Smash Notes
How to teach kids to talk about taboo topics | Liz Kleinrock
When one of Liz Kleinrock's fourth-grade students said the unthinkable at the start of a class on race, she knew it was far too important a teachable moment to miss. But where to start? Learn how Kleinrock teaches kids to discuss taboo topics without fear -- because the best way to start solving social problems is to talk about them.
People
Notes
-
Liz Kleinrock told her elementary students that one reason why racism exists is because light skinned people have looked down at people with dark skin. People will even use reasons as excuses to dehumanize them. She explains that reason why they were learning racism was to teach them to understand and know better.
-
On TED Talks Daily, teacher Liz Kleinrock says she never received an official list of forbidden subjects. What she heard growing up was that two things stay off the table at family gatherings: religion and politics. She found that strange, because those are forces that shape identity and belief. A topic becomes taboo, she says, when discomfort rises as soon as it enters the conversation. Some people are fluent in the language of equity, and others fear being shamed or exposed as ignorant the moment they speak. She argues that schools, including her own fourth-grade class, are often the only place students can ask those questions and be wrong out loud.
-
It is not teach them what to think, but it's about giving them the tools, strategies, languages, and opportunities to practice how to think. Kleinrock believes this approach to teaching should also be taught as if she were teaching kids how to read or do math.
-
A disservice to the students would be to act like the students aren’t capable of having these conversations. Although these topics may be intimidating when talking to students, even younger kids can differentiate between things that are fair and what is equal.
-
The idea of consent is often associated with sex, but it can be very well taught to third-graders without any mention of it. Consent is about boundaries, and the fact that different people have different levels of comfort with their boundaries. Kids get it.
-
The social and emotional intelligence it takes to read someone’s words, tone, and body languages are the skills that need to be explicitly taught, just like math or science.
-
All of Kleinrocks’ students think that not only are they capable of having these conversations, but they view this as a right to learn, not a privilege, since these topics will be impacting their lives as well.
Related episodes
- 3 ways to build a happy marriage and avoid divorce | George Blair-West
- Sleep is your superpower by Matt Walker
- A juror's reflections on the death penalty | Lindy Lou Isonhood
- The lies our culture tells us about what matters -- and a better way to live | David Brooks
- The story we tell about millennials -- and who we leave out | Reniqua Allen
- Why we get mad -- and why it's healthy | Ryan Martin