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- Convenors:
-
Joy Hendry
(Oxford Brookes University)
Tomislav Maric (Bentley Wood High School)
Hilary Callan
Marzia Balzani (New York University, Abu Dhabi)
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- Format:
- Roundtable
- Location:
- Brunswick G7
- Sessions:
- Thursday 27 June, -, -
Time zone: Europe/London
Short Abstract:
Attempts have been made worldwide to introduce pre-university anthropology education, some more successful than others, and this Round Table offers an opportunity for those with experience, good or bad, to share ideas in the interest of making our subject widely available to young people everywhere!
Long Abstract:
Many conference panels have been held over the years on the subject of pre-university education, and examples have been recounted, some more successful than others. Despite the mixed outcomes of institutional initiatives, experience shows that anthropology's core insights and approaches appeal strongly to young people of pre-university age and can be taught with great success to these groups. We propose this Round Table in the interest of helping all of us to learn from each other of the ways that have worked, and others that have not been so good. Joy's experience in Scotland has been a case of growing slowly, hardly surprising in a country where anthropology is little known, but we have definitely made progress. She would be happy to kick off the discussion by laying out some of her own experience, and perhaps suggesting categories we might consider. Tomislav's experience in England was teaching A level Anthropology from 2010 – 2018. Since its dissolution he has been involved in pre-university Anthropology by organising conferences at Brunel University and running an anthropology society in his secondary school. Hilary's work leading the development of the A level was exemplary, and all our work writing and editing books for this age group brings a further contribution to the discussion. Marzia has worked with the International Baccalaureate for over 30 years and can speak to some of the changes and developments that have taken place during this time.
We invite participants to suggest themes we can discuss under this general heading.
Accepted contributions:
Session 1 Thursday 27 June, 2024, -Barry Dufour (De Montfort University, Leicester)
Contribution short abstract:
An exploration of key developments in teaching primary and secondary age children, about society and how it works, from the 1960s onwards, with reference to the UK and the USA. Developments in recent decades will be explored.
Contribution long abstract:
The teaching of anthropology in schools, especially in the UK, has been an uphill struggle and has had far less success and impact than the other social sciences. When I set up the ATSS (The Association for the Teaching of the Social Sciences)
in the late 1960s with the late Professor Denis Lawton, we had no idea of the huge success that would occur for all the social sciences in entering the school curriculum, via GCSE and A Level courses and examinations. Every one of the social sciences, except anthropology, became widespread in the school curriculum from that decade, with sociology the most successful. I served on the executive committee of the ATSS and became a lifelong vice president and nearly all of the committee of the ATSS and all the new textbooks written by ATSS members were by sociologists. When I trained social science teachers at the University of Leicester from 1970 to the 1980s, every social science graduate was present - except anthropologists. Yet anthropology has a key role to play. I will explore successes and failures, along with my close colleagues from the RAI Education Committee. Many other developments in the school curriculum can contribute to school pupils' understanding of cultures.
Sonia Chinn (University of Texas at Austin)
Contribution short abstract:
During this roundtable discussion, Sonia Chinn will share her experience over the last decade advocating for anthropology education. Her multifaceted involvement spans diverse initiatives aimed at enhancing the understanding and integration of anthropology within pre-university settings.
Contribution long abstract:
Sonia's extensive involvement in advocating for anthropology education includes pivotal roles in various endeavors. One significant contribution was the development of an Anthropology curriculum for high school elective classes. Furthermore, her efforts in promoting the inclusion of IB Sociocultural Anthropology at an IB school demonstrate a commitment to embedding anthropology within internationally recognized educational frameworks. Sonia Chinn's active participation with the National Council for Social Studies underscores her dedication to advocating for anthropology education at a broader educational level. Additionally, her involvement in serving on the American Anthropological Education and Outreach committee signifies a commitment to advancing the field's educational outreach efforts. While Sonia Chinn's contribution to the roundtable will highlight successes achieved in advocating for anthropology education, she will also offer a way forward to promote anthropology education in pre-university settings.
Bonnie Vande Steeg
Contribution short abstract:
This paper is based on my largely postive experience of developing, teaching and examining A-level Anthropology. I will highlight a number of features of this experience including: the syllabus and content, the teaching methods used, the student response, and the process of examining.
Contribution long abstract:
There are various aspects of the A level experience that were very postive:
1. The development of a high quality syllabus with a fair yet comprehensive examing process.
2. Scope for developing exciting and interactive teaching methods.
3. Incredible student response both in terms of their interest and skills learned. It was an excellent preparation for university.
4. Some support from university staff and the RAI.
Issues:
1. Resourcing the A level was difficult as so little had been produced for that level. Teachers had to do a lot of work.
2. Problem of getting more schools and colleges on board quickly. Not enough resources to organise outreach work.
Conclusion:
Use the experience to look into what can be done with anthropology in pre-university education- it is worth doing!
