Ted Wragg, professor of education at Exeter University, offers advice on how to use ‘The Secret Kite’ in the classroom How can children who take for granted fundamentals such as education, housing, food, and transport empathise with those a few thousand miles away who have none of these? The ability to understand other people’s experiences and feelings is an important quality in a humane society.
A good, credible story can both provide knowledge and fire children’s imagination. Reading Deborah Ellis’s story (right) is an excellent stimulus, for the kite is a universal symbol of freedom. The story offers many clues for young citizens to consider.
We are free in Britain, compared with Afghanistan, so what civil liberties might we be sorry to lose? (Freedom of speech; opportunity to travel almost anywhere; shop where we like; have newspapers, radio, television not produced exclusively by the government; play, sing, dance, cheer at football matches - these acts were also banned by the Taliban - vote when we are grown up.) Safety is something else we take for granted. Mustafa’s brother lost a leg in a minefield - how could this happen? (Princess Diana campaigned to have mines removed from war zones because of accidents, especially involving children.) What safety issues face children in Britain? (Road accidents; aggression from other children or adults; outdoor pursuits such as climbing, sailing, swimming, need proper supervision.) It is relatively easy to make a small kite (two art straws, thin coloured tissue paper, glue, cotton, paper clip - see www.tes.co.uk afghanistan for detailed instructions). Why is the kite a symbol of freedom? (Soaring high, it reflects our desire to fly.) What would our children do to assert their freedom? Would they, like Mustafa, risk arrest to fly a kite?
It is worth reading the story a second time after discussion and activities; children might even write their own account of being a child in Afghanistan.
