Author: MA. Klodeta Cane
A Role-Play Approach of Teaching the Power of Besa
To convey the profound cultural significance of BESA, teachers can create dramatic role-plays where breaking a promise would lead to destiny-altering implications with severe consequences and describe the hyperbolic scenarios that could develop in succession. Such activity can reinforce the weight of one’s words and promises and the impact of committed bonds of loyalty and honor.
From Baby steps to Heroic Rising: Teaching the Power of Pledges through History
Another activity could be a reflection exercise of exemplifying the stages of building daily-relevant promises, starting with small, everyday up to life-altering commitments. Each student could share about experiences with kept or broken promises and then scale up to examples of heroic national acts of their forefathers, especially those related to WWII. The reason for the step-by step build-up aims to foster reflection in the escalating importance of keeping a promise.
The Power of Words: Teaching Promises through Repetition
In order to make it as practical as possible, teachers can ask students to engage in a series of promises, one promise at a time related to classwork responsibilities and level up the degree of the task with every accomplishment. By repeatedly pledging to accomplish promises, students will be able to internalize the lectures of the Parashah and the concept of Besa, as well as their significant results.
Serious Lectures through Laughter and Creativity
Could meaningful lectures be learned through humor? Teachers can organize light-hearted exercises in which the students write and perform skits of scenarios for promise-breaking experiences in order to highlight the seriousness of such events and make their lectures memorable through fun.
Reflective Writing and Class Discussion
What is a covenant? What is the etymology and generational cultural interpretations of promises in Balkan context? What is the meaning of honor? Students can establish a mind-map of connections between definitions and memories of their own stories related to the topic. Also, they could discuss the power of such concepts through questions like:
· What would the Balkans look like if everyone would keep their promises?
· How do you feel when you are not able to keep a promise?
· What would change in your life if others kept their promises instead of breaking them?
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