This post is a departure from what I usually publish in this blog, but this topic has been a central focus in my life this week and for the past couple of weeks, so I thought I would pull together some ideas and share some resources about how to teach about the new coronavirus.

When news began about the newest global health epidemic, I was traveling in Malaysia, putting my #oneword for 2020 into action to find my center. I was doing a great job too, not checking email, leaving my computer behind in Beijing as I actually took some time to relax and disconnect on Tioman Island off the east coast of Malaysia. But as I was disconnecting, China was reporting news of an outbreak. Slowly, this news seeped into our per view. Tim began receiving messages from the Chinese university where he works, and we turned to news reports from all over the world about the Novel coronavirus.

As we began to pay attention, we quickly realized that we had more questions than answers. We were faced with a decision. Do we go back to China knowing that we didn’t have a clear or full picture of what was happening, or do we cancel our flight back to Beijing and book a flight to the US to wait it out? We chose to fly to Seattle, hoping that we were being overly cautious, but having a sneaking suspicion that we weren’t.

This got me thinking about the knowledge-gathering process that I went through to make this decision and how this presents an important call to action for educators.

Here are 5 things to consider when teaching about the coronavirus.

1. Media Literacy

China often doesn’t give enough information or plays down what’s really happening. The US often exaggerates or sensationalizes. This is an excellent teaching opportunity. What is true? How do you know what’s true? How does your understanding of what’s true impact how you make decisions? With countless articles and media being published about the Novel coronavirus, it’s easy to get swept up in the hype. Knowing how to sift through media to make decisions is a critical skill, and this is a perfect real life situation to teach it.

2. Racism and Xenophobia

This is not the last global health epidemic students will be exposed to. And as many people have pointed out, the flu is a greater risk in a lot of places. But it’s not about a particular virus per se it’s about basic hygiene, listening to health professionals and being aware of something even more harmful than the virus itself-racism.

As governments block Chinese citizens from crossing their borders and media outlets sensationalize, it’s our responsibility as educators to keep fear at bay and acknowledge the potential for xenophobia in times like this. How could banning certain populations lead to increased racism and xenophobia? These are important issues to discuss because they can have lasting effects long after the epidemic has ceased. While it may be more comfortable to teach about the science side of the issue, the human side is infinitely more important.

3. Global Awareness

Had you ever heard of Wuhan before this outbreak? How about the Hubei province? Millions of people live there. In the surrounding area that was recently blocked off from travel, there are over 65 million people. Wuhan is a major city and an important site of Chinese history. As you dig a bit deeper into the reports, you will find that culture and government structure has impacted the response. Censorship, centralized governmental decision making and the cultural practice of “saving face” are important pieces in how this story unfolds. By having a greater understanding of the culture of China, it gives greater insight into the “why” behind the decisions.

Many teachers around the world are incorporating the SDGs into their teaching. How will this global health epidemic affect progress toward reaching SDG 3 Good Health and Wellbeing? How is the global community coming together to stop the spread of this new virus? Scientists in Melbourne have been able to grow the virus in their labs from the information posted online by Chinese scientists. This is an important first step toward finding a cure and a great example of global collaboration.

4. Critical Thinking

How are governments responding? Who is responsible? How does culture influence how a global epidemic is handled? Can epidemics like this be prevented? There are so many opportunities to dig in to the events as they unfold and apply critical thinking skills. This is not only a good teaching opportunity, it’s an essential set of life skills. I can’t even begin to tell you how many hours I have spent reading articles, watching videos, combing through data and asking a lot of questions and applying my cultural knowledge of China.

Critical thinking skills can also be applied to how social media is projecting the stories and the echo chambers that can result. What are students seeing in their social media feeds? How can they think about what they are seeing critically?

5. Resources

I’ve been reading a lot about the Novel Coronavirus and tracking its developments carefully. I’m personally invested in knowing a lot about it because it directly affects my life and my ability to travel to and from China (where my home base has been for the past year and a half). Teachers don’t have time to sift through so much information, so I have worked with Belouga to create an episode to help. You can find it here.

Johns Hopkins has put together a data visualization tool that pulls data from the major public health organizations around the world. You can find it here.

Another kid-friendly data visualization tools is Data Classroom, and they have been updating data as it comes in. You can find more information here.

Go to the source and access the global health organization sites directly like the CDC and WHO.

Depending on the age of your students, encourage them to access news reports from all over the world and compare how the news is being presented. How are youtube channels presenting information, bloggers? Who are the experts? What is the scientific research that is being published around this virus? What can previous outbreaks tell us about how this one is being handled?

The cross- curricular connections are endless, but the important thing is to provide the space for concerns and discussion to grapple with the things that are difficult. Guide students in evaluating sources and asking the all important question- what is true?

As the numbers of confirmed cases continue to rise, we are thankful that we made the decision to come home.

What’s happening where you live in the world? How are your students responding?

Belouga Episode about the Novel Coronavirus https://blou.ga/3EMxu

Johns Hopkins Data Tool https://gisanddata.maps.arcgis.com/apps/opsdashboard/index.html#/bda7594740fd40299423467b48e9ecf6