Running head: THEORY IN ACTION

Theory in Action
Zakia Alhashem Colorado State University

THEORY IN ACTION

Context: global warming is one of the most important controversial issues in the United States, but in Saudi Arabia it is nothing to worry about. That is due to several reasons. First, most of Saudi people are busy with problems they face in their daily life, such as high prices, bad media effects on their children, the housing issue. Believe it or not more than half of Saudi people do not own their houses, according to Almunajjed in her article affordable housing a GCC priority that only 30% of Saudi people own their houses (Arab News, 2012). Housing is considered one of the biggest problems in Saudi Arabia. Second, the institutional corruption a Saudi citizen has to deal with. Third, the growing movement of women rights and the demands of this movement is one of the most important issues a Saudi citizen faces. Finally, there is no attention paid to global warming through out media or educational institutions. Actually this issue is viewed by many of Saudi people as the problem of the west world and western are the main players in this issue. And for the last point I want to include this topic in Saudi curriculum because it make the Europeans and European Americans as the heroes who can save the world while others are just audience (Nieto & Bode, 2000). Personally, I think that it is unfair for Saudi people to be ignorant about this issue for many reasons, such as that it is a Global warming not a U.S.A. warming or European warming, so it is every human issue. And it is the responsibility of educational institutions to enlighten Saudi citizens about such a topic. In addition, people do not care about global warming because they do not see its direct effects on their life, and they do not realize that if it did not affect their life it will affect their children future and it affects other peoples life and future. Because Saudi Arabia is privileged in this issue in several

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ways. First Saudi weather is usually hot and there is not a lot of rain so there is no obvious effect on the weather. In addition, Saudi economy depends on oil industry and since U.S.A. did not support the Kyoto protocol, Saudi economy will not be affected. According to Johnson problems cannot be solved unless those who are privileged decide to do something about it (2006). So, Saudi people have to do something about global warming and if the world decides to use alternative energy source the next Saudi generation will face an economic crises. As a first step of

informing and educating pupils about global warming I am going to introduce this proposal in a lesson plan that addresses global warming in order to present this subject within a comprehensive transformative multicultural framework. This lesson plan will be in secondary school geography curriculum, instead of teaching the regular information about U.S.A and European countries I will create a lesson plan about global warming in a multicultural transformative framework. According to Issac, Merriwether & Rogers (2010), a multicultural education focuses on experiences, contributions, and concerns of other ethnic, and social class group. Goals: 1- Create the awareness about the importance of global warming among Saudi people through educating schools pupils. 2- Encouraging Saudi people to take this issue of global warming in consideration since their religion, Islam, emphasized on the importance of protecting nature, and the duty of Muslims toward other nations. In addition, our duty as Muslims towards populations that are affected by global warms.

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This point will be supported by some of prophet Mohammad teachings and parts of the holy Quran. 3- Transform the common attitude in Saudi Arabia about global warming from passive to active and from unknown to known. 4- Enable the students to view this issue from different perspective of other nations and the effects of global warming on those nations, so the student could understand and react in a proper way with this issue. 5- Help the students to form their own opinions and attitudes about global warming and be able to accept and respect different points of view. 6- Encourage and support students to take social action toward the issue. Theoretical framework of the action plan; The theoretical framework draws upon the second and the third levels of Banks integration levels for multicultural content and they will be used in designing this lesson plan. I choose to use the second and the third levels of Banks for some reasons. First, I need to add new concept to the Saudi students knowledge, without change the structure because changing curriculum structure in Saudi Arabia Is a very long and difficult process. So, I will ask for inserting this plan lesson of global warming into the Saudi curriculum and using Banks third level to teach and apply this lesson. Then I will asses the results of this process if it is positive or negative by asking students to do social actions in order to make a change, which relates to Banks fourth level (1996). Population for this project;

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The population for this project will be secondary school students in the age between 16 to 18 years old, in Saudi Arabia schools. This project will be applied to only one level of secondary school, which is the last level. This project will be done under the supervision of a team from minster of education in order to decide of the process of change may be applied to Saudi geography curriculum or not. Plan of action; 1- First, I will suggest including this topic in Saudi curriculum. That s will need too much effort to convince the responsible people to accept this change. I may need to suggest removing a lesson in order to replace it with global warming. I will need to give a very deep and clear explanation to justify this change and to give a clear lesson plan for this topic. So, I searched the Internet to find a lesson plan for global warming that would fit to be applied through transformative multicultural education. And I found a lesson plan that with some changes will be good to apply and try in a secondary girls school. It is good to mention that girls and boys are educated separately through out the countrys public and non-public schools. The Saudi government does not allow any mixed schools. 2- The duration of this project implementation will be one week, in which students will have five class periods, each period will be 45 minutes. I really wished to have this subject to be presented in two weeks but that would be too much to ask and it may be a reason for this project to be refused. 3- To start this project, I as a teacher need to have background about global warming and I should be able to supply students with handouts about this

