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Living peacefully and interacting productively in a diverse world is a central
challenge for all people in all nations. Educators who see their mission as developing
an informed, compassionate, and moral citizenry can challenge their students to grapple
with issues of persecution and understand the meaning of tolerance through bias awareness.
In the process, students confront their own values and behavior and their own responses to
racism and cruelty. Ultimately, this helps to develop schools as caring communities and to
produce young people equipped to live as part of a diverse society.
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At Packer Collegiate Institute in New York City, teacher Erland Zgmuntowicz and
his students work with a curriculum called "Facing History and Ourselves," which focuses
on the Holocaust as a jumping-off point from which to explore issues of racism, prejudice,
and discrimination. As students explore this dreadful chapter in the history of the 20th
century, they develop their thoughts and reflections through journal writing. They also
explore the nature of discrimination and persecution, as well as the meaning of justice
and moral behavior, in classroom discussions.
This is strong material and many educators may be reluctant to address such sensitive topics.
Yet Zgmuntowicz's students do not shrink from the intensity of this subject matter as they
struggle to understand the broader implications of the Holocaust -- what it tells us about the
human condition and our personal and collective responsibility to each other and society.
Facing History and Ourselves is a national educational and teacher-development organization
that encourages adolescents and adults to examine profound moral and ethical questions about
history and human behavior. The centerpiece of Facing History and Ourselves, a curriculum that
bears the same name, is an 8- to 10-week unit of study that focuses in detail on the Holocaust
and the events leading up to it. The program, designed to help students comprehend that history
-- even sweeping, cataclysmic events like the Holocaust -- develops incrementally, shaped by
individual and collective choices and decisions. As students think critically and analytically
about history, and explore complex questions of human motivation and behavior, they inevitably face
the question: What would I have done?
The themes and content of the curriculum are linked to common adolescent concerns such as identity;
group membership and loyalty; labeling; relations to authority; following rules or resisting them.
Students explore such issues through a series of readings, videos, and films, and through presentations
by guest speakers as well. They learn about the importance of bearing witness as they write response journals,
hold discussions, design murals, or build models of monuments.
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The goals of Facing History and Ourselves are to:
- develop an educational model that helps students move from thought to judgment to
participation as they confront the moral questions inherent in a study of violence, racism,
anti-Semitism, and bigotry;
- reveal the universal connections of history through a rigorous examination of a particular history;
and
- further a commitment to adolescents as the moral philosophers of our society and help them build a
"civil society" through an understanding that turning neighbor against neighbor leads to violence.
- from the Facing History and Ourselves resource book (page xxiii)
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To help students begin to think about prejudice and stereotyping, use brainstorming
procedures to develop a list of "-isms." Write the term "-isms" on the chalkboard
or a flip chart. Explain that an "-ism" has to do with labeling someone or categorizing
them for the purpose of keeping them at a lower level -- that is, discriminating against
them. Write the term sexism as an example, then point out that there are other kinds of
"-isms"-- for instance, sneakerism would involve discriminating against someone on the basis
of his or her footwear. Encourage students to think of other "-isms." Record students'
contributions. When a list has been generated, bring out the idea that all of us have, at one
time or another, experienced discrimination. Then discuss how it feels to be put down or
discriminated against on the basis of a quality that you possess.
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There is never a dearth of news stories involving discrimination and bias. Students can
find such stories in newspapers and magazines. Have students bring them in for discussion.
They can explore controversial topics like affirmative action using the process of
academic controversy.
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A rich body of literature vividly communicates how it feels to be the victim of
discrimination. Students can read and report on any of these works. Consult the school
or public librarian for help in selecting books to put on reserve. Students can research
and report on topics related to social/historical issues including slavery, civil rights,
women's rights, gay rights, or the treatment of immigrants.
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To what extent does the media perpetuate or contribute to stereotypes and biases? Students
can look at how women, people of color, minorities, and others are portrayed in the news,
on television programs, and in the movies. Ask students to keep a notebook handy while
watching their favorite shows so that they can record their observations about stereotyping
(or lack of it). Students can share their observations in small groups, and the groups can
then report to the class. (This activity relates to media literacy.)
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