Pupils Develop ‘Habits of Heart’ During Skits
Kahlil Franklin doesn’t know it yet, but he and his classmates are about to take a crash course in social justice.
In a skit designed to teach cultural sensitivity, Kahlil, 10, will play the head of a janitorial company that is not paying immigrants the same as their native-born counterparts. Melissa Douglas, 10, will play an immigrant demanding equal pay for equal work.
The issue might seem a bit intense for fifth-graders, but at the Children’s Enrichment Program, a nonprofit after-school and summer program in Baldwin Hills, today’s lesson is as rudimentary as reading and writing.
All lessons here are rooted in what they call habits of heart--inherent qualities such as sensitivity, empathy and compassion--and culminate in some sort of community service project.
Every two weeks, the children tackle a different habit of heart. They define the quality and get a clear understanding of what it means before moving on to academic assignments and arts activities meant to further expose the child to that human trait.
During the conflict resolution and community service phases, they learn how to apply habits of heart to real-life situations.
It’s called full circle learning, and Kahlil and Melissa are almost there. But first Kahlil, the executive, and Melissa, the oppressed laborer, must meet at the bargaining table.
They are positioned at opposite ends of a laminated sheet of paper placed on the floor, known as the conflict resolution bridge.
On the bridge--which resembles a hopscotch outline--there are phrases such as I want ... I feel ... the reason I feel is ...
With each step they take forward, the children repeat the phrase and create their own ending, explaining their position. By the end of the exercise, the two are face to face at the bridge’s center and are supposed to find some sort of peaceful solution.
Kahlil and Melissa get off to a rough start.
“I want to be paid equally,” Melissa says, and takes a step toward Kahlil.
“I want you to get out of this country,” Kahlil answers.
“You won’t pay us equally, and my family’s dying of starvation and sickness,” Melissa says.
“It’s not our fault your country doesn’t have the same things we do,” Kahlil says. But after they have finally discussed it face to face, Kahlil abruptly changes course and is swayed by Melissa’s arguments.
They shake hands.
Asked to explain his sudden shift, Kahlil tells his teacher, “It just didn’t sound fair that people from different countries are getting paid less. It sounds like some Americans are being greedy.”
In real life, compromise is never that simple, but the exercise is more about learning to solve conflicts than anything else.
Now in its 10th year, the Children’s Enrichment Program was inspired by the 1992 riots, said Teresa Langness, executive board chairwoman.
“The building we’re located in was at the fringes of the riots,” Langness said.
“There was a lot of fear, trauma, a little bit of a sense of futility,” she added. “There wasn’t a sense that each of us had the power to make the world better. We thought we needed to nurture their learning and show them opportunities for community service.”
Langness, a 47-year-old freelance writer, was working at the Los Angeles Baha’i Center when she and several others active at the center saw this need.
A few months after the riots, with donated space from the Baha’i Center, the Children’s Enrichment Program opened its doors. With a lack of affordable, adequate child care in the area, the program had no trouble filling its 15 spots.
The program has grown to 30 children, all too young to remember 1992 and busy doing good deeds. Most of the participants are from nearby Baldwin Hills Elementary School, except in the summer, when the programs enrolls kids from all over Los Angeles.
In the last year, the children, ages 6 to 11, have read to the blind, volunteered at a senior citizens home and raised money for an organization that donates wheelchairs.
After a homeless woman with six children spoke to them about her situation, they each brought in clothing, books and underwear for her children.
“It’s about creating a well-rounded child,” said Jeri Reed, whose 10-year-old son, Jaleel, has been in the program since first grade. “He’s always been an even-tempered child, but this reinforces his personality. He’s more helpful and cooperative, and he knows why it’s important. He’s not just doing it because an adult told him to.”
On a recent afternoon, the lesson on cultural sensitivity comes full circle.
The children prepare for a visit to the Longwood Manor Convalescent Hospital, where they will entertain their “adopted grandparents” with rousing renditions of “Lean on Me,” “This Little Light of Mine” and “You Are So Beautiful,” followed by a question-and-answer session with the adults about culture.
Class extroverts Keegan McFadden and Kyle Key, both 9, ham it up for the seniors, most of whom stare at them seriously. One man, wearing Mardi Gras beads, sings along and a woman claps to the beat.
Kyle, Keegan and Jade Romain, also 9, interview a very patient Charles Kessee, 62. They ask him what he likes best about his culture and what their cultures share in common.
“We’re all originally from the Southern Hemisphere,” he tells them. “Africa was the first civilization, you know.” The children listen politely as he tells them about life in Los Angeles 30 years ago and about his struggles to provide for his many children.
Kessee said he enjoys the children’s visits.
“They’re very enthusiastic kids,” Kessee said. “Some of us just don’t get a chance to see our grandchildren, so this is nice.”
