Reflecting on her own experiences learning through a single perspective, high school senior Hannah Gedion challenges educators to equip their students with “perspective seeking skills” by incorporating a diversity of voices and perspectives into their classrooms. Hannah Gedion is a senior at Mira Costa High School. Noticing a lack of diversity in texts at her school, Hannah discovered ethnic studies and realized the courses would provide students with valuable perspectives that had previously been withheld. She believes that studying different cultures and ethnicities makes students global citizens who form meaningful relationships and empathetic connections with all kinds of people. Often the only African American in the classroom, Hannah hopes to eliminate the numerous insensitive, ignorant or misinformed comments she has endured by offering new ways to learn about other cultures and ethnicities.
Hannah founded the Manhattan Beach Unified School District Chapter of Diversify Our Narrative. She is a member of the Equity, Diversity, Social Justice, and Inclusion Committee, which works under the MBUSD school board to provide input and feedback to create a more inclusive environment in Manhattan Beach schools. This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at https://www.ted.com/tedx