Unlocking our History

Diplomatic Leadership Development Program Session Recap

What is better than a field trip? A field trip to the National Museum of African American History and Culture! We held our very first field trip for Cohort 2 on March 17th and it was a success! Here’s a recap from that session.

History & Adventure

It is not every day that we get the opportunity to be surrounded by the rich history of the Black community in the U.S. and abroad. The focus of this field trip was showing our students the various connections between their experiences as Black individuals and the information shared in the various exhibits. To help them along, acting as their skills institute, students were presented with a museum specific scavenger hunt! This scavenger hunt served as a guide and highlighted aspects of the exhibits that relate to some of the skills that we aim to teach all DLDP participants.

Our students enjoyed learning from the exhibits and were able to identify the parallels of innovation and resilience in the Black community and their personal experiences. Afterwards, the students shared some highlights from the field trip, ranging from learning more about the work of civil rights leaders to their love of divine nine organizations.

Culturally Responsive Pedagogy

This was such a substantial field trip! Opportunities like these are such a great example of how beneficial it can be to engage in culturally responsive pedagogy. At Diplomatic Perspective this is something we value and incorporate into our session and skills institutes. One major component of culturally responsive pedagogy is the idea that it opens the doors for a student to affirm their culture of origin while developing their appreciation of at least one other culture (Ladson-Billings, 1995). While our aim is to develop global leaders, this appreciation is vital for success! It starts with celebrating aspects of one's cultural heritage, so they can show others the way!.

If you are interested in getting involved in Diplomatic Perspective and supporting our students' growth as leaders, click HERE for more information.

Resources:

• What is cultural responsive pedagogy? https://www.theedadvocate.org/what-is-culturally-responsive-pedagogy/

• Toward a Theory of Culturally Relevant Pedagogy Gloria Ladson-Billings https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.3102/00028312032003465