Why Are There Families?

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Introduction

Almost all children in the United States, and throughout the world, live in a family. Families can take many forms. There might be a father, mother and children, or there might not be a father or a mother. Some families include lots of other people besides fathers, mothers and children. There might be a grandmother or grandfather, aunts, uncles and cousins. Have you ever wondered why there are families? Why aren't babies taken from their mothers shortly after birth and raised in an institution like a school or camp? The purpose of this lesson is to discover what roles families play in the United States and in other countries, and to determine how families around the world fulfill their roles.

The Task

Your task is to prepare a list of the various functions that families perform. Then, when you have completed your list, you will communicate by e-mail with students in other countries to find out if families in thier countries perform the same or similar functions, how those functions are performed, and by whom. When you have finished gathering your data, you will create a grid which organizes the information you have gathered, and you will produce a mural entitled "Families Around The World." This mural will show the various countries you have communicated with, and the results of your e-mail conversations.

Resources

Resources include reference materials available in class on CD Rom, a variety of internet links, shown below, your own brainstorming ideas and, most importantly, e-mail conversations with students in other countries.

The International and Intercultural Classroom e-mail Partnership Program maintained by St. Olaf College, provides a list of subscribers from 46 different countries who would like to participate in an intercultural and international classroom partnership. The World Summit for Children sets out some of the roles of families. To see them, scroll down to paragraph 18. 1994 was the International Year of the Family,IYF. Principles Underlying The United Nations IYF Proclamation provides helpful information.Colliers Encyclopedia on CD Rom has an excellent listing and discussion of family functions.

The Process

Step One: Establish a minimum of 5 e-mail partnerships around the world. One should be in Europe, one in Africa, one in the Middle East, one in the Far East, and one in South or Central America. If you cannot establish an e-mail partnership in one or more of these places, then establish more than one in another area of the world. In order to establish your e-mail partnerships, you must first determine what countries have schools that would like to communicate with you. You and your teacher will first look at the page from St. Olaf College . Your teachr should subscribe to the IECC to obtain an up-to-date list of participating countries and classrooms. The information is spelled out in detail on the page. You must then divide your class into at least five groups, and each group must select a country.
Step Two: You now need to formulate your list of family functions. Use the links provided above, along with the encyclopedia.
Step Three: Now is the time to brainstorm. As a group, come up with as many ideas as you can about family functions. You may want to interview members of your family, neighbors, friends and others. Once you have your brainstorming list, compare what you have with the functions you obtained from the internet and the encyclopedia.
Step Four: It's now time to narrow your list of functions to five or six. Prioritize your list. What functions do families perform that seem to you to be the most important?
Step Five: Once you establish an e-mail partner classroom, you can begin to share ideas about family functions. You must prepare a list of questions for each of your partner classrooms. Make sure you record all questions and responses in a logbook. Remember, you are not just trying to determine family functions, you are trying to find out who performs each function in the various countries. For example, does the father perform the function; the mother; the family patriarch? Or, is the function performed by someone or something outside the family, like a school, social organization, or government agency? What are the traditions and customs in your e-mail partners' countries?
Step Six: Once you have completed gathering your information, you need to organize it. One good way is through the use of a Summary Grid. List each of your functions on the left side of the grid and each partner country across the top of the grid. Then, at the intersection of each function and country, list who, if at all, performs the function in that country.
Step Seven:When you have completed your grid, it's time to prepare your mural. You will show each partner country on the mural, and you can add pictures from magazines or other sources. Then, on the mural, you will list the various functions and who performs them.

Evaluation

Your performance will be evaluated in two ways. First, each group will receive a total of 50 points per student in the group, so if you have four students, you will receive 200 points. When you have completed all of the tasks, you must decide how to allocate those points. You may decide to divide them up equally, or you may decide that one or more people worked harder and therefore should get more points than the others. The second method of evaluation will be through a test. Each of you will be responsible for knowing the various functions of families and how they are performed in various countries, including the U.S. The test will consist of an essay and 50 multiple choice questions, for a total of 100 points.

Conclusion

When you have completed this activity you will have a better understanding of why there are families in all countries and who performs the various family functions. You will see some differences around the world, but you will also see significant similarities, and you should ask yourself, "Why, if people and families are so similar around the world, are there so many conflicts and wars?" Maybe, you can begin to establish some close relationships with other students around the world so that world peace will be one step closer.

Last updated May 8, 1996. Return to the

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