A group of MPA eighth graders performed the impossible this week:   Crossing the border between Israel and Syria on foot without passing a checkpoint or even needing a passport.  In fact, they probably did it multiple times.  They also crossed into Iraq from Iran and across the disputed Kurdish region that forms the border between Iraq and Turkey.

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Eighth grade regional studies teachers Katie Murr and Bob Cooke wanted to try a new approach to helping students better understand the physical relationships between the key states in the “troubled Middle East.”  So they made a big map on the floor of the Kreischer Gym – something you can actually walk on - with the borders clearly marked.

“We thought that the floor map would be a good way to integrate more spatial reasoning into our curriculum,” Murr explains.  “I have taught this same set of information for five years now.  I have used countless different techniques to try to get students to retain and understand the information, but I have never been completely happy with the outcomes.  I thought that a giant map with real people would help students to experience geographic information and, therefore, retain and understand the information.”

And how did their eighth graders respond?  “I think they liked it.  At the beginning of class, we let them roam around the map on their own.  Some kids meandered through countries, others pretended to drown in the Persian Gulf, while others started asking very specific questions such as, ‘Why is the West Bank on the eastern side of Israel?’”  

“We still use 'traditional' teaching techniques,” she goes on, “like lecture, discussion, group work and map work.  We just use the floor map as another tool to reach students in a different way.  It supports the entire Middle East unit, which culminates in the Middle East Peace Conference.  During the conference, students take on a specific persona related to the Arab-Israeli crisis and negotiate from that person’s perspective.  For example, someone in the class will be George Bush and will have to negotiate as George Bush.  Map work is critical during this conference because so many of the questions related to the Arab-Israeli crisis are questions of geography.  During the conference, I imagine that students will walk down to the map and discuss new border arrangements, natural resources, etc.”  

The course is part of a school-wide shift in the social studies curriculum to better achieve the first of three strategic goals identified in 2005.  More on “A Global Advantage – Expanding the MPA Experience” can be read by clicking here.  Planning for the new curriculum began immediately following approval of the Strategic Plan in 2005 and implementation began in the fall of 2006.  It will be complete by the fall of 2009.

This fall marks the implementation of the eighth grade component of the shift.  “The goal of the Regional Studies course,” writes Bob Cooke, “is to focus on areas of the world that will have the most significance to our students in the 21st Century.  As such, the curriculum can change dramatically from year to year.  As an example, for the past few years the course has de-emphasized the role of Russia, but the faculty has begun to reassert Russia’s importance in the course (much as Russia has begun to reassert itself in the world).”

So perhaps our erstwhile eighth graders will be crossing the Urals into Siberia in the near future!  Meanwhile, if you would like a whirlwind tour of the Middle East, the floor map can be visited anytime between now and the start of winter break.