Modeling is presenting an idea in a new way in order for the intended audience to see it in more realistic terms.
I recently had the opportunity to listen to a young man from Nigeria speak to our students at school. Something he talked about was an idea known as cognitive dissonance. When we experience something that doesn’t fit with what we expected, it doesn’t fit in the pre-categorized box, we don’t understand it and could potentially lead us to dislike this experience.
When discussing Adolf Hitler and the atrocities he and his followers committed students always wonder “How could they let him get away with it?” or they lump all Germans together as being horrible people because they “allowed” him to do what he did. So presenting the ideas I’ve established so far in this course are most likely not going to fit into their “box” of “this man was bad and so was everyone who followed him”. Now I of course am NOT arguing that Hitler wasn’t bad, but it’s important to look at the issue dimensionally. By modeling the topic of the Nazi buy-in the way I have it allows students to see the different levels of what is actually going on that fuels the fire of the Holocaust.
When looking at this topic it is important to look at different perspectives. One of those perspectives is that of the German people, the other is the perspective of people now, after learning about what happened. These are the dimensions we discover when looking at these perspectives. We realize that in fact, there are layers upon layers of feelings and emotions and reactions that must be considered to understand what actually happened in the 1930’s in Germany. From the perspective of the Germans, they get a sense of relief when Adolf Hitler comes to “save” them from the evils of the Treaty of Versailles, drawing on the pride people have in their country. They feel inspired by his words and can finally feel some hope that Germany will survive the post-World War I emotional and economic depression it was experiencing. They were angry about the terms of the Treaty of Versailles and fearful of what was to come. Adolf Hitler became a hero to the Germans and their ignorance of what his philosophy really was allowed for Hitler to gain their support. All of these emotions and feelings help to fuel the fire that is the disbelief, horror, and evil of Adolf Hitler’s genocide.
This led to quite simply create a graphic representation of these different feelings, emotions, reactions by placing the words themselves over an image of a campfire. The words that represent the German people’s perspective are at the edges of the fire while the perspective of people TODAY are in the center of the fire. I’ve thoroughly explained why these words were chosen specifically. The placement is of course intentional, the reality of what is happening is at the center of the fire, while the “fuel to the fire” that is Adolf Hitler surrounds the edges of the fire. My hope is that students will look at this graphic representation and be able to look upon it as a realistic representation of what is really happening in Germany.
I recently had the opportunity to listen to a young man from Nigeria speak to our students at school. Something he talked about was an idea known as cognitive dissonance. When we experience something that doesn’t fit with what we expected, it doesn’t fit in the pre-categorized box, we don’t understand it and could potentially lead us to dislike this experience.
When discussing Adolf Hitler and the atrocities he and his followers committed students always wonder “How could they let him get away with it?” or they lump all Germans together as being horrible people because they “allowed” him to do what he did. So presenting the ideas I’ve established so far in this course are most likely not going to fit into their “box” of “this man was bad and so was everyone who followed him”. Now I of course am NOT arguing that Hitler wasn’t bad, but it’s important to look at the issue dimensionally. By modeling the topic of the Nazi buy-in the way I have it allows students to see the different levels of what is actually going on that fuels the fire of the Holocaust.
When looking at this topic it is important to look at different perspectives. One of those perspectives is that of the German people, the other is the perspective of people now, after learning about what happened. These are the dimensions we discover when looking at these perspectives. We realize that in fact, there are layers upon layers of feelings and emotions and reactions that must be considered to understand what actually happened in the 1930’s in Germany. From the perspective of the Germans, they get a sense of relief when Adolf Hitler comes to “save” them from the evils of the Treaty of Versailles, drawing on the pride people have in their country. They feel inspired by his words and can finally feel some hope that Germany will survive the post-World War I emotional and economic depression it was experiencing. They were angry about the terms of the Treaty of Versailles and fearful of what was to come. Adolf Hitler became a hero to the Germans and their ignorance of what his philosophy really was allowed for Hitler to gain their support. All of these emotions and feelings help to fuel the fire that is the disbelief, horror, and evil of Adolf Hitler’s genocide.
This led to quite simply create a graphic representation of these different feelings, emotions, reactions by placing the words themselves over an image of a campfire. The words that represent the German people’s perspective are at the edges of the fire while the perspective of people TODAY are in the center of the fire. I’ve thoroughly explained why these words were chosen specifically. The placement is of course intentional, the reality of what is happening is at the center of the fire, while the “fuel to the fire” that is Adolf Hitler surrounds the edges of the fire. My hope is that students will look at this graphic representation and be able to look upon it as a realistic representation of what is really happening in Germany.