I enjoyed this documentary because as the title suggests, it focuses on teaching children at a young age about different social issues and identities that we all live with our will encounter in some point in our life. I liked they used tactile exercises to teach children differences things such as respecting each other's skin colors and supporting tolerance through celebrating each other's differences. By having these hands on experiences, the children were able to get rid of preconceived notions and biases, the most impactful one to me being the entire exercise when encountering a person with a wheelchair. The teacher had the students build an entire ramp by hand, as well as experience what it was actually like to get around in a wheelchair. The teacher dispelled notions that if someone is in a chair they are dying or very ill, normalizing people with disabilities which is a progressive notion in this time period. Also by having adults of different cultures and identities just enrichens their lives and worldview experiences of what its like tobe a person as well as uplifting the visibility of other minorities. I enjoyed this aspect so much because it showed that multiculturalism is not just about ethnic or racial identity, but includes other things too.
As a teacher, I think that involving people and artists of different backgrounds and identities is so important because it shows to students that come from different backgrounds that they are valid, exist and are important to our society. When we see people who represent and look like us, it makes us feel like we are not alone and are seen by the rest of society. Also, including artists who have disabilities is integral to be more inclusive of all the different types of people that inhabit our world. Source: McGovern, M. (Director). (1997). Starting small: Teaching children tolerance [Film]. Margie McGovern Films. |
Park McArthur's Ramps, an installation concerned with accessibility for wheelchair bound people.
Contemporary Art Daily. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://contemporaryartdaily.com/2014/01/park-mcarthur-at-essex-street/ Park McArthur "Ramps" at Essex Street, New York •. (2014, January 24). Retrieved from http://moussemagazine.it/park-mcarthur-essexstreet/ |