MYP Gr8 Individuals & Societies Students Learn About Zambian Culture Through Staff Interviews

This past Monday and Tuesday students in Mr. Mrak and Mr. Martin’s Grade 8 Individuals and Societies classes had the wonderful opportunity to interview members of our Zambian staff about different Zambian cultural groups. This event was part of a "Living Library" experience coordinated by Secondary School Librarian Ms. Terry Maguire in collaboration with Individuals and Societies teachers Mr. Mrak and Mr. Martin.  The experience formed part of their unit of study on aspects of culture, which promotes the develops an understanding of what culture is, how it develops, and how it influences the world. Once this foundation is established, students begin to look at various aspects of Zambian history and culture and analyze the elements that help people understand what it means to be Zambian in all its different versions. The concept of culture is dynamic and organic. Students have been learning about the visible and invisible aspects of culture and have been building up to a summative assessment based on personal interviews. 
Students have been developing the skills of a journalist as they learn to ask open-ended questions, experiment with different ways of recording information, and pose follow-up questions. This week’s learning activity provided students with an opportunity to hone their interviewing skills while learning about various cultures within our school, as they prepare to complete their summative task this month. This lesson also helped students to develop intercultural understanding, which is one of the components of Global Citizenship.
The staff members who so generously shared their cultural background with our students represented the following groups:

• Bemba
• ​Lozi
• Namwanga
• Tonga
• Chilunda
• Nsenga
• Chikala
• Chewa
• Kaonde
• Ngoni

At the end of the lesson, students shared something they learned from the interviews. Here are a few of their comments:
“I learned that respect is the most important value in Zambian culture.”
“I learned that in the Ngoni tribe they would often name their child after something that just happened before the child was born.”
“I learned that in the Ngoni tribe they don’t keep dogs as pets - they use them to hunt.”
“Today I learned about how the Bemba people swam from the Congo to Zambia.”
“The Lozi people used to wear leaf skirts before the British colonization, and after that, they started wearing modern clothes.”
“When Tonga people have a good harvest, they celebrate a festival called Lwinda where they bring food to put under a tree to thank the Lord, then they celebrate by having beer and foods with friends and family.”

Many thanks to our library assistant, Mr. Lunyunge Sinyenga, for helping with translation and thanks to Ms. Martina, Ms. Sonia, and Ms. Faith for helping us create a schedule that would allow staff members to be with us for both interview sessions.

“Culture makes people understand each other better. And if they understand each other better in their soul, it is easier to overcome the economic and political barriers. But first, they have to understand that their neighbour is, in the end, just like them, with the same problems, the same questions.”  - Paul Coelho

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