Teacher to Teacher, October 2008

GeoGraphy: pa ssp ort to L i f e N ever before in the history of our planet have human beings been able to travel as fast and as easily as they can today. A businessman may be in Los Angeles one day and Rome the next. A family from Maryland can vacation in Hawaii. And while the cost and inconvenience of travel is sometimes prohibitive, it still remains true that no previous age has seen such a mobile society as ours. Whether your students grow up to be architects, clothing designers, economists, politicians, or chefs, knowledge of other cultures and customs is essential. They may deal with a business contact from China, a sponsor from France, a customer from the Philippines. And to be successful in these relationships, they will have to know something about world culture and customs—something beyond what they glean from television and movies. And that is where you come in. Compared to many of their foreign counterparts, young Americans live comfortable lives. Their high-speed world of computers, games, malls, social networks, church activities, and classes absorbs nearly all of their attention; so they have little time to think about what lies beyond their personal comfort zones. The customs of other countries may seem strange to them. Before the 2008 Olympics, a friend sent me photos of the strange page 8 Teacher to Teacher | October 2008 foods sold on Beijing streets, including grilled snakes, cicadas on skewers, and goat lungs with red peppers. To young adults living in a country where food is plentiful, the concept of eating snakes or insects is cause for revulsion or mockery. But in many countries, our American eating habits would seem just as odd. While some foreign customs may seem disgusting, others are fascinating. Some students in your class will enjoy seeing the colorful designs of traditional costumes, while others will appreciate the awe-inspiring architecture of Greece, Italy, and many Asian countries. Places that are both beautiful and sinister, like the Egyptian temple of Karnak or the old French prison on Devil’s Island, are fun to learn about and to teach. In fact, it is often tempting to focus only on the enjoyable parts of geography—famous landmarks, beautiful costumes, and fine architecture. But gilding the ugliness of a culture does your students no favors. They know that life in America is not all Wiis and megamalls. They need to understand that many countries suffer from political and economic turmoil, and that others are ridden with poverty and sickness. By showing your students the pain and the needs in these countries, you can teach them to respond with compassion and a desire to help. As future voters, your students need to understand the politics of their own country; and to do that, they must learn about the dynamics of the world economy and world politics. Does it matter who makes the clothes and electronics they buy at the mall? Should they care who the prime minister of a particular country is? How do the actions of countries in the Middle East affect the supply of oil in the United States? Understanding the geographical location of different countries and their contributions to the world economy will help your students make informed choices in the future. In this quest to teach your students about the world, a good geography textbook is your best friend. When

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