Teacher's Curriculum Institute - San Francisco 2008

I just finished attending the TCI Summer Institute. TCI is the creator of the History Alive! curriculum, particularly the Pursuing American Ideals materials we use in our American Studies program. The institute offered me the opportunity to participate in some of the PAI lessons taught in our class. The most enlightening experience occurred during my last session on Monday. The lesson was an Experiential Exercise on the role of Labor Unions during the Progressive Era. The teachers participated in the Everybody Can Win Game. After teaching this lesson this past Spring semester - I was heartbroken when none of the groups in any of my three classes voted in the best interests of all. I felt like there was a pervasive selfishness the had infected my classes. It was a very depressing feeling. Well, the teachers from across the country at this workshop had the exact same results as my students. In no instance did all the groups work together to promote consensus and the welfare of all. Many teachers were angry and upset to see their peers act in selfish ways. A teacher on my team explained why we never voted in the interests of the whole stating, "Every time we voted for our own self interests we were rewarded. There was only one instance in which we received negative consequences. So it the benefits of acting in our own self interests always out weighed those of acting for the common good." I did not share in the frustration of my colleagues. On the contrary, I was ecstatic because I realized that the failure of my students to act in the interests of the whole was not a reflection of their negative and selfish attitudes but a result of the game. I must apologize for thinking the failure was a character flaw of my students - the character flaw is part of being human and is a function of the game.