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Teaching Conventions

I’ve been thinking about ways that I can use the upcoming conventions and elections in my World History and Ethics classes this year. Right now I’m thinking a lot about those biographical videos the candidates produce. I was already planning to have the students make short videos about their own personal history or their family history, but now I’m wondering if we should spend a day or two studying those videos and how they use history to tell a story that makes an argument. Then with that example in mind, students would have more of a framework in mind, although they could also go in a different direction if they choose.

I really don’t know if the press coverage of the election is going to be useful enough to use. I’m really worried about the background knowledge issue, because I don’t think a lot of political reporting goes into enough depth about the substance of candidates’ policies and proposals. Horse race stuff would be useful in a poli sci or government course, but I don’t know if it hits what I’m aiming for in history.

About

Born and raised in Philadelphia. Studied philosophy at Fordham University in the Bronx, where I made many great friends and met my wonderful wife. We moved back to Philadelphia, where I studied philosophy some more and became a teacher. Online and off, I'm looking for ways that we can be better citizens and build stronger communities.

August 26, 2012 @ 11:38 pm
Education

2 Comments

  1. Ping from Jenny:
    Monday, August 27th 2012 at 3:36 am | 

    During the writing project this summer one of the demonstration lessons a high school English teacher did was on rhetoric. We looked at some different texts through that lens and identified ethos, pathos, etc. I found it fascinating. It might be interesting to include that lens (although I have no idea if that fits into a World History or Ethics class).

  2. Ping from Dave Thomer:
    Monday, August 27th 2012 at 8:55 am | 

    I really don’t have as strong of a grasp of rhetoric as a formal subject as I’d like, but it might be something I could fit into ethics as a discussion of how we support our beliefs and how we try to persuade others to share them. That’s an interesting angle to think about and do some reading on.

    Thanks for the comment!