Notes from Classroom 15: Winter Trimester Edition

by Fox | Mar 5, 2017 | American History, AP Human Geography, AP Psychology, Big Questions, Geographical Imagination, Learning Process, Life Philosophy, Pedagogy, Salzburg Geographical Expedition, World Cultures

Notes from Classroom 15: Winter Trimester Edition
By Mr. Kevin S. Fox

With the Winter Trimester now completed I wanted to take another opportunity to document and share some examples of our progress in this year’s AP Human Geography, World Cultures, US History, Ethics and AP Psychology courses.  As you might expect from the course names, in Classroom 15 we are asking questions about the world and locating ourselves somewhere in its social, cultural, geographical and historical complexities.  As part of our commitment to better understanding who we are in this milieu we continue to interrogate and inquire about our individual and collective imaginations of the world (i.e. Weltanschauung), or how we know what we know about ourselves, the world and its regions, peoples and places.  We ask BIG questions and are learning how to go about investigating them in scholarly ways.      

In AP Human Geography our 11th grade students take part each month in the Salzburg Geographical Expedition in order to develop research skills necessary for University-level geography courses. Building on our previous work, for the Salzburg Geographical Expedition #4 students conducted research related to the political geography of Salzburg and produced a “zine,” or custom-made magazine exploring the politico-geographical biography of our host city Salzburg.  Our guiding questions were: How has the political geography of Salzburg changed over time?  What country or empire has it been a part of?  What have been its allegiances?  What boundaries have existed?  In the end students might wonder: what does it actually mean to be a Salzburger?  Is this identity limited to the recent century?  Does an identity go beyond political boundaries?

Students included the following moments in the 2000+ year Salzburg politico-geographical biography:

1. The Roman Juvavum
2. Bavaria (late 7th to late 14th century)
3. Prince-Archbishopric of Salzburg
4. Electorate of Salzburg
5. Austrian Empire 
6. Kingdom of Bavaria (1809-1816)
7. Austro-Hungarian Empire
8. post-WWI dissolution of the Austro-Hungarian Empire
9. First Republic
10. Anschluss
11. post-WWII Allied zoning
12. 26 October 1955: “permanent neutrality”
13. current government (Salzburg City, Land, Austria, EU). 

For the 5th chapter of their Salzburg Geographical Expedition students explored the processes and networks of agriculture and food production.  They were tasked with creating a 10 photograph visual essay (with accompanying short text) that showed regional agricultural and/or food production processes.  Students examined the processes and networks of milk, honey, wool and salt production—all products from our host region.  

We are now discussing social and economic development and will host our first guest speaker via Skype this week.  Ms. Shamenna Gall, Deputy Director of Economic Growth and Agriculture Development Officer for USAID (United States Agency for International Development) will join us from the US Embassy in Tbilisi, Georgia.  She will discuss international development as it is related to food security policies.  Students will gain a better picture of the different actors of and motivations for international cooperation.  In this globalised world should self-sufficiency be a national priority?  Or does international trade provide solutions for the provision of basic goods and services?

Our human geography scholars will sit down on May 12th to see how well they compare to the rest of the world’s AP Human Geography students.  Wish them luck! 

In 9th Grade World Cultures we have been very busy unpacking our own worldviews to better understand how it is that we understand the planet’s regions and peoples.  We spent much of the Winter Trimester analysing the Columbian Encounter from both the Spanish and American (i.e. Central & South) perspectives.  It is one of our goals in the Social Studies department to examine major social, political and historical events and processes from different perspectives.  Whose story—or narrative—are we told?  How is our imagination of the world limited if we only consider the narrative written by the conqueror, or “winner,” in history?

In World Cultures we tested out these kinds of ideas in a multi-part project that critiqued how the world famous National Geographic magazine frames how we see the Other, those living “out there.”  Students browsed through decades of actual issues of the magazine in our school’s library before settling on some common themes found in the depictions of the people of the so-called Third World or less-developed countries.  Historically, National Geographic magazine has served as a great example of how popular geographical knowledge makes it into our homes and minds.  Its power to shape our understanding of peoples and places may be immeasurable.  Students learned how to develop a critique of their photographs and how to piece together their own ideas with ideas of University scholars.   

The 10th Grade US History class has been busy working on developing their essay-writing skills.  This inquisitive group has made much progress on this front in terms of both language fluency and organization of ideas.  Basically, we take an essential question approach to each of our chapters where students are required to write “short essays” that explore that moment or theme in US history.  We do our best to make connections to the recurring and BIG questions/themes of the course: the concept of Manifest Destiny, the oft commented on American Dream, progressivism and civil rights, and the fear of communism that shaped the USA in the 20th century.  As we have entered the 20th century in our discussions, we are turning more towards communism now and soon enough will be centered on the Cold War.  This is an exciting time for our classroom because most students come from the post-Soviet or post-communist realm.  Their teacher is a child of the Cold War from the USA.  Here, we are able to bring different perspectives to the table.  This is a great  example of what we can bring to an international classroom.  I am looking forward to our debates!     

In 10th Grade Ethics students continue to read and respond to a series of key texts that push them to consider the importance of developing a life philosophy.  We spent the Winter Trimester analyzing the role of religion in informing that philosophy and, ultimately, our ethical considerations and moral compass.  After a comparative look at world religions we discussed the history of humanism going back first to the Renaissance and then to Antiquity.  Here our discussions have centered on the balance between self-interest and service to others.  One of our BIG questions this year has been: how much is our life path actually determined by ourselves?  We use the map as a metaphor and ask whether or not we are the cartographer of our own destinies.  

Lastly, in AP Psychology 12th grade students are busy developing their University-level study skills and questioning the schemas through which they understand their place in the world—here, though, as individuals.  This course requires hard work, self-discipline and the willingness to take a risk and communicate ideas in front of the rest of the class.  Many students have been “jumping in” and finding out that the learning process reaps great rewards.  Recently, we have been discussing intelligence testing and developing a critique of such practices both historically and currently.  Next up for these soon-to-be graduates: abnormal psychology and the treatment of disorders.  We will test our knowledge of psychology up against the rest of the world on May 2nd.  The AP Exam takes place on that day.  

Check back in late May for the final instalment of Notes from Classroom 15.  For more information or updates about these projects check out Mr. Fox’s teaching website: https://www.askingtheworld.org/.  

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