First of all, what is a theory? My old college
dictionary lists the following definition:
Theory - "1.a. Systematically organized knowledge,
applicable in a relatively wide variety of circumstances....a system of
assumptions, accepted principles, and rules of procedure devised to analyze,
predict, or otherwise explain the nature or behavior of a specified set
of pheonomena....2. Abstract reasoning: speculation. 3. Broadly: hypothesis
or supposition...(The American Heritage Dictionary, Houghton Mifflin Company,
Boston, 1981).
There are a lot of big words for a 5th grade student to
digest in this definition. If you are unsure of a word, you can ask a teacher,
or look it up using http://www.dictionary.com.
Secondly, what are the implications (understood, though
not directly expressed) of Mr. Brown's theory, and where is he going with
it? Mr. Brown is implying that teachers who live in North America may not
know the names of capital cities from countries, specifically from Africa,
and Asia. This is a very broad assumption, but the underlying implication
is, that if we do not know capital cities from foreign countries, how much
do we really know about their government, or people?
Thirdly, this project is intended to get students to
think critically. It is expected that students will poke holes in Mr. Brown's
theory. How can anyone make such broad assumptions? How can anyone use
a line on a map, like the Prime Meridian, and say that an entire group
of people will know, or not know the capitals cities on one side and not
the other. Is it correct to say that most adults in North America are stereotypical,
and to lump them all into a category stating that this group does not know
much about the world? Isn't categorizing an entire group of people the
same thinking that has led to prejudice and discrimination?
Yet, is there some truth in the theory? Surely students
will select some countries for which they did not know the capital city,
and likely did not know much about the government or it's people. After
students complete their surveys, analyze the data and compare it to their
predictions, they will take a closer look at what capital cities (and countries)
most people did not know.
Finally, keep in mind that any survey or test is intended
to give the person who makes up the survey or test, a specific set of answers.
In many cases, these answers can lead to a whole new set of questions.
Students will undoubtedly have fun with their surveys!
Mr. Brown expects his students will get into a lot of discussion and exploration,
not only of the topic, but of other people around the world.
:-)