My name is Dan Russell, and I teach Latin American geography and history to
12 year olds in Illinois. It is a difficult proposition teaching this
subject to 7th graders. First, there is the problem that 7th graders have
a hard time understanding how Latin American affairs affect their lives.
Secondly, the state of Illinois has for two years been testing 7th graders'
knowledge of social studies and social studies concepts. When there are no
questions of the IGAP tests about Latin America what-so-ever, it is hard to
justify keeping this curriculum. If it weren't for the fact that we have
"no money" for new textbooks, we would probably have already lost this
curriculum in 7th grade and it would not have been picked up elsewhere in
our K-12 curriculum.
On top of all that, our textbook covers many of the smaller Latin American
countries in two or three pages. Covering countries with that lack of
depth tends to make many Latin American countries seem like replicas of
each other. I dig for deeper information, but it is hard to find material
that makes it clear what living and growing up in Latin America is really
like.
If anyone, who is a native of Latin America, has time to write some
messages to me (for relay to my students), I would appreciate having your
views on life in Latin America. What is it really like to live there?
Through referrals given to me by people on this list, I have contacted
several individuals and schools in Latin American countries to make contact
between my students and Latin American students. So far, no definite
contacts have been accomplished, but I keep trying. Thank you for your
time.
Dan Russell