Creating cultural awareness and foster a humanitarian mentality in the classroom

Is it possible to increase cultural awareness and foster a humanitarian mentality in the classroom? I believe that students can be taught cultural awareness a humanitarian. The best teacher is through personal experience.   It is important to foster a spirit of humanities at an early age.  Most children like to feel wanted and needed.  One way to teach student this concept is by allowing them to volunteer for some type of community service.    Allowing student to participate in relief efforts after natural disasters is one way to help student to foster sense of caring and self-worthiness.” People who become volunteers usually lead richer, happier, and more satisfying lives than those who don’t volunteer” (www.pbskids.org).

 Most natural disasters are sudden and unexpected.  The key to survival is being prepared. New technologies have help to save lives by providing data that allows scientist to make prediction of bad weather allowing time for evacuations before natural phenomena happens.  One way to help students connect to natural disasters that are happening around the world is connect it to their studies in humanities or social studies.   Students can learn about the geographical whereabouts, the nation, the social impacts of the disaster in their history class while learning about the scientific features and potential ways to prevent such disasters in the future in science class.

Furthermore, allowing student to study the history of past natural disasters, the people, and the area they have affected as well as the current conditions after the storm could help them  make a connection with the people and their circumstances.   For example , the year of  hurricane Katrina, student were moved by the amount of people displaced by the disaster.  The school district was emendated with a large number of new students that had experience trauma and lost.  Many were in need of school clothing and shoes. As a results student requested that the school creates a clothing closet.  Student asked other student to bring in clothing items to use as donations for survivor’s who had been forced from their homes and had recently became members of their school.  This idea allowed student to bring in donation throughout the year to be used for other students in need.  The closet is monitored by students and the counseling department handles the donations.  That way individual who receive donations are not embarrassed by receiving handouts.  Allowing student to volunteer or even create relief efforts after a disasters helps them to become more sympathetic citizens, while also becoming more scientifically literate about the disaster itself, how such a phenomenon occurs, and what can be done to protect human life in the future.