productive lives
Sharing Your Point of View
As you learned in the course introduction, in the next 12 weeks you will take a global perspective on threats to children’s well-being and interventions that can support healthy and productive lives and a more integrated and equitable world.
As you begin this week, pause to analyze and discuss one view of “living in a diverse world” and how it can apply to your work with young children and their families as well as your thinking as you move through this course.
To prepare for the Discussion, read the following quote:
If we are to achieve a richer culture, rich in contrasting values, we must recognize the whole gamut of human potentialities, and so weave a less arbitrary social fabric, one in which each diverse human gift will find a fitting place.
—Margaret Mead, Anthropologist, 1901–1978
As you reflect on this point of view—and drawing on your current knowledge of child development—consider:
- What do Margaret Mead’s words mean to you?
- In your own words, how would explain the goal and the challenge in this quote?
- What ideas, insights, and/or misconceptions with regard to living in a diverse world does this quote bring to mind for you?
- How does this quote relate to and/or how can it inspire your work with young children and families?
- Thinking about when Margaret Mead lived and worked, how do you view this quote from the vantage point of today?
With Margaret Mead’s words and your own thoughts in mind, follow the instructions below for this Discussion.
By Day 3 of Week 1:
Post your response to the following:
- A brief summary of your responses to at least four of the questions above
