Immersive Teaching Techniques

AK_Jedi · Post by **AK_Jedi** » 2006-03-31 05:45pm

Sometimes, public schools in the U.S. use immersive role playing techniques to try to show kids how it felt like to live with prejudice and persecution.

When I was in middle school, we did things like this like this to illustrate why the American Revolution occured (we were forced under restrictive rules, lockers were searched, etc.), and to show what world hunger is like (most of the kids got small amounts of rice, and about 5 or 6 got McDonalds meals).

Recently there was a story in the news where a middle school made some kids "Jewish" for the day and had them under similar restrictions as they were under in Nazi Germany. No, they weren't killing the kids, but they had restrictions similar to pre-civil rights african americans. Some of the children were upset, and their parents are outraged, while the school maintains that the event was successful.

link to article

My question is: is this type of teaching method effective, or even good? On one hand, kids are experiencing prejudice and discrimination first hand. On the other, kids may get the wrong idea. The kid in the article said, "the only thing I found out today is I don't want to be Jewish."

What do you think?

Post by **Broomstick** » 2006-03-31 06:03pm

I think it can be a useful tool, BUT there is a certain percentage of the population for whom this sort of immersive lesson would be too disturbing, possibly causing long-term harm. This can be a matter of age/maturity or a matter of mental fragility, the problem being it can be hard to tell beforehand who will be negatively affected.

There is also the problem of children with bully tendencies getting a little TOO immersed in the roleplaying.

So, while it has its uses as a tool, I'd be very leery of wide-spread, mandated adoption of this as a teaching techinique. The idea is to educate, after all, not traumatize.