ERIC Number: EJ1226242
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2017
Pages: 5
Abstractor: ERIC
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-1056-0300
EISSN: N/A
Hunger in Our Midst: Civic Learning in the Context of Difficult Issues
Hauver, Jennifer; Shealey-Griffiths, Glennda
Social Studies and the Young Learner, v29 n3 p9-13 Jan-Feb 2017
One in four children in the state of Georgia is food insecure. In the city of Athens, 60 miles northeast of Atlanta, the number approaches one in three. More than 33 percent of residents have significantly limited access to healthy foods, living in areas of the city that the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has identified as food deserts. Insufficient income and lack of access to healthy foods puts children at greater risk of illnesses such as diabetes and asthma. From day to day, they are more likely to exhibit fatigue and poor concentration making it difficult to attend fully to academic tasks. The powerful role hunger plays in the community is evidenced by the recent determination by the federal government that the local school district meets the USDA's requirements for high-poverty schools. As a result, all students in the district receive free breakfast and lunch daily. Enrichment clusters were a recent addition to the school's programming--weekly gatherings of groups of students from different grades "who share common interests that bind them together and a willingness to work cooperatively within a relatively unstructured learning environment." Enrichment clusters are grounded in a commitment to authentic learning around real-life problems that (1) are of genuine interest to the group's members; (2) the members wish to act upon; (3) are directed toward a real audience; and (4) lack an existing or clear solution. Thus, enrichment clusters evolve in light of shared interest and a common desire to accomplish a goal. This article is about the cluster the authors created to the issues of hunger in the community. Their commitment as civic educators informed the design of their cluster. In line with the philosophy of enrichment clusters, they wanted students to determine the specific direction and form their inquiry would take. Yet they entered the ten-week session with specific goals in mind: (1) to examine hunger as it is present in our community; (2) to connect with and learn from local hunger activists; and (3) to take collective action. In what follows, they describe the ways in which their cluster unfolded, and reflect on the civic learning that resulted.
Descriptors: Social Problems, Social Studies, Food, Hunger, Security (Psychology), Poverty, Diseases, Risk, Academic Achievement, School Districts, Disadvantaged Schools, Lunch Programs, Breakfast Programs, Cooperative Learning, Problem Solving, Authentic Learning, Teaching Methods, Inquiry, Activism, School Community Relationship, Field Trips, Elementary School Students
National Council for the Social Studies. 8555 Sixteenth Street #500, Silver Spring, MD 20910. Tel: 800-683-0812; Tel: 301-588-1800; Fax: 301-588-2049; e-mail: membership@ncss.org; Web site: http://www.socialstudies.org
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Descriptive
Education Level: Elementary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: Georgia
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A