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subject and some websites where they could find information about the topic. First period: many of Saudi students are not familiar with the term global warming and greenhouse effects, and if they are familiar I suppose they do not have much information or interest about them, because this topic is not in Saudi curriculum and it is not given much attention in the Saudi media. I state this information from my personal experience as a Saudi student and citizen. So, I will ask the students to tell me what they know about these terms. Then, I will give definitions. After that, I will ask them if they think that Islam pays any attention to protecting nature or environment and if it invites us to take care about them. I will explain the effect of global warming on other populations. Then, I will support my idea by presenting some parts of the Holy Quran and prophet Mohammads teachings. According to the study case of Cynthia in Examining the Role of Critical Inquiry for Transformative Practices: Tow Joint Case Studies of Multicultural Teacher Education that there is a positive effect on many student if the material that they are studying has a relevant relationship to their culture (2002). Here I focus on explicit and implicit cultural knowledge based on iceberg model (1986). I am using iceberg to motivate interest in students towards global warming in order to start the transformative education process. Different of Saudi culture aspects are influenced by Islam, it is the most important factor that affects this culture. If you make Saudi students aware about Islamic indications over nature, they will response more effectively. So, by referring

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to Islamic indications I will enlighten the students that this subject is a part of their implicits cultural knowledge. By the way, creating a connection between the material and Islam is allowed in Saudi education system. I will discuss this point with them and ask them to say what they knew. Then I will show them a YouTube video about global warming through projector machine. Second period: I will show three videos, one states that human beings actions contribute largely in global warming and the other states that global warming is a natural process and human actions are not a main factor in this problem. Then, I will ask them which one they agree with and why? The answers will be on paper. After that, I will display the third video, which explains how greenhouse gases affect nature and global warming and I will ask them to record their answers on papers. In addition, I will ask them to predict individually about the effects of global warming on humans, animals, plants, and earth geography. I will ask them to write these predictions in a paper so that we could use them later. I will give them additional readings about this topic. These readings will be about the effects of global warming on nature and other countries, causes and solutions. The third period: students will form opinions about global warming. Now that students have explored a variety of perspectives on global climate change, they will take a position on the issue and support it with data from their readings. 1. Ask students to write 2-3 persuasive paragraphs to answer the following questions:

THEORY IN ACTION In your opinion, is global warming an imminent world threat? Why or why not?

Based on your opinion, what actions do you believe should be taken to address the global warming issue? Remind students to support their opinions with specific information from the brainstorming lists created in the second period. Once students have organized their thinking on paper, give them the opportunity to share their opinions with at least one other student in class. Do not allow discussion or debate; rather, allow students to practice sharing what they have written so that others can hear the reasons behind their positions. In this period I aim to make the students take attitudes toward this topic. According to Wlodkowski (2004), an effective factor in human behavior and learning is attitude because it helps learners to make sense of the world and to choose what behavior will fit their views well. Thus, this attitude will help students to transform from passive to active in this topic. These attitudes will be based on the readings I asked them to read. The fourth period: I will give the students a handout of global warming list projects and let them choose one. Also, students have the choice to design their own project after getting my approval for it. The goal of the project is for students to create something substantive that they can use to share their positions on global warming and to increase awareness about its related issues based on the information they got from the recommended readings and the videos they have watched in class.

THEORY IN ACTION Project Ideas Create a game to help other students learn more about global warming. Conduct an experiment or make a scientific display illustrating the effects of greenhouse gasses. Create an advertising campaign to promote awareness of what causes global warming and what people can do to prevent the release of greenhouse gasses. Write a fictional story or play illustrating the future effects of global warming/climate change. Create a futuristic map of the world showing the effects of global warming/climate change on the physical features of the land, the earths productivity, and the types of plant/animal life it can support. Create a food web showing how global climate changes affect the food chain/ecosystems. Profile an alternative form of energy and teach other students in the class how renewable energy sources can be used, (e.g., profile solar energy and how the average citizen can incorporate this into their everyday use), by creating a display or working model of this energy source.

