Teaching Globalization & Trade in Arkansas
Students in Round 1 of The Trade Game opening their bags.
One challenge I often face as an educator is providing my students with meaningful experiences that will remain with them into adulthood. When planning my lessons, I often think about Albert Einstein's quote, “Knowledge is experience, everything else is just information.” How can I create lessons that go beyond the walls of the classroom and inspire students to be world changers? How do I teach my students to be empathetic towards those who are less fortunate? Is it possible to help a teenager understand that there is an entire world beyond the city limits of our small Arkansas town?
Several years ago I began developing a “Globalization and Trade” unit with the intent of helping my students understand the personal impact of global interdependence. Each year I would add to or “tweak” my unit to make it better, yet I was having difficulty coming up with an introductory game or activity. My desire was to create relevant, interactive lessons that would engage the average 16 or 17 year old small town student.
[The Trade Game] was just the activity I needed to make my “Globalization and Trade” unit complete! This would be the introduction to “hook” my students!
Students discussing the “Living on One Dollar” documentary in the spring of 2020.
The Trade Game
In 2017, while serving as a presenter for Economics Arkansas’s R.E.A.L Conference, I attended a session led by Terra Aquia of the Arkansas Center for Research in Economics at the University of Central Arkansas. She led my colleagues and me in a very fun and memorable activity called “The Trade Game.” This was just the activity I needed to make my “Globalization and Trade” unit complete! This would be the introduction to “hook” my students!
To begin the Trade Game, I gave each student a paper bag with an item such as a Rubik’s cube keychain, balloon, deck of cards, a copy of the Declaration of Independence, and other random items. (All of these items were generously donated by ACRE — You can request a trade game kit for your classroom here!) I assigned each row the identity of a specific country.
The game has three rounds, each one involving some aspect of trade. In the first round, students were to simply look at the item and rate their “happiness level”. In the second round, students were allowed to trade within their country, but not outside of their country. They, again, rated their “happiness level”. In the third round, students traded with another country EXCEPT the groups representing North Korea and the United States could not trade because of the trade embargo. (There are many ways to teach concepts such as import/export, tariffs, sanctions/embargoes within the parameters of this game. It lends itself to much creativity). By the third round, the overall happiness level had increased significantly which was a great lead-in to our reflective discussion.
An obvious lesson learned from this activity was that trade can definitely be beneficial. This became apparent as the “happiness level” rose with each round. However, we also discussed that trade may also be unfair or raise ethical dilemmas. I posed questions such as, “Do the people who make many of the products we use make a fair wage?” “Are people in the developing countries that trade with us working in safe environments.” “What is our responsibility or do we have a responsibility to act upon our knowledge of these things?”
Additional Activities
This activity and discussion provided a great segue into the “Planet Money Makes a T-Shirt portion of the Globalization and Trade unit. This documentary follows the making of a simple t-shirt from the cotton seed to the consumer. Students learned about two different women, Jasmine from Bangladesh and Doris from Columbia, who work for low wages in dangerous working conditions making t-shirts. We, again, discussed whether or not the textile trade industry was providing opportunity for these women or taking advantage of desperate populations.
The final portion of the “Globalization and Trade” unit introduces students to microfinance and the implications of world poverty utilizing the documentary “Living on One Dollar”. This powerful story inspires and motivates my students to action. Our school participates in a microfinance program through Kiva Loans. So far, we have loaned over $4,100 to those in need all over the world through funds raised through a student run coffee shop!
Wrapping Up:
Because economics is all about making choices, I strongly believe that I should take every opportunity to encourage students to choose to notice the needs of those around them. When faced with making decisions as to how they will use their time and resources, my hope is that my students choose to be benefactors and change their world for the better...forever.
