Tenzin+Gyatso

Tibet and the 14th Dalai Lama Tucked under China’s southwestern side is the Asian nation of Tibet. Sitting on the Tibetan Plateau, it lies north of the Himalayas and is considered to be one of the highest regions in the world with an elevation that reaches over 16,000 feet. Tibet is home to the world’s highest mountain, Mt. Everest which stands at 29,029 feet above sea level and was just recently climbed by a 13 year old in May 2010. The north-west and western part of the country is known as the “lake region,” and the east, south and west portion of the country is known as the “river region.” Ironically, the lake region receives little to no rainfall and is desert like with freezing temperatures. The Himalaya mountains prevent the moisture from the ocean reaching both regions of the country. The river region consists of more farmable land, valleys, and the Yarlung Tsangpo River—the longest river in Tibet. The capital, Lhasa is home to the Dalai Lama, a Buddhist spiritual and sometimes political leader of the country. The most recent Dalai Lama, Tenzin Gyatso, is famous worldwide for his efforts supporting Tibetan independence from being an entity of the People’s Republic of China. Gyatso supported the liberation through non-violence and received help from the CIA in doing so in the 1950s and 60s when he was given funds to help distribute pro-independence literature and smuggle weapons throughout Tibet. He created a government in exile while he sought refuge in India in the 1960s, and worked with the United Nations to gain rights for Tibetans under Chinese control. The PRC recognized Tibet as an autonomous region, though it still struggles for complete liberation to this day. When I was in middle school, I don’t remember learning anything about Tibet; I really had no idea exactly what the Dalai Lama did or who he was until I did this assignment. First, I’d want my students to get a good understanding of where Tibet stands geographically in the world, so I’d probably have them color in a map of the country, mark where mountain ranges are, the major rivers, the capital city, etc. After having them fill that out individually, I’d open the class up to discussion first by examining its proximity to China and India. Here I’d introduce to the class that Tibet is not a completely independent country, and that they are partially controlled by China and point out that the lack of large mountain ranges on the Tibet/China border made Chinese access into the country easier. I’d also want to go over the culture of Tibet, religion, agriculture, etc in the form of a guided-notes PowerPoint. Then, if available, I think it would be interesting if there would be some sort of video clip or documentary that maybe has actual footage of the liberation struggle to show to my students so that they have a more concrete understanding of the difficulty Tibet faces. Then, I’d give a brief oral introduction to Tenzin Gyatso as the winner of the Nobel Prize. Next, I’d separate the class into heterogeneous groups of 4, and each group would get a set of years (10 or 15) and would be in charge of using computers to create a timeline detailing that span of the Dalai Lama’s life and major events happening in Tibet. The group would be responsible for putting their timeline on a poster board and then presenting their facts to the class in chronological order. Then the students would all hang their posters together creating one large timeline on the wall of the classroom/hallway. As a closing discussion, I would ask students why they feel that the 14th Dalai Lama was given such a distinguished honor, and where they think Tibet may end up in the future.