focus as well on understanding and remembering. Most of us understand this intuitively yet we drift into forgetfulness about this.
For a quick, beneficial reset so we do not drift far, we can incorporate one to two-minute mindful brain breaks with standing and stretching, simple yoga or qi gong movements, snap/clap patterns, balancing, shaking, or silent visualizations. Teachers can choose from a rich variety that feels integral to you. A brain break works well to settle ourselves as we lead our students from one language activity to another, integrating the mind-body-heart connection so we learn and teach with our whole selves. Naming the activity as a mindful reset can help students engage fully and notice the benefits.
When we are more settled together as teachers and students, we reduce our vulnerability. We feel more resilient and ready to learn about language and each other. This framework seems essential to me for dealing skillfully with social justice topics. We prepare the ground to sow the seeds we wish to cultivate, such as curiosity and critical investigation of historical and cultural topics relevant to our students’ lives.
Poetry offers one creative doorway into addressing social justice topics. I offer personal affirmation poems and humorous poems about language learning to begin. We relax and smile together. A little bit of Dr. Seuss with a touch of Jazz Chants before protest poems sets the scene well. With this stronger sense of self and patience about the trials and tribulations of learning a language, teachers can gently introduce topics of intersectionality and justice for all. Poems lead to reflective discussion and paragraph, letter, or essay writing about ways to practice building greater equity for all. Here are four poems to build confidence, community, and justice for all.
Sharing food happens in so many classrooms, formally and informally. Let's talk about food with brave curiosity. My poem, What's in This Soup, gives us some friendly language to ask about ingredients and share compliments and questions. We can begin to explore our vulnerable tastes as we share cultural information via the enticing world of food.
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