When we as educators talk about global education curriculum, we often talk about the ways in which we can encourage our students to learn about the world’s diverse cultures. We integrate stories, journalistic essays, documentaries, and other media into our daily lessons that showcase how we as people are diverse, unique, and unified. This works. Children respond. And the classroom is better for it. But how do we encourage students to be independent agents when they are on our Global Learning tours? What happens when the teacher is not putting content in front of them, but when they are asked to explore, inquire, and make educated observations by themselves? A starting point: I ask students to notice what people are doing with their hands. 

Hands can tell us a lot about the local economy:

While I was researching the Comparative Societies and Cultures Location in Xizhou China, I noticed the robust local economy around handmade goods and foods. There weren’t computerized checkouts for purchasing foods, or glistening machinery to create or fix products. The markets were buzzing with people and no one looked disheartened that there wasn’t a CityShop on the corner. In fact, people depend on the local economy as a way to preserve traditional industry and provide for their families.

Hands can tell us about what people in a particular place like to eat:

Students often ask me, “Ms Kueffer, what do people eat here?” The first thing we must do is to see what is in their hands. Whether it’s a sticky pear clenched in a baby’s fist or the pouring of flavorful sauces on a local noodle dish, observing what people are doing around you is a sure way to get a sense of traditional tastes.

Hands can tell us of customs and traditions:

One of the most rewarding aspects of travel is the understanding that each place is its own ecosystem. Economy, food, customs and traditions all weave together to create places of vibrancy. Outside the local noodle shop, I started to get a better idea of how Mahjong is played and in the market I became familiar with the spicy notes that are traditional in Yunnan dishes.

What’s not in people’s hands can also tell us a lot:

Living in cities for most of my adult life where phones are as close to a hand accessory as a ring, I realized that not many people had phones in their hands. People were working with the real textures of life around them. I don’t doubt that they have phones, or that they use the same applications as city dwellers do, but the people of Xizhou seemed to take them as a second thought. So eventually I put my phone away too, which helped free up my hands.

Comparative Societies and Cultures is in Dali China, July 23 –August 5^th, 2018  

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