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The above picture is a still from a video I created where I interviewed some of my seniors and eighth graders about their views on the City of Chicago. The purpose was to share this video as an exchange assignment with a classroom from Oklahoma City. (Shout to Mr. Patrick Runnels, my partner in this assignment).
Ironically, this was one of the most impactful assignments from the Fulbright Global Competence course, and it didn't require a flight at all, but rather an engagement with our own backyard.
FulbrightExchange_ChicagoInterview.mp4The task was simple--students from the two respective cities came up with some interview questions for each other, and then we shot videos of the answers. The assignment was poignant, engaging, relevant, and most importantly--fun. It created an inordinately authentic moment between youth of two seemingly different populations--and of course, the lesson easily learned was that we're not all as different as we think. Paradoxically, the most stark similarity between the two videos was the extent to which both groups held stereotypes of one another.
Is Chicago really that dangerous? One group would ask.
Is Oklahoma City just that racist? The other group would ask.
Thus beget an enriching dialogue where students got to dispel myths about their hometowns, not brokered through polemics or decontextualized statistics, but just through their own voices on their own terms. It was heartfelt and human.
As one of Mr. Runnels' students said "I feel like I'm interacting with my country."
How interesting a comment from a generationa that has access to the world at all times?
Oklahoma Answers Chicago.mp4One simple but helpful concept from the course that I think this assignment exemplifies is the concept of thinking glocally. Essentially, a framework that suggests that our world is interconnected. The food you eat on your plate is sourced from somewhere in the world. So are the clothes on your back. Each dive into ChatGPT uses a bottle of water that can dry up a few states over (or yours if you're unlucky).
Essentially, our everyday actions have global implications. Therefore when it's time to teach our students about their place in a globalized society. It's not necessary to just open up "windows," but in fact, there are plenty of mirrors just in front of us to start these conversations. Thinking globally isn't as daunting as it suggests. There is so much world right at our fingertips.
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