Please click here to view my "Tibetan Buddhism in Lost Horizon" Digital Board.
Reflection
I created a Discovery Education board that uses a series of images, videos, and text to guide students through the Buddhist pathway to Nirvana. Students will view this board and complete the associated writing prompt which requires them to use this information to analyze the character progression of Conway from James Hilton’s Lost Horizon. In the novel, Conway followed a similar progression to reach the fictional Shangri-La, which is a physical location equatable to the Buddhist Nirvana. The combination of digital media and investigation of another culture will help develop my students’ respectful and ethical minds.
First, this board will help develop my students’ respectful minds. When describing how to develop respectful minds, Gardner (2007) “call[s] on human beings to accept the differences, learn to live with them, and value those who belong to the other cohorts” (p. 107). A logical way to help students accept cultural differences is to teach them about different cultures. My students will learn about the beliefs and practices of Buddhists while navigating through the Discovery Education board. Most of my students have little to no familiarity with Buddhist practices, so this board is a great way to expose them to new cultural beliefs.
This board will also help develop my students’ ethical minds. Gardner (2007) explains that ethics is “embodied in tolerance, respect, and other examples of personal morality” (p. 130). Viewing the material on this board will help students understand Buddhism better, which can lead to tolerance. Studying Buddhism also provides one perspective about how to achieve ultimate peace through a series of thoughtful actions and reflections. Students will be able to see how millions of people around the world work to maintain ethical minds.
This Discovery Education board will provide an engaging way to present new information to my students via digital media. Further, it will help develop their respectful and ethical minds by introducing them to the practices of a different culture. Finally, it will still help me meet educational standards by having students apply what they learn to what they have read in the novel Lost Horizon.
References
Gardner, H. (2007). Five minds for the future. Boston: Harvard Business School Press
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