When thinking about the story of WE, Zander mentions that people throughout history have fought over resources, territories, and "truth." I cannot help but remember what my mother used to say when my sister and I got into a fight. "There are 3 sides to every story; Yours, Theirs, and the truth." When I taught U.S. history, I had that posted on my board and as we learned, I presented materials from as many points of view as possible and let the students form their views of the world.
I like the idea of changing the WE that usually means, I plus others, to Everyone working together, for the greater good, without trying to make themselves important...remember rule 6. Too often in life, even when thinking of WE, people are concerned with what they will have to give up, let go, or have to do. I see this a lot in faculty meetings where people are more concerned with how the changes will impact them and not the students.
WE is a hard concept because human nature wants to be singled out as special and important, and WE blends us all together. If we were more of a WE there would be less of the Us vs Them. Well I can hope!
I'm so glad to hear that you presented so many sides of history to your students. I think a lot of people today have misconceptions about others just because they have been taught only to think in one way. If we really want to give our students the best education possible, it's important to include many sides and viewpoints. Ultimately, this would probably solve a lot of the world's issues! Thanks for sharing.
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