"The single story creates stereotypes,
and the problem with stereotypes is not that they are untrue,
but that they are incomplete.
and the problem with stereotypes is not that they are untrue,
but that they are incomplete.
They make one story become the only story.”
Though I have not had much full-time teaching experience, after community-building activities, one of the best and most
powerful ways I have started off the semester included showing this < 20
minute TED talk by Chimamanda Adichie, on “The Danger of a Single Story.”
In light of our discussion with
the wonderful panelists about immigrants and refugees, and “Youth Perspectives on Peace & Revolution,” I thought about this
TED Talk I showed my students and how it set the tone for the rest of the
semester. Jamal advocated for educators to not present any individual or group
as “static,” unchanging, or one-dimensional. As a daughter of first-generation immigrants
from India, I have faced and been asked about numerous stereotypes given to
Indians. We as educators also have to be careful and think critically about how we incorporate students’
experiences into the classroom, avoiding the situation where a student is
called on to discuss “Indian culture, heritage and religion” merely because she is the
only Indian in the classroom.
I provided my students with four
reflection and discussion questions to go through during and after the talk:
1.
Who is Chimamanda Adichie and what is her message?
2.
What is the danger of a single story?
3.
Can you give an example of an instance when you bought into the single story of
a group of individuals? At what point did you realize that this story was
incomplete?
4.
Are you aware of a “single story” about an aspect of your identity? What is it
and how does it make you feel?
Students were so willing to talk
about stereotypes and labels that have been put on them and were able to
empathize with the speaker. This set the philosophy and tone of our future
class sessions and it helped them understand how I wanted them to examine the world and its people.
I love this TED talk and use it regularly in my graduate Multicultural course. In that course we read memoirs and novels and there is a huge danger of over generalizing from these. That, of course, does not mean we shouldn't use them but rather that students need to be aware of and carefully discuss the danger of a single story. Chimamanda Adichie is incredibly articulate giving a powerful foundation for student thinking.
ReplyDeleteWonderfully touching and amazing! Thank you for sharing it with us. I will definitely take this story with me from this week's conference.
ReplyDeleteThis video was great...thanks for sharing:)
ReplyDelete