Create a timeline or series of graphs or charts that show the varying climates the world has experienced since the Ice Age. Create a series of charts or graphs showing the financial cost of enforcing global warming legislation such as the Pavley Law or the Kyoto Protocol. Create a display showing the cost of developing and using alternative energy sources (e.g., solar energy can be used in homes, but there is an initial cost of being able to do this as well as backup plans needed if the source becomes unavailable). Research what scientists who do not support conventional global warming theories say about changes in the earths climate and weather patterns and present these findings by creating a magazine-type story, a public service announcement, or a mini documentary about your findings. These ideas are part of the lesson plan I found in the Internet, and I will give citation in the references. In addition, I will ask students to make a learning contract for themselves in which they

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will act responsibly with this issue. I choose to ask the students to make a learning contract each for her because according to Berger, Caffarella, &Odonnell (2004), that learning contract enhances the commitment, accountability and motivation to continue the learning process. So, the topic will not be popped out then left without any following. I will help students to make their learning contact about global warming if they asked me to do that through suggesting a list of things to do in their daily life in order to impact the issue of global warming positively or reading about it to enlarge their knowledge about this topic. This learning contract will last for a week only, and by the end off this week they have to write a report about their commitments to this learning contract and how it affect their view about global warming. Whether students commit or not they will be given a completion score, and those who commit, I will be able to see that in their reports, will be honored. Thus, they will start taking social action to change the general attitude about global warming in Saudi society. Also, in this period, students will choose their group projects and teams, so I can provide the material needed in these projects. Fifth period: in this period students will be given the required materials to do their projects and this class period will be for starting the projects and students will have to meet outside of the class to complete their projects. I will give the students one week to complete their projects and when projects are completed, I will display the students projects and/or have students present them to the class as a way of demonstrating their point of view on global warming issues. The limitations: After I am done with this project, I will ask the minster of education to keep making changes in the curriculum, because the nature of multicultural education is not only an activity that must be done or another topic to be covered( Nieto & Bode,

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2000). It is a continuous process. But to be truthful this may not find a response or the response may be very late. Preparing for implementation; I think the first obstacle I would face is from the minster of education. Because Saudi Arabia is one of OPIC countries, and the Saudi economy is based on oil industry, the minster may refuse to include this topic in the curriculum because it will make some students consider their country as a factor that contributes in global warming. I will address this point that if any international decision was taken about global warming and this decision affect Saudi economy, people will understand the situation instead of being anger and they may direct their anger towards the government. Also, this topic will make students think about solutions for this problem when they are in university or in important positions. After I am done with this project, I will ask the minster of education to keep making changes in the curriculum, because multicultural education is neither an activity that happens at set period of the day nor another subject

References

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Banks, J. A., & Banks, C. A. M. (2010). Approaches to multicultural curriculum reform. Multicultural education: Issues and perspectives (pp. 225-246). Wiley & sons, Ine. Berger, N. O., Caffarella, R. S., & ODonnell, J. M. (2004). Learning contracts. Adult learning methods: A guide for effective instruction (pp. 289-319). Krieger Publishing Company Malabar, Florida. Isaac.E.P. Merriweather.L.R. & Rogers.E.E (Eds.), (2010). Chasing the American dream race and adult and continuing education. Handbook of adult and continuing education (pp. 359-368). Sage Publications, Incorporated. Jennings, L., & Potter Smith, C. (2002). Examining the role of critical inquiry for transformative practices: Two joint case studies of multicultural teacher education. The Teachers College Record, 104(3), (pp.456-481). Columbia University. Johnson, A. G. (2001). Rodney kings question. Privilege, power, and difference (pp. 111). New York, NY: McGraw-Hill. Nieto, S. (2000). Multicultural reduction and school reform. Multicultural education and school reform (pp.43-62). Longman, 1185 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10036. Paige, R. M. (1986). The iceberg analogy of culture. Cross-cultural orientation: New conceptualizations and applications (p.135). University Press of America. Wlodkowski, R. J. (2004). Creating motivating learning environments. Adult learning methods: A guide for effective instruction (pp. 141-164). Krieger Publishing Company Malabar, Florida. www.arabnews.com/affordable-housing-gcc-priority http://www.pbs.org/now/classroom/global-warming-lesson-plan.pdf