Using “When the Levees Broke/Teaching the Levees” to Teach Middle School Students About Empathy and Social Justice
Social Studies Research and Practice
ISSN: 1933-5415
Article publication date: 1 July 2010
Issue publication date: 1 July 2010
Abstract
This action research study reports on an important unit of study having evidence of success. The paper discusses how students in a social studies classroom setting may be encouraged to develop and display empathy for individuals who are impacted by hurricane disasters. It uses aspects of the documentary “When the Levees Broke” in collaboration with the “Teaching the Levees Module” and several technology based classroom resources. The findings indicate that as students contextualized the impact of Hurricane Katrina and similar natural disasters on human populations they begin to develop and display empathy. The students who were involved in this investigation also were able to apply principles of social justice which facilitated reflective thinking as they used hindsight to analyze and discuss the context of this natural disaster
Keywords
Citation
Thomas-Brown, K. (2010), "Using “When the Levees Broke/Teaching the Levees” to Teach Middle School Students About Empathy and Social Justice", Social Studies Research and Practice, Vol. 5 No. 2, pp. 76-90. https://doi.org/10.1108/SSRP-02-2010-B0007
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2010, Emerald Publishing Limited