HF, STX, IB in Cross - Cultural Teaching at BG
During the spring term, students from HF, STX and IB will be meeting each other across classes in shared lessons. Many different subjects are involved, from science to languages, and the idea is to experience each other’s school systems and see similarities and differences while having fun and socialising.
1 HF and 2u have already had Danish lessons together focusing on culture and on meeting across cultures. They analysed ads and made their own tourist campaign films. This week, 1m and 2u LanLit3 worked with propaganda in English class, creating propaganda posters for Disney characters. The modules taught together completed a topic taught in both classes about the different ways propaganda can manipulate people. After enjoying a nice combo of creativity, learning and popcorn, the students reflected on two questions:
• How is it relevant to your everyday lives to learn about propaganda techniques?
• How did your different national and school backgrounds contribute to your work?
These led to several interesting reflections:
“It is important to be aware of propaganda techniques in your everyday lives because you need to know how your opinion can get manipulated by political parties and politicians. Knowing the different techniques helps you spot fallacies in mass media, so you do not fall for them.
The different national and school backgrounds of our group did not greatly contribute to our work, but we expected barriers and were pleased that there were not any. Though, the different national backgrounds meant that we had lots of different ideas for our posters, so we found it hard to narrow it down. “
“The project has taught us to be more certain when we are being influenced by certain texts or posters made by other people, especially during governmental voting period. It allows us to make an in-depth analysis of posters or any other type of media. The different national backgrounds in our group ensured there was both local and international knowledge and understanding of the propaganda techniques and how to use them. It allowed us to combine the two, and in the end, receive a better result.”
“Our group composed of Danish STX students and international IB students had to work together to create propaganda posters using a chosen Disney character. This was a creative way to work with other students from other classes who one previously doesn’t know. We felt that it is relevant to learn about propaganda techniques because it gives you the ability to recognize them in your everyday lives and you don’t get persuaded to vote for someone that has used propaganda techniques. It also gives you the ability to use them later on in your life in other work or if you feel the need to persuade someone. We don’t think our different school backgrounds and nationalities contributed to our posters, however, they are something everyone can relate to, as the two main protagonists in the posters are globally recognized as superheroes and are known worldwide. Furthermore, we did not struggle with any language barriers since everyone could either speak English, Danish or both.”
“Making our own propaganda opened our eyes to the persuasive techniques advertising companies and politicians use in everyday life to influence societies. This will make us less likely to be manipulated by propaganda as we can identify the techniques used. We have experienced first-hand the effect of these techniques on an audience and so will be able to apply this in real life scenarios when we are perhaps attempting to persuade people. This experience taught us great teamwork and communication skills as we worked effectively as a team to produce three posters. There was a slight language barrier that we had to work around. This meant that we had to find ways to explain our ideas in a new and imaginative way. This enabled us to think more deeply about the topic. The IB students learnt about a very famous propaganda technique used in Danish politics in the 30s. This opened our eyes to a new part of Danish culture that we weren’t previously aware of. During the project we talked about our backgrounds and introduced each other to our different languages which was a really fun experience as we all got to learn something new.”
“It’s relevant for our everyday life because it can help us in the future, so we don’t get tricked in future elections. Especially with everything going on in Russia and Ukraine, it’s a very relevant topic, which could help us understand the situation and the propaganda, which has taken place in that war. We see our different cultures and upbringing and that gives us different insights into propaganda techniques and gives us new perspectives. We’ve thus learned a lot about propaganda in our difference countries and how they’ve been used there.”
“Learning about propaganda techniques is relevant to our everyday lives because propaganda is a tool that is often used to influence our beliefs, attitudes, and behaviors. Propaganda can take many forms, including advertisements, political messages, media coverage, and even historical narratives. By understanding how propaganda works and being able to recognize the various techniques used, we can make informed decisions and be less susceptible to manipulation. In short, learning about propaganda techniques can help us be more informed, discerning, and empowered citizens in a world where information is constantly being used to shape our opinions and beliefs. We combined our Danish school backgrounds along with the people with an English background to help analyze the propaganda posters.”