Teacher Tuesday: A Teachable Moment in Travel

Using travel to explore new cultures…

One of the biggest challenges all teachers face in educating their students is how to expose the young ones to different cultures from around the world while still finding time to teach everything found in the standards and testing requirements.

Although everyone loves the days when teachers and students bring in food from around the world, let’s face it, nothing helps kids experience another culture better than taking kids overseas.

Far-off destinations in Africa, South America and Asia present cultures foreign to most American students, but even students traveling to familiar places in Europe can experience cultural differences.

I’ll never forget my first trip to Italy with students in June 2004. We were in Florence around dinner time when we happened to pass a cafe with outdoor seating. My group saw a family with two young (age 8-10 or so) kids. They were eating dinner when one of the kids reached for HIS OWN glass of red wine. My kids were stunned (I reminded them not to stare). I then explained that wine had been a staple of Roman culture since the days before Caesar. I used it as a teachable moment, then hurriedly moved my kids (some of whom were becoming a little obnoxious).

The rest of the trip we noticed several differences between Americans and Italians. Imagine the cultural differences your kids will see wherever you go. What a learning experience… for all of us.

Look to our lesson plans for help in bringing different cultures into your classrooms. If you need any help, please feel free to email me.

Joe Florencio
jflorencio@passports.com