Aspect: Conformity, Represented in a poem
Here He Stands
Alone
Will He Withstand
On His Own
He Can Tell They Are Watching
Waiting For His Next Move
His Heart Is Beating
No Longer In A Groove
His Face Feels Warm
He Can No Longer Hear
The Violent Storm
He Just Wants To Disappear
At The End Of The Day
He Knows He Won't Change
Not Unless He Finds A New Way
To Fit In And Not Be Strange
But He Wants To Belong
So He Will Ignore
What He Saw All Along
And Just Close The Door
Here He Stands
Alone
Will He Withstand
On His Own
He Can Tell They Are Watching
Waiting For His Next Move
His Heart Is Beating
No Longer In A Groove
His Face Feels Warm
He Can No Longer Hear
The Violent Storm
He Just Wants To Disappear
At The End Of The Day
He Knows He Won't Change
Not Unless He Finds A New Way
To Fit In And Not Be Strange
But He Wants To Belong
So He Will Ignore
What He Saw All Along
And Just Close The Door
Embodied thinking is being able to feel through all possible senses as we experience something.
Understanding history rarely comes down to one concept, it frequently requires the understanding of several concepts. This is the case when it comes to understanding the buy-in the Nazi party experienced from every day citizens. I’ve talked a lot about pride but something I haven’t talked about, which to be fair can be tied to pride, is conformity. I chose conformity for this particular assignment because it is a psychological response. Conformity can be a reaction to something that makes us physically uncomfortable. It is something that can be felt. The feeling of not fitting in; the feeling of upsetting someone; the feeling of what its like to not have to think for yourself. If we were to “see” somebody conform we would learn a lot about who they were, and who they were not. We tend to think of conformity as a bad thing, it shows weakness. Yet, ironically enough, conformity is perhaps one of the most empathetic emotions we have. We have all been there. It could be the most minor decision such as what to order at a restaurant (ie everyone’s ordering a salad, you wanted a burger but order the salad instead). It could be the most major decision such as what college to attend (ie your parents both went to Michigan State University, University of Michigan is your preference but you choose MSU anyways). We all understand what it’s like to conform. We all understand how that feels.
We rarely think about conformity as an emotion, but often conformity is the result of an emotion, or emotions. Emotions are a great tool to use when trying to help students comprehend something that has happened in history. So often the events and actions that have taken place in history are emotionally charged. The colonists are angry about being taken advantage of by the British and so they rebel, claiming their independence. Students can understand and empathize with different emotions. If they can understand the emotion, perhaps they can understand the action. If they can understand the emotion behind conformity, perhaps they can understand the why so many people followed and agreed with Adolf Hitler. Thinking about this particular aspect of my topic opens up ideas of others ways to present the information to students. I could create a simulation in which they are pressured to conform. This would simulate the emotion and feeling, allowing them to think with their bodies. This isn’t something that I often think to do and when we present history in new ways it not only makes it easier for students to grasp but also makes it more interesting. They might begin to see the comparison between the Nazi buy-in and other examples of support for dictators such as Stalin or Mussolini. It opens up doors so I am not conforming (see what I did there) in the way in which I teach.
Understanding history rarely comes down to one concept, it frequently requires the understanding of several concepts. This is the case when it comes to understanding the buy-in the Nazi party experienced from every day citizens. I’ve talked a lot about pride but something I haven’t talked about, which to be fair can be tied to pride, is conformity. I chose conformity for this particular assignment because it is a psychological response. Conformity can be a reaction to something that makes us physically uncomfortable. It is something that can be felt. The feeling of not fitting in; the feeling of upsetting someone; the feeling of what its like to not have to think for yourself. If we were to “see” somebody conform we would learn a lot about who they were, and who they were not. We tend to think of conformity as a bad thing, it shows weakness. Yet, ironically enough, conformity is perhaps one of the most empathetic emotions we have. We have all been there. It could be the most minor decision such as what to order at a restaurant (ie everyone’s ordering a salad, you wanted a burger but order the salad instead). It could be the most major decision such as what college to attend (ie your parents both went to Michigan State University, University of Michigan is your preference but you choose MSU anyways). We all understand what it’s like to conform. We all understand how that feels.
We rarely think about conformity as an emotion, but often conformity is the result of an emotion, or emotions. Emotions are a great tool to use when trying to help students comprehend something that has happened in history. So often the events and actions that have taken place in history are emotionally charged. The colonists are angry about being taken advantage of by the British and so they rebel, claiming their independence. Students can understand and empathize with different emotions. If they can understand the emotion, perhaps they can understand the action. If they can understand the emotion behind conformity, perhaps they can understand the why so many people followed and agreed with Adolf Hitler. Thinking about this particular aspect of my topic opens up ideas of others ways to present the information to students. I could create a simulation in which they are pressured to conform. This would simulate the emotion and feeling, allowing them to think with their bodies. This isn’t something that I often think to do and when we present history in new ways it not only makes it easier for students to grasp but also makes it more interesting. They might begin to see the comparison between the Nazi buy-in and other examples of support for dictators such as Stalin or Mussolini. It opens up doors so I am not conforming (see what I did there) in the way in which I teach.