Breno Alencar (Insituto Federal do Pará) Kirla Ferreira (Instituto Federal de Educação, Ciência e Tecnologia do Pará)
Contribution short abstract:
This paper presents and discusses the creation of the Núcleo de Pesquisa em Educação e Cibercultura (NUPEC) and its implications in teaching, research and extension with high school students integrated into professional education, based on an anthropological and netnographic approach to cyberspace.
Contribution long abstract:
The Núcleo de Pesquisa em Educação e Cibercultura (NUPEC) is a research group created in 2019 and based at the Federal Institute of Pará, Belém campus. Its aim is to stimulate academic production and dissemination, drawing attention to the connections between the human sciences, particularly anthropology, and information and communication technologies. Taking as a starting point the impact of cyberculture (LEMOS, 2020) and mediatization (HJARVARD, 2013) on social processes and the argument by Cramer and Jandrić (2021) that we live in increasingly post-digital societies, the center brings together students registered in high school courses integrated with professional education who develop studies and extension actions focused on cyberspace, adopting netnography as the central methodological procedure. This paper presents the results achieved by the NUPEC through teaching projects, scientific initiation, and pre-university extension, emphasizing the study techniques used, the publications produced, the prizes obtained in science fairs, and the challenges that anthropology teaching and anthropologists face when working in pre-university professional education.
Jelena Ćuković (Faculty of Philosophy, University of Belgrade) Miloš Milenković (University of Belgrade - Faculty of Philosophy) Marko Pišev (University of Belgrade Faculty of Philosophy) Nevena Milanovic Minic (Faculty of Philosophy, University of Belgrade)
Contribution short abstract:
In organizing summer schools of anthropology and ethnology for high school students in Serbia, we faced several challenges. We will focus on those related to pre-university anthropological education in a populist climate in a re-traditionalized society.
Contribution long abstract:
In Serbia, a post-conflict society where cultural heritage, tradition and folklore play a crucial role in constructing the "identity worth dying for", an anthropological approach seems like an anomaly, almost impossible, unnatural and even traitorous. However, through a careful balancing of ethnological and anthropological approaches integrated into a unified program of study in our academic tradition, we have successfully initiated and maintained an officially recognized summer school for gifted high school students interested in social sciences and humanities, devoted exclusively to ethnological and anthropological topics such as identity construction, body techniques, kinship structures, politics of knowledge, cultural heritage appropriation, and so on. In this paper, we present our experiences and reflections on the challenges of teaching anthropology in secondary schools in Se both in the context of the re-traditionalization of society and the increasing pressure on academia to adapt to the market and the public. We believe that our insights will be valuable to colleagues around the world seeking to adapt this complex academic discipline to pre-university education, particularly those working in societies where populism is on the rise.
Evgeniia Zaretskaia (Brandeis University)
Contribution long abstract:
Imagine a group of teenagers who live in modern Russia and go to a school that focuses on gamification of the learning process. There, a community of teachers, parents, and students believes that kids are interested in learning while playing games and in whatever they can personally relate to. These kids get excited about taboo topics, such as death and cemeteries, so why not make this interest educational? In 2023, the school organized a summer project on the cemeteries of Saint Petersburg and all the surprising things they can teach us about the city and its citizens.
In this paper, the author shares her experience of implementing anthropological research methods in the summer school on urban cemeteries. As a teacher who invited a group of teenagers to Saint Petersburg’s cemeteries for daily quests, the author presents ways to introduce death studies to students in class and to engage them in practicing participant observation, describing and comparing commemoration practices, and reflecting on their feelings and thoughts about their experience.
This paper discusses the ways anthropology encourages teenagers to be curious about things that are typically perceived as obvious. Excelling their skills in formulating and asking questions, the students practiced conducting anthropological research and learned about cultures and people surrounding them. Bringing in the comparative perspective on Christian Orthodox, Protestant, and Jewish commemorative practices at Saint Petersburg’s cemeteries, the students approached death studies and anthropology of religion while embracing being respectful towards world cultures, beliefs, and practices.
Gabriela Grinfeld (University of Buenos Aires) Robin Julian (International Baccalaureate Organisation)
Contribution short abstract:
In this paper, we consider the design and piloting of ‘Language and Culture’ in the context of the International Baccalaureate’s cross-disciplinary learning and teaching framework, exploring the integration of Studies in language and literature with Social and cultural anthropology.
Contribution long abstract:
The International Baccalaureate (IB), a global leader in international education, has offered Social and cultural anthropology (SCA), a course in its Diploma Programme (DP), to pre-university school students across the globe for over 50 years. SCA is well established, but a recent cross-disciplinary innovation now provides students with another pathway to develop an anthropological way of thinking about the world.
Cross-disciplinary approaches to learning are embedded in the DNA of the IB, for example, the transdisciplinary themes of the Primary Years Programme (PYP), the interdisciplinary unit of the Middle Years Programme (MYP), and the interdisciplinary pathway of the DP’s academic research paper, the ‘extended essay’. The DP also features specific courses that integrate disciplines, it is in this space that we find a new cross-disciplinary innovation, ‘Language and culture’.
