|
The Odyssey Educational Program
The Odyssey has very comprehensive theme-based curriculum and teacher
outreach programs in development.
There are ten themes that are at the
heart of what The Odyssey is about and that will be the focus of
students learning. The themes will resonate throughout the team's
experiences and the Student Web Site. They will also be developed
through curriculum units available to teachers on-line at The Odyssey
Teacher Web site. These will be 2-3 week units focusing on each of the
Odyssey themes, with nine additional units focusing on the nine World
Trek destination sites.
The skills and knowledge that students gain will be put into practice
through service learning activities. This will sometimes mean joining
a letter-writing campaign regarding a current Odyssey topic.
It will sometimes mean working with local organizations partnered with
The Odyssey. It will at other times mean working on projects that come
from the students themselves in response to their own immediate
concerns.
The 10 Central Odyssey Educational Themes
- The Internet and Society
- How have past advances in technology influenced communications?
- How do people use the Internet?
- How can the Internet be used as a tool for education and social change?
- Community
- What is community?
- Why do individuals participate in communities?
- How does my community affect my life?
- What do I owe to my community?
- Indigenous People
- Who are indigenous people?
- How has Western European expansion impacted indigenous communities?
- What are some of the relationships the Western world has with indigenous
communities today?
- What is indigenism/indigenismo?
- Wealth and Poverty
- Who is rich and who is poor?
- How does wealth get divided?
- What are the underlying causes of poverty?
- What are the effects of an unequal distribution of wealth on a community?
- The Environment and Development
- What do we mean by the environment?
- What is development? Who benefits from development?
- What forces lead people to abuse or degrade the environment?
- What forms of development are environmentally sustainable?
- The Global Community
- What is globalization?
- Why is globalization occurring?
- What impact does globalization have on communities around the world?
- How do communities preserve their cultural identities?
- Nature of Conflict
- What is conflict?
- What are the major causes of conflict between communities?
- What approaches do communities use to resolve conflict?
- Gender Roles and Representations
- How do social roles of men and women vary in different cultures?
- What gender issues have been raised around the world?
- How are people of one culture likely to perceive gender roles in another
culture?
- Youth and Society
- What roles do youth play in communities throughout the world?
- What rights and responsibilities should youth have?
- How can young people create change in their communities?
- Social Change in Theory and Practice
- How have human beings changed their societies throughout history?
- What are some current social change movements?
- How can people work to improve their communities today?
| 
