On Tuesday, April 30th, the PLP 12 cohort presented our picture books to grade 4s and 5s at Carisbrooke Elementary to spread awareness of the significant consequences of intolerance and hatred. To me, this is the most stressful yet meaningful project this year as we get the opportunity to work with youngsters and see how our work impacts others in the real world. For this blog post, I will be talking about my journey in the most recent project: echoes of history.
Project Overview
In this unit, we learned about the significant consequences of intolerance and hatred through historical examples, specifically the Holocaust. At the same time, we learned about the importance, the reasons, and the methods of conveying such dark histories to the younger generation. Moreover, we even had field studies at the Vancouver Holocaust Education Centre to see and analyze primary sources. Ultimately, those knowledge and experiences help us to construct our picture books. Here’s the final product in collaboration with Story Spark AI:
Shapes of Society
Answer to the Driving question
How is storytelling an effective weapon against hate?
Quoting my interviewee Dianne Whelan from the last project, “Storytelling is the ancient way we connected and shape the narrative of our culture.” Storytelling has the power to motivate and unite each and every one of us to change society for the better. Through novels like Night by Elie Wiesel, and historical examples like Nazi propaganda, we see how effective uses of words and visuals can shift our perspectives and worldviews. If hatred in our society is produced with misleading, hateful propaganda, then the only cure is heartwarming, uniting storytelling. One of the most memorable examples comes from personal testimonies/stories of a Holocaust survivor after WWII. To me, the story of the 60-year-old woman begging to live was touching, as you recognize that even at an old age, under such extreme pressure filled with despair, she still had a burning desire to live. That testimony provoked strong yet mixed emotions while inspiring questions like “What does it mean to be alive?”, “Why would you want to be alive?” and “If it is easier to die and harder to live in this world, why did people persist?”. As Stalin stated: “a single death is a tragedy; a million deaths are a statistic.” The power of storytelling is that it can turn cold names, numbers, and statistics back into deep, touching, and reflective moments that can help us recognize the mistakes in the past and move forward.
Reflection
About the project & book feedback
The moment I knew my book creation was going to be read to elementary students and perhaps stored in their library was the moment I decided to exert every bit of my effort. While most PLP projects are about your growth and your learning, this project also allowed you to impact others with what you know. For myself, I stood up till 3 AM three days in a row to learn and work on the project; with that in mind, however, many things could’ve been better.
(Aria writing feedback for me, photo taken by Ms, Madsen)
Looking at Delilah’s and Aria’s feedback, I realized that the book would’ve been more effective if I paid more attention to those tiny details. After all, it was my ignorance of the contradicting details that distracted the children from the book itself. At the same time, I also should’ve made the storyline more attention-grabbing to surprise and engage with the readers more. Moving forward, I will remember the lessons and feedback elementary students like Aria and Delilah gave me and strive for perfection in every aspect of my work. Overall, I am happy that I exerted my best effort on the book, but I am more about the fact that those elementary children understood, liked, and learned from the story. Their learnings and the realization that I could help and impact others with my knowledge were worth the stress and workload.
About our Social Responsibility
Through this project, I have gained a deeper understanding of the responsibilities I carry as a citizen in society. When first designing my picture book, I had a protagonist, Charlie the Circle, advocating for changes and reinforcing the new world; however, I don’t believe it was appropriate for the story as no individuals should be held accountable to take Charlie’s role in our society. In the real world, no individual can change the world alone; therefore, I decided to remove the only main character from my book. As I removed the heroic figure from the story, I realized that the hero of the story, the hero of our society, is each and every one of us. Looking back, I am glad that I removed the protagonist before presenting to the children as I don’t want them to depend and count on an imaginary hero to save the world. As a citizen of our society, like a cube shape-being in the story, I learned that it’s our responsibility to create a better world for each other.
Philosophical wonders
(Picture Source)
During the project, the stories and the testimonies from Holocaust survivors were depressingly memorable. Referring to the 60-year-old woman’s story mentioned earlier, I questioned what it means to be alive as a human. No one deserves to die, but at what cost survival should be maintained? Is it better to die with dignity if I was a victim myself? Why would I want to be alive if the world is like hell? Those philosophical, late-night questions remained unanswered. As Victor Frankl stated himself, “The best of us did not return,” I started wondering if human nature can be tested under extreme circumstances, and I started wondering if I myself can be tested under such circumstances. But looking back, it is clear to me that our goals were never to test the boundaries of human nature but rather prevent such extreme conditions from taking place in the first place. It is only until I reflect on those philosophical questions, I realize how nice it is that my friends and I are not fighting over a bowl of soup and some bread. It is only until I reflect on those philosophical questions I realize how fortunate we are to live in the 21st century. It is only until I reflect on those philosophical questions I recognize the importance of passing down those stories to children and preventing this dark chapter of our history from repeating itself.