In this paper, we consider the design and piloting of ‘Language and Culture’ in the context of the IB’s cross-disciplinary learning and teaching framework, exploring the integration of Studies in language and literature with Social and cultural anthropology.
As anthropologists, and incorporating our experiences in curriculum design and management, and examination of DP SCA, our aims are to provide an overview of the development of the new Language and culture curriculum, highlighting its purposes and challenges, and discussing the value of adopting an interdisciplinary approach as a way to broaden access to anthropology at a school level. We draw from our involvement in the creation of this new pedagogic initiative and from the analysis of testimonies gathered from alumni focus groups.
Anna Löfstrand (SOAS)
Contribution short abstract:
Can a teenager be an ethnographer? In my classroom, the answer is yes! This paper explores the use of anthropological methods to increase student voice and student engagement based on my experience teaching humanities in an underfunded, diverse, and diasporic secondary school in Seattle, USA.
Contribution long abstract:
We don’t get to teach kids anthropology. Before university, most educators don’t get to expose students to anthropology in meaningful ways. This paper advocates for the use of anthropological methods within school environments due to their demonstrably positive impact on educational outcomes, particularly when delivered in line with a Freirean, critical pedagogy approach.
Centring student voice and experience is proven to increase student engagement, academic success, and critical thinking skills, especially for historically underserved and underfunded schools like those in ethnically, racially, and linguistically diverse diasporic communities.
Based on a career teaching secondary school in a Title 1, majority minority school in south Seattle, USA, having undergone anthropological training either side of this role, and observing the clear dialogue between the two, this paper explores the use of anthropological methods such as life-story-interviewing, auto-ethnography, and ethnocartography within secondary school humanities classrooms. Drawing on two of my students’ favourite activities - vernacular maps and snapshot migration stories - this paper demonstrates the ways in which anthropological methods make for strong teaching pedagogy and practice that elevates student voice and funds of knowledge which leads to increased student engagement and improved academic and social emotional outcomes.
This paper will explain, reflect on, and advocate for learning activities such as these that centre student experience.
This paper further argues for the use of methods, typically first encountered at the university level, as a way to create empathetic and experience-based learning communities and prepare students for the environment of higher education.
Nikita Karbasov (Columbia University in the city of New York)
Contribution short abstract:
The paper explores the author's experiences teaching anthropology in Norway and developing a course for 11-15-year-old students. It addresses the challenges of incorporating theory into pre-university education and shares the author's insights and findings both as a teacher and a researcher.
Contribution long abstract:
How (if at all) does theoretical maturity commence? While enrolled at the University of Oslo, known for its contribution to popularising anthropology (T.H. Eriksen), the author was a substantive teacher in Social Anthropology in a high school. One of the questions posed in the International Baccalaureate School syllabus, referencing F. Bourgeois' "In Search of Respect," was whether gang rape could be viewed as a rite of passage. Not initially intended for reflexive discussion and given as one among the list, this question attached a 'neutral' analytical concept to the problem every student could have encountered. What does this attachment do? What is our responsibility as researchers and educators to connect theories from textbooks and papers to 'real-life' problems? What are the relations between them beyond dichotomous? Reflecting on these inquiries and engaging in discussions with colleagues and students, the author designed a theory-free Anthropology course specifically tailored for 11-15-year-old teenagers from families affected by war and political repressions. In this paper, the author elucidates the methodological findings derived from imparting anthropological insights to an age group where the teaching of anthropology is not commonly acknowledged.
Ryuichiro Kikuta (New York University) Kohei Oyama (Kumon Kokusai junior-senior high school) Naoki Yamamoto (The Japan Research Institute, Limited.)
Contribution short abstract:
High school teachers in Japan taught an imaginary subject “Futures Studies”. Not only 500 students but also 5 teachers changed their ways of understanding futures - from a future that is already fixed and unchangeable, towards futures that they have autonomy to speculate upon, design, and execute.
Contribution long abstract:
Education today is designed for children to be well prepared for a fast-growing, globalized, digitized future. However, anchoring the education system to this most plausible future scenario deprives students of the autonomy to speculate upon and design multiple future possibilities, resulting in no change in the current social dynamics that generate such a scenario. How might students and teachers celebrate the uncertainties of futures and have autonomy to imagine more desirable future scenarios? We proposed to five secondary school teachers to create lesson plans of an imaginary subject “Futures Studies” and to execute the lesson plans in their class.
As a result, we observed that not only students but also teachers transformed (1) their ways of understanding uncertain futures and (2) the master-servant relationships between them into the corresponsive one. Before the experiment, five teachers believed that education should be premised on the most plausible future scenario and forced students to adapt to it. While teaching “Futures Studies”, however, the teachers transformed such ignorance of the future into the possibility of imagining futures together with students, which was the revelation of corresponsive relationships between students and teachers.
In this roundtable, we would like to introduce "Futures Studies" as a case of introducing anthropological framework into high school classrooms in Japan, where extremely few pre-university opportunities of learning anthropology are available.