Thursday, November 22, 2012

Will there ever be peace in the Middle East? I asked my students in the class


Will there ever be peace in the Middle East? I asked my students in the class

Searching for the real world

Seeing in media and reading how people are affected by dire situations - war, uprising, famine, refugee crisis...
Seeing in media and reading how people are affected by dire situations - war, uprising, famine, refugee crisis...
the same way they have been affected in the past and the same way it looks they will be affected in the future....
the same way they have been affected in the past and the same way it looks they will be affected in the future....
With every new generation we dream about the better world and the better future for all of us...
With every new generation we dream about the better world and the better future for all of us...
Looking into a newborn eyes we dream about peace and prosperity and we promise to walk long and hard, together to find that paradise....
Looking into a newborn eyes we dream about peace and prosperity and we promise to walk long and hard, together to find that paradise....
What does make us to stop in midway never reaching our destination?
What does make us to stop in midway never reaching our destination?
Next time take roads less travelled, we always presume the other path would have been better.
Next time take roads less travelled, we always presume the other path would have been better.
As we get older we regret our mistakes, opportunities not taken, loves lost, wrong turns. Not my man. I toast his health and I make another decision.,
As we get older we regret our mistakes, opportunities not taken, loves lost, wrong turns. Not my man. I toast his health and I make another decision.,
To follow him on the road less travelled, the road of acceptance. Do you have a decision or choice you regret?
To follow him on the road less travelled, the road of acceptance. Do you have a decision or choice you regret?
The roads of racism and hatred, would you express your outrage to the racist/ the oppressor in question? If you are like about 80 per cent of people, you will remain passive and let the ugly moment pass...
The roads of racism and hatred, would you express your outrage to the racist/ the oppressor in question? If you are like about 80 per cent of people, you will remain passive and let the ugly moment pass...
and you will be even less troubled if you know and like the person. Bystander effects are more powerful than biological impulses.
and you will be even less troubled if you know and like the person. Bystander effects are more powerful than biological impulses.
Australians, after Canadians are among the least racist people on the planet according the UN. A survery of 12,500 Australians shows that fewer than one in ten believe there are superior or inferior races, or that people of different races...
Australians, after Canadians are among the least racist people on the planet according the UN. A survery of 12,500 Australians shows that fewer than one in ten believe there are superior or inferior races, or that people of different races...
should not marry. In Eastern Europe, parts of Africa, the Middle East and Asia taht figure soars to between 30 and 50 per cent....
should not marry. In Eastern Europe, parts of Africa, the Middle East and Asia taht figure soars to between 30 and 50 per cent....
The term racism encompasses much more than just skin colour or anti-Muslim sentiment. You can not think about the past and ignore religion.
The term racism encompasses much more than just skin colour or anti-Muslim sentiment. You can not think about the past and ignore religion.
It was such a fundamental and mind shaping, driving force for pre-modern societies. I am very interested what religion does to us...
It was such a fundamental and mind shaping, driving force for pre-modern societies. I am very interested what religion does to us...
its capacity to create love and empathy or hatred and violence....how we use its interpretation or misinterpretation to suite our own purposes to get a better chance in life....
its capacity to create love and empathy or hatred and violence....how we use its interpretation or misinterpretation to suite our own purposes to get a better chance in life....
I believe the most unconscous biases can be overcome through education...
I believe the most unconscous biases can be overcome through education...
but is the education enough to save us from our self destruction?

Imagine it is up to you

to find the solution
to bring the peace
to the Middle East
25 eyes look up to me
some serious
some mischievous
some just plainly uninterested...
It is too much to ask
of year seven
I have already heard
the principal's voice in my head.

'Let's see how clever you are,
it will be a group work,
so you can not fail
and the ones with the best answers
I will take to meet my two friends
one from Israel
and one from Palestine..."
I said too eagerly
and kids picked on it
really fast.

"So that means no school for a day, Miss?"
"To meet them for what?"
"In your house?"
I heard their shouts.
I put my hand up to silence them.
"They come to school so you will have a chance
to talk to them about the countries
we have learnt so much this year in Social Studies about."


They sighed and shook their heads,
their bored expressions warned me
that I have to try harder to keep their interest up.
"They will cook some great food for you to taste
and bring some music on...
and yes it means one day off the school for you."


After brief summary of the situation in the Middle East
and what the word 'peace' means
we talked about how to work cooperatively.
Then they were divided
into five groups
and each gave a big sheet of paper
to brainstorm their ideas,
but there was a trouble from the start...

We stack the tables together
and kids lined up
to pick up their place.
"I don't want to work with him..."
"She is just too slow..."
"I want to work with my friend not with her..."
Their complaints went unheard,
they knew that,
but once I pointed for the first group to sit next to window
they started again:
"It is not fair, one of them is my desk,
I always sit there..."
"I wear glasses I have to sit near the window..."
"That is why the first group always wins..."


I pointed for the second group to sit
where our i-pads were stored,
the rest of the class went ballistic:
"Do not let Michael to sit there Miss,
he is just too good on i-pad, he will cheat..."

Michael got red in his face
and tried to wrestle the accuser
to the ground.
Meanwhile the kid with the glasses
ran to the student sitting on his chair
near the window
and slapped him hard across the face:
"This spot is mine."

I took the whistle and blowed it hard.
That was the signal for everyone
and they stopped
some looking down ashamed
and some victorius,
the injured kept crying out loud
so everyone could hear their just complaints,
but no one really cared,
the attackers kept whispering:
"It was your fault, anyway."

Kids lost their right to sit on chairs
they ended up sitting cross legged
on the floor
just like year one
but
no more peace
in the Middle East,
as there were more pressing issues
for us to discuss.

The rest of the lesson
we spent
learning again
about the right and wrong,
the 'me' and 'us',
what is fair and what is not,
if winning by unjust means
is still a win,
and how easy
it is
to find an enemy
and start a war...

On my next parents' meeting
I have brought up
the unanswered question
from my failed experiment
to see what reaction I get.
"You are a great teacher but too idealistic
if I may say,"
the father of the boy in glasses laughed,
"I am very proud of my son,
he has just defended his right,
at least I can be assured
he is ready for the real world,
anyway,
'about that peace in the Middle East',
who cares about that?
Better you teach them something that help them to succeed."

I was the shooting star of idealism
he was the dark matter
draining my energy
the perfect example
of an idealist
who went to war...
the crucible destruction
of a human soul...










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