Composer is the world’s first digital platform to offer a comprehensive collection of resources for activating a deeper sense of civic responsibility in students. The platform enables educators to access a whole ecosystem of resources spanning civic learning, social justice, social emotional learning, and global competency in one place, and has grown to serve over 2,500 educators in its first 2 years.
We have designed a library of complementary film-based classroom experiences that reinforce the learnings from our student workshops. Our Base Camp Series of lessons, as well as over 1,000 free lesson plans from 35 additional education content providers, can be found on Composer at: www.composereducation.org
Active Listening
Students begin with a drawing task that helps students understand the need for active listening when trying to understand someone else’s perspective. They define what they can do to strengthen their skills and practice these through a small group activity. Students identify how active listening can help them better understand and collaborate with people in their own lives.
Confirmation Bias
Students examine how confirmation bias operates and its influence on how we process information. They learn how confirmation bias works and why it can be difficult for people to accept information that opposes their beliefs. Students then identify ways they can keep their confirmation bias in check.
Human Rights
Students explore the definition of human rights and the challenges in determining what is right for everyone. They create their own list of rights and compare that to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Students reflect on the responsibility we all have to ensure our own everyday actions reflect human rights.
Responding vs Reacting
Students will explore the benefits of responding – rather than reacting – to situations. They learn that by taking the time to respond, they can process and express their emotions and gain a better understanding of the situation and the thoughts and feelings of others. Students realize that by creating space to pause and reflect, that they will be in a better position to respond rather than react to a situation.
Let's Go Fishing
Students play a game modeled on the classic ‘Tragedy of the Commons’ economic theory to explore the problem of collective action in managing the Earth’s resources. They reflect on the way their short-term self-interest clashes with the long-term interest of the collective. Students identify strategies that will help them to act in the collective interest of the human race and the planet.
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Partial Truths
Students explore the human tendency to create partial truths through the creation of a sales pitch where they can choose to offer only part of the information they have available to them. They reflect on the different situations in life where they might encounter partial truths and brainstorm solutions to help them get a more complete picture.
In 2021, Composer was one of five finalists in the SXSW EDU Launch Competition, was an EdTech Cool Tool Award Finalist in the 21st Century Skills Solution category, earned a Research-Based Design Certification from Digital Promise, won a Good Design Award Winner Accolade in the Social Impact category from Good Design Australia, and was recognized as one of the top 100 brightest innovations in education as part of HundrED's Global Collection 2022.
Compassion is a key component to being an effective educator. It is essential that educators do the work to develop an understanding of how our lived experiences influence our interactions with others. This awareness will help to ensure all members of our school community have agency and also feel respected and safe.
FionaMiddle School Teacher
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