Reflection On 'Danish Teenagers About Poverty'

My group intended to teach a group of Danish teenagers about poverty, one of many global issues that UN seeks to tackle in their sustainable development goals. We hoped to converse with Danish students about what “poverty” means through an interactive activity and a discussion. Our lesson plan sought to provide students with a global understanding of poverty in relation to Denmark and by the end of the class, have a relative definition of what “poverty” is. Overall, we wanted to tell the students that “poverty” is not a fiction; rather, it is a reality that exists not only in African or South-east Asian countries, but also in Denmark. Unfortunately, our group was not able to teach to Danish students. However, we performed a mock lesson with Stine. The mock lesson ran smoothly. Stine was excellent with her impressions on Danish teenagers. When introducing “poverty” and asking her to write what she thought of it, she replied that poverty meant “no money.” Her response, I believe, would represent a typical Danish

Nevertheless, if I could revise our lesson plan, I would like to add a casual activity in the beginning of the lesson as an icebreaker. To the teenagers, having visitors in their classroom may be unusual and awkward. Also, from my previous experiences, the Danes are very interested in the United States. Therefore, I thought that it would be suitable to have an informal discussion with the students about American entertainment culture. We could talk about the stereotypes of being “poor” in the United States and how poverty is portrayed in Hollywood films or television series. Such conversation would naturally call forth a discussion about “poverty” (how in the United States, poverty is often associated with race); then, we could build upon it with our educational activities. Having a balance between casual and educational activities would be an effective approach to