Deconstructing the Dangers of the Single Story of Africa

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The World Leadership School partners with K-12 schools around the globe to create next-generation leaders. The World Leadership School led Grade 8 students boys through three days of a project-learning virtual immersion program focused on the essential question: “How might a deep understanding of the many stories of Africa inform and impact our own stories?” ⁠(World Leadership School)

Eighth Graders just completed an informative, reforming unit that focused on this essential question: How might a deep understanding of the many stories of Africa inform and impact our own stories? 

This three day virtual immersion project was led by Jennifer D. Klein from an organization called World Leadership School. Jennifer Klein teaches Virtual Immersions for students and Professional development courses for teachers as well. 

Ms. Klein strongly believes in the vision behind the program. She finds great joy when young people connect with the world in significant ways. This may alter the child’s view on the world in a positive way, which makes them more interested in understanding different perspectives and ways of life. Throughout her time at World Leadership School, Klein has absorbed many lessons. 

“I’ve learned a lot about how to help young people understand perspectives and experiences that are so different than their own,” Ms. Klein said.

The unit had many purposes for the eighth graders, one of them being preparation to read Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart and Chimamanda Adichie’s Purple Hibiscus. Both of these books are centered around African culture and have a distinct portrayal of African customs. To fully appreciate these pieces of literature, students dove deep into learning about Africa and the danger of a single story. 

Students were encouraged to follow the framework of head, heart, and hands. This forced the eighth graders to reflect on the unit in different perspectives. The “head” part of this strategy focuses on what the student has been thinking about following the unit. The “heart” portion of this communicative concept tackles what the student was thinking about during the virtual immersion project. Lastly, the “hands” part of this prompts the student to take action after obtaining knowledge from the unit. 

“We wanted to give you guys new perspectives to consider, to make the various cultures of Africa more “real” and “human” by introducing you to people,” Ms. Klein said. “But most of all, we wanted to deconstruct the single story of Africa!”

This could not have been possible without the help of Anne Rawley, the eighth grade English teacher who collaborated with Ms. Klein on the unit and made it a success. Ms. Rawley hopes to bring back Jennifer Klein and her African Voices immersion program to Browning next year. 

“Based on student feedback, Flipgrids, and presentations, the speakers had a big impact on how students were stretching their understanding of history, culture, and geography.  Essentially, the research about Africa became approachable, fortified, interactive, and dynamic,” Ms. Rawley said. 

The students found this virtual summit to be very informative and eye-opening.

“Stories make little connections that boost our trust and empathy and impact the way we think. For me, these stories about Africa make me feel like a part of a bigger group of people,” Chase Kumm ‘25 said. 

Thanks to Jennifer Klein from the World Leadership School, the eighth graders have successfully completed an in-depth look at Africa which will help them destroy the single story of the continent.