Global Wealth Inequality & Capitalism

11th and 12th Grade Social Studies

Vincent Pham

School and Academic Context

For the past six years, I have taught 11th  and 12th grade humanities (especially centered on government and politics)  to recently arrived immigrant students from more than 25 countries. Global learning in my classroom appears from my Multilingual Language Learners’ (MLLs) “translanguaging”, the process in which speakers utilize their knowledge of multiple languages to maximize their communicative responses. I go out of my way to create heterogenous groupings, where I mix up the languages and nationalities to ensure a wide spectrum of viewpoints.

Beyond affirming all my MLLs’ languages, I embrace global learning through acknowledging how the classroom is NOT an escape from the politics and injustices of the world. Instead, it is a space in which the students, and teacher collaborate to develop the perspectives and skills to confront these challenges. Consequently, this context inspired me to cultivate the following question and classroom activity for global learning:

• Essential Unit Question: What is capitalism? To what extent does capitalism alleviate / deepen disparities within and between countries?

• Classroom activity to promote global learning: Group research projects + gallery walk centered on student choice

Students will first define capitalism through synthesizing specific components. Students will then examine different global case studies of how capitalism has affected various stakeholders. They will then synthesize their research on a poster to present to other groups in a gallery walk. During these presentations, students will articulate the connection between capitalism and disparities and  attempt to propose actions / policies that will alleviate the inequities. 

The combination of this unit question and classroom activities will ignite students’ curiosity about the local and global community. By giving space for them to critically engage and dialogue about complex topics, students  foster not only their academic growth, but also their global citizenship.

Lesson #1: Defining capitalism and introducing SNG 10 

Content objective: Students will refer to four principles of capitalism (Private ownership of property and business, Profit motive, Economic competition, and Limited government involvement) to construct a definition of capitalism. Poster activity: Defining capitalism

Planning considerations: Students will develop their understanding of capitalism while addressing any misconceptions that have been presented to them by the media and other stakeholders. Students will prime themselves by first constructing their own definition of capitalism before being presented with the teacher definition. Lesson will conclude with an introduction about the SNG 10: Reduce inequality within and among countries.

Lesson Connection  to SNG 10: An understanding of capitalism- a specific system where private owners engage in extraction of labor and resources for profit- provides students with the specific language and concepts to understand the economy. Furthermore, creating a definition of capitalism provides an ideological lens used to evaluate and interpret different conditions and outcomes in our globalized world.

Lesson #2: Learning about inequality through the lenses of SNG 10 and capitalism 

Content objective: Students will learn about exploitation and articulate how it appears in political cartoons and images. Students will then contextualize their knowledge of capitalism and SNG 10 as they analyze how exploitation occurs in the cobalt mining industry. 

Planning considerations: Students will receive a classroom definition of exploitation (example: “the action or fact of treating someone unfairly in order to benefit from their work”). Students will then conduct a see / think / wonder for two different political cartoons. Teachers should emphasize that students utilize the language of exploitation in their answers. 

• Exploitation political cartoon #1:  “Pyramid of Capitalist System” by Industrial Workers of the World (1911)

• Exploitation political cartoon #2: “Exploitation” by Liu Rui (2022) from the Global Times 

Following the political analysis and class discussion, students will watch a video of modern day exploitation: how the desire for cobalt, especially to be used for smartphones,  has led to exploitative work conditions. Students are tasked to answer questions after watching the video. 

• Video: “This is what we die for” Child Labour in DRC cobalt mines” by Amnesty International (2016)

• Supplement article “How conflict minerals make it into our phones” by Katie Brigham (2023)

Exit ticket: Students will write a short reflective paragraph about how capitalism, exploitation, and SNG 10 are connected. In the following lesson students will investigate how several case studies (environment, immigration, material goods, and food products) are affected by capitalism

Connection to SNG 10: Through learning and using the language of exploitation, students will be able to articulate the specific ways the capitalist system produces inequalities. It is vital that students be able to name the ways inequalities appear within and between countries. Disparities are not natural, but constructed by societal practices. 

