In Grade 7 Language & Literature students have a unit of study exploring culture and identity through ‘The Hero’s Journey’ framework in classic and modern myths. In Grade 8 students revisit these concepts and build on prior learning with a companion unit, “Heroes Among Us” where students explore our statement of inquiry, “Seeing ourselves represented in hero stories is important.” After investigating the concept of representation in various media from classic fairy tales to modern movies, and testing themselves for various implicit biases through Harvard’s “Project Implicit” tests, Grade 8s visited EY3 to interview younger students in an attempt to gauge the prevalence of stereotypes and implicit biases about what makes a superhero and what makes a Disney princess? The G8 investigation was focused on an investigation on the pervasive power of media in our lives and focused around the questions, “to what extent does media shape our understanding of culture & identity?” Grade 8s devised their own association tests and other games to guide their conversations with our EY3 peers over two lively interactions. Thanks to A. Wendy & A. Katie for helping to set up this learning opportunity.

Adam Copus

Boarding Parent, Head of Air House, MYP Lang & Lit Teacher, & Prem Junior School Parent