Be Curious.

February: Seeking Diverse Perspectives

In February, Curiosity Challenge resources inspired deeper reflection on who we are, what we can learn from those around us, and how we can discover new ways of seeing ourselves and our communities through reading. With a particular focus on the importance of seeking out diverse perspectives, February’s resources are evergreen prompts for intentionally expanding our horizons.

Inspired Teaching’s Meag Campos spoke with poet and transformative justice practitioner Xochi (SOH-chi) Cartland. Xochi works with Operation Understanding DC, a nonprofit that serves “youth in Washington, D.C., Maryland and Virginia (DMV) with the goal of empowering a generation of social justice leaders who will promote respect, understanding and cooperation while fighting to eradicate racism, anti-Semitism and all forms of discrimination.” She helps lead the organization’s Social Justice Fellowship, a year-long program for high school juniors and, as you’ll hear in her conversation with Meag, it is work that both inspires hope in our future leaders and requires her to check her impulses as the “adult in the room.”

Some questions to reflect on after listening:

What assumptions do you have about members of generations younger than you? What assumptions might they have about you?
What can you learn from the young people in your life?
How can you support their learning — academically, socially, emotionally? Are there community- and relationship-building skills from your youth that you’ve lost touch with? How can you rebuild these skills as an adult?

We’re sharing the advice and insights of Inspired Teachers and PreK educators Ada Ezeh and Shay Schoppert. Ms. Ezeh and Ms. Schoppert lead a classroom of four-year-olds at Brightwood Elementary School in Washington, DC, and recently shared with us how they create an environment for their students that welcomes and celebrates the unique attributes they each bring to the classroom.

We’ve compiled their advice into an eBook that teachers, parents, and all grown-ups can use to help the young children in their lives discover and delight in different cultures — and to strengthen their own ability to do so, as well. You can also listen to Ms. Ezeh and Ms. Schoppert discuss these insights on an episode of the Hooray For Monday podcast.

As you explore these resources, consider:

What terms do you use to describe yourself?
What do you want others to understand about you when you use those terms?
What lessons did you learn as a child about difference?
Do those lessons impact your life today?
When was the last time you tried cuisine from a new culture? Can you identify aspects of your daily life that are influenced by cultures other than your own?

Cracking open a book to read for pleasure can feel like a privilege. Most of us have limited time to do things simply because we enjoy doing them, so losing ourselves in fictional universes or diving deep into subject matter that intrigues us can feel like an unnecessary luxury.

But what do we lose — mentally, emotionally, socially, and even physically — when we delegate reading as a “nice-to-do” activity, rather than a necessary one?

Reading supports cognitive health and memory, longevity, financial well-being, empathy and social awareness, community building, stress reduction, mental health, and — importantly — both sparks and satisfies our curiosity.

The Inspired Teaching staff is a team of readers; find our recommendation list at the button below. And as you learn more about the stories currently capturing our attention, consider:

When was the last time you read a book for pleasure?
What genre was it?
What attracted you to it?
When was the last time you didn’t read, and chose another activity instead? Why?
What was the very first book you read? What can you remember about that experience?