“The World is Our Classroom”: Developing Global Awareness in Adolescents By Teaching Deborah Ellis’s Breadwinner Trilogy

Abstract

In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of this article: Teachers who would like to enable their adolescent students to explore in greater depth the global issues raised in Barmak’s film, such as the effects of war on the lives of children and the oppression of women by patriarchal regimes, can find in the recently completed Breadwinner trilogy by Canadian author Deborah Ellis a wealth of material to consider. Like Barmak’s film, Ellis’s books provide a moving portrayal of the injustices endured by teenaged girls in Afghanistan.