Ben Monsma

Professors Keeley and Rooks

Education 302/303
Unit: Professional Literature
March 29, 2016
Teaching Strategies: Mental Flexibility
This article, found in peer-reviewed journal Social Studies and the
Young Learner, hones in on not only an important skill for social studies, but
also a very important life skill. The authors of this article observed the world
around them, and saw that we are now living in (and more and more each
day becoming a part of) a globalized society, in which the world has shrunk
as economies and social interactions become more and more interconnected.
The authors argue that mental flexibility is a key component to
understanding each other and living peacefully in this increasingly globalized
world; and provide several strategies for developing mental flexibility. The
purpose driving this article is to increase students mental flexibility in
that the students will be more adaptable to different situations they find
themselves in and different attitudes and viewpoints so that they may
engage them in a civilized manor. The authors frame this article in the
midst of childrens stories in order to provide context for teaching this idea of
mental flexibility.
This article has helped me to solidify my idea for holding a debate as
part of my Unit Plan on the Reagan Era. I plan to hold the debate at the end
of the week (unit), and will revolve are the question of whether or not
Reagan should be ranked amid the top 10 presidents in US History. In doing

this, I believe I will be helping to increase the mental flexibility of the

students by requiring them to look at both sides of Reagans presidency, the
successes and the failures, in order to determine where he belongs on the
ranking of Presidents. Students will be required to think critically and be
more accepting of other students (and peoples) viewpoints.

McNulty, C. P., Davies, M., & Maddoux, M. (2010, November). Living in a

global village:
strategies for teaching mental flexibility [Electronic version]. Social
Studies and the Young Learner, 23(2), 21-24.

Professional Literature: Content

With Ronald Reagan being simultaneously so very popular (even today)
and so polarizing (again, in during his presidency and today) it is important
when teaching lessons and a unit on his era of history to stick to the facts
and understand the broader concepts and themes of the time period. The
Ronald Reagan overview that I found on Learner.org, specifically the
Americas History in the Making section does a good job at outlining
different themes of the Reagan Era and explaining the rise of conservatism
that thrust Reagan and George H.W. Bush into power. The author(s) of this
unit overview are clearly writing to high school history teachers, with the
purpose of providing them with resources (primary and secondary source
documents, among other things) and relevant information to be included in
both an overall unit and individual lessons on Reagan and the Reagan Era.
The information contained in these pages are, and will continue to be
extremely helpful to me as I continue working on my unit plan. This resource
provides a veritable checklist of the major topics and themes that I should be
covering in the unit that I am currently planning. For each of the three
themes this unit outlines, there are primary sources and artifacts provided
which can be instrumental to students learning and understanding of the

Reagan Era. Furthermore, the website provides a video which I may be able
to use as an alternative way of conveying the information to students so that
I can reach those that learn differently most effectively. As well as providing
a link to see how this unit connects to state standards.

Unit 21: Global America (n.d.). In America' history in the making. Retrieved
March 29, 2016,
from http://www.learner.org/courses/amerhistory/units/21/