Lesson #3: Independent research (Annotating articles- 2-3 days)

Content objective: Students will collaborate in groups to investigate global cases of exploitation. They will identify key quotes & data from the article and analyze them through the lenses of exploitation, capitalism, and SNG 10. 

Planning considerations: Based on pre-selected texts from the teacher, student groups will select the topic that interests them the most. Student groups will annotate the articles (such as underline / bold important ideas and make comments on the margins). Students should be inferring the implications of what they are reading, especially identifying parts of text that connect with exploitation, capitalism, and SNG 10. It is recommended that student groups jigsaw the articles in order to alleviate the workload and emphasize collaboration skills with each other. 

Here are the following articles

• Environmentalism : “Environmental activists are being killed in Honduras over their opposition to mining” by Giadi  Ferrucci (2021)

• Sugar:  “The High Human Cost of America’s Sugar Habit” by Sandy Tolan (2021)

• IPhones: “‘iPhones are made in hell’: 3 months inside China’s iPhone city.”by Viola Zhou (2023)

• Immigration and chicken production factories “A year after Mississippi ICE raids, chicken plants face few penalties as families suffer” by Alissa Zhu and Maria Clark (2020)

Connection to SNG 10: Each of the selected articles provide in-depth analysis and stories of people affected by the global economy. Furthermore, these articles explicitly identify stakeholders from multiple countries, demonstrating how issues are interconnected between nations. Teachers can use the class time to circulate and check in with students and engage with them about their reactions to what they are learning.

Lesson #5: Gallery Walk + Reflection 

Content objective: Students will independently review each group poster in order to formulate connections, questions, and action plans. 

Planning considerations: Students will begin class by reviewing SNG 10, especially the following two targets: 

• Target 10.2: By 2030, empower and promote the social, economic and political inclusion of all, irrespective of age, sex, disability, race, ethnicity, origin, religion or economic or other status

• Target 10.3: Ensure equal opportunity and reduce inequalities of outcome, including by eliminating discriminatory laws, policies and practices and promoting appropriate legislation, policies and action in this regard

Based on this SNG, students are to participate in a gallery work, which should take up the bulk of the class period.  They will individually go around the classroom, reviewing the information on each of the posters. Each poster review will take between 5-10 minutes depending on the number of posters / length of class / other factors.  Students will have time to discuss what they read with other peers that are stationed at the poster.They will write on post it notes documenting the following details:

1. How does the information on this poster connect to your group poster?

2. What are some questions you still have after reading this poster?

3. How does this poster information connect to SNG 10? 

Students will then write a free-response to the following question: If the world wishes to accomplish Target 10.2 by 2030, what are some major changes that need to happen between now and 2030? After that they will participate in a turn-and-talk with their partner about what they wrote. 

Connection to SNG 10: This class activity will explicitly synthesize SNG 10 with the research that students have already done. Now students have something tangible to frame their understanding around SNG 10. 

The gallery walk is useful for global learning because it enables students to work in small groups and respond to different texts stationed around the room. By examining multiple research documents, students can engage in a kinesthetic manner. It also gives time for students to debrief in a freeform manner. 

Recommendations:

Utilize your knowledge of your students' reading levels to create text sets for them to choose from. Each case study I selected connected with at least one section of my student population. Going out of my way to select content that reflected my students' context established deeper engagement. 

Reflections

• What went well? 

My MLL students were especially appreciative of how focusing on SNG 10 through the lenses of capitalist exploitation was eye-opening. For them to be able to learn that structural issues are similar in different nations (including the United States) was surprising simply because they were so accustomed to the narrative that the United States is so much better than other nations. To see how the demands of for-profit ventures directly impacted the lives of people in the United States and the Global South was illuminating. 

The students were clamoring to learn more about other topics in which capitalism has created or amplified these outcomes of inequality. When watching the students read their selected article, make posters, and present them, I appreciated watching them make connections to their home countries and their living experiences in the United States. 

