I think the name of the discussion states it all, "Start with Celebration!". They encourage us to move away from the KWL chart and start with a positive fact. Most likely our students will say a stereotype of Africa. I want to say that I fall in that category of people that views Africa more as a country than a whole continent. But now reflecting back, it is not my fault because that is how I was taught. There was never a big significance of telling apart the continent to the countries. It is important to teach students with a surprising, joyful, wonderful fact about Africans and/or Africa to steer them from those stereotypes and break the cycle that I unfortunately have fallen into because Africa and its countries offers so much more with its rich culture.
-Nancy Tallas
It is important for teachers to avoid rehearsing stereotypes about Africa because it does not give students the opportunity to have an open mind about Africa. Instead, as mentioned in Brown and Carroll’s “Beyond Wildlife: Teaching about Africa & Stereotype” there are other ways to begin a lesson in a joyful manner. One way that is great is to use visual images and expose students to the different lifestyles in Africa, beyond what the stereotypical images that they have seen before. Another way to begin a lesson is to use African perspectives. Listening to an audio of someone from another continent can help students develop a further appreciation of other cultures.
In Wainanan’s “How to Write About Africa.”, he uses the stereotypes extensively as to how the rest of the world defines Africa. People tend to feel “Sorry” for those who live in Africa because of the stereotype that everyone there is taking it day by day trying to survive from starvation. His approach is much more straightforward, informing his readers that those are the stereotypical ideas that Africa has been pinned for.
(Mary Perez)