This topic offered tangible, real-world issues that students demonstrated great maturity and desire to learn and discuss about. 

•  What would you have done differently?

Given that I had four different topics (environmentalism in Honduras, iPhone factories in China, sugar plantations in the Dominican Republic, and chicken factories in the United States), there were a lot of unique angles for my students to investigate. However, I wish I could have provided a one pager or even some videos to give students more context on the country and topic that they were studying. Many of my students did not have any prior knowledge of the topics that they were reading about, which meant that the annotation process in class took much longer. 

I also realized that the articles I gave to the students needed to be modified a lot more in terms of length and even the language structure so that my MLL students would grasp the content better. In the future, I would take shorter excerpts and re-write good portions of the text to make it accessible to all my learners. 

•  What feedback did you get from your students?

Students were energized by researching these topics. In particular, they found it easier to read about these global issues and be able to identify how capitalism has been a major factor in each situation. As a result, I feel that the implementation of a framework was well-done in my classroom. 

One thing the students commented on was they wanted to have a seminar to discuss global inequality in more detail. Given the sheer number of case studies at hand, I would have to think carefully about how to implement that in the future. 

Finally, one thing my students wanted to know more about was how the United States government was attempting to fix things. Safe to say that was a very complicated question to answer, especially as students were only just learning in class about the distinctions between public and private sector for the first time. 

• How do you plan to incorporate this activity in the future?

When thinking about how the group research culminated into a poster presentation and gallery walk, I believe I can implement these same activities with different content. Students really appreciated the ability to select the content they wished to explore more about. Although doing this type of activity requires a lot of front-loaded teacher preparation, it was extremely enjoyable observing students engage with the material. 

In my future government and economics classes, I would love to have the following unit be about the different mechanisms in which governments can implement policy changes. Together these two units would provide the students a strong overview about how our interconnected world is not only just about people to people, but how institutions and policy impact our existences. 

•  What else should be considered when incorporating this activity into instruction?

Teachers who seek to implement this mini-unit should be well aware that the way I taught this curriculum was overtly political in nature. I have the curriculum and pedagogical freedom to do what I think best to engage my students. I know that not all school districts and schools grant this same level of autonomy. Consequently, teachers would have to be mindful as the readings I selected depict how global capitalism (especially in the developed nations) has resulted in  terrible consequences on the Global South. 

Pedagogical resources 

• Pulitzer Center on how incorporate SDGs and journalism articles 

• Facing History Resource library on how to implement the gallery walk

APA Works Cited [Content readings used in this unit]

Amnesty International. (2016). “This is what we die for” Child Labour in DRC cobalt mines. [Video] 

Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7x4ASxHIrEA 

Brigham, K. (2023). How conflict minerals make it into our phones. CNBC. Retrieved from 

https://www.cnbc.com/2023/02/15/how-conflict-minerals-make-it-into-our-phones.html 

Ferrucci, G. (2021). Environmental activists are being killed in Honduras over their opposition to mining. The 

Conversation.Retrieved from 

https://theconversation.com/environmental-activists-are-being-killed-in-honduras-over-thei

r-opposition-to-mining-158358 

Tolan, S. (2021). The High Human Cost of America’s Sugar Habit. Pulitzer Center. Retrieved from 

https://pulitzercenter.org/stories/high-human-cost-americas-sugar-habit 

Zhou, V. (2023). ‘iPhones are made in hell’: 3 months inside China’s iPhone city. Rest of the World. Retrieved 

from https://restofworld.org/2023/foxconn-iphone-factory-china/ 

Zhu, A and Clark, M. (2020). A year after Mississippi ICE raids, chicken plants face few penalties as families 

suffer. Clarion Ledger. Retrieved from 

https://www.clarionledger.com/in-depth/news/2020/08/07/mississippi-ice-raids-immigran

ts-struggle-few-penalties-chicken-plants/5407320002/