Facing History Students from Rwanda to Travel to Boston and Washington, D.C.
Facing History and Ourselves Students from Rwanda to
Travel to Boston and Washington, D.C.
Three-week trip part of U.S. Department of State-funded
two-year cultural and educational program
BROOKLINE – For nearly two years, Facing History and Ourselves high school students from Rwanda and Massachusetts have been learning together, face-to-face and online, about what makes a community strong and what can tear a community apart. Their experience will culminate on March 12, when 18 Rwandan students and their teachers will travel to Boston through a grant from the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs (ECA).
“The students from Rwanda and the United States describe a newly found sense of urgency to change the world. They explicitly tell how their expectations were shattered, their understandings remade, and hopes renewed," said Margot Stern Strom, executive director of Facing History and Ourselves, on the students’ experiences to date. "Living this educational experience and building their very own global community has transformed the students' understanding of difference, showing them that difference can be a strength in a community and that diversity can be a source for power and creativity."
While together, the students will continue their learning with Facing History, through educational and cultural activities in Boston, Hudson, and Washington, D.C. They will meet Little Rock Nine member Terrence Roberts in a two-day Facing History workshop about the U.S. civil rights movement. The students will also meet with community leaders and politicians in Massachusetts, and while in Washington, D.C., they will brief congressional leaders about their experience and present community-themed videos created together during the program.
During the course of this exchange, students also took part in two comprehensive digital arts workshop hosted by the Mobile Learning Institute, a Pearson Foundation/Nokia Alliance. During each workshop students had the chance to make use of mobile and digital technologies to document their experiences and to give voice to their concerns in a way that would directly engage their peers and their local community.
“Young people see video as a natural, dynamic way to express their ideas,” said Pearson Foundation President Mark Nieker. “The real heart of this exchange, however, is the chance Facing History and Ourselves has given young people from both communities to meet, share, and understand each others’ experiences. This has turned out to be a process that has benefited not just the participants, but everyone involved in the program as well.”
The group was last together in July 2009, when students from Hudson High School and TechBoston Academy traveled to Rwanda for a three-week study program.
"I came back with a bigger heart. We walked in their shoes and now they are coming here and will walk in our shoes," TechBoston Academy student Alex Cruz said of the experience.
A Rwandan student spoke about the theme of the exchange: “The most meaningful part for me was lessons we learned for a good community. I think those lessons help us to live together without thinking of our differences.”
After spending time together in July, the students continued their learning online using a website that Facing History created. There, they posted Facing History assignments and reflections on their learning to date.
The exchange builds on Facing History’s extensive experience in helping teachers to foster students’ critical thinking about how the history of the Holocaust and other examples of genocide and mass violence connect to the moral choices they confront in their lives. This exchange has allowed students and teachers from two different cultures to explore together the critical importance of civic participation and tolerance, and the danger of apathy and prejudice.
About Facing History and Ourselves
Facing History and Ourselves is an international educational and professional development organization whose mission is to engage students of diverse backgrounds in an examination of racism, prejudice, and antisemitism in order to promote the development of a more humane and informed citizenry. By studying the historical development of the Holocaust and other examples of genocide and mass violence, students make the essential connection between history and the moral choices they confront in their own lives. Facing History reaches 1.9 million students each year through a network of 50,000 educators. In 2009, the Facing History website received more than 700,000 visits from people in 215 countries, with 2.6 million page views. The positive impact of Facing History on teachers and students has been documented in more than 90 studies over the last three decades. A recent two-year study provides definitive evidence that Facing History helps to create effective teachers who improve their students’ academic performance and civic learning. Learn more at facinghistory.org.
About The Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs
The Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs (ECA) of the U.S. Department of State has the mission to foster mutual understanding between the people of the United States and the people of other countries around the world. ECA carries out a wide range of academic, cultural and professional exchange programs to promote cross-cultural respect and understanding, educational exchange, and leadership development for participants with diverse backgrounds and specialties. Learn more at www.exchanges.state.gov.
About the Pearson Foundation
The Pearson Foundation extends Pearson’s commitment to education by partnering with leading nonprofit, civic, and business organizations to provide financial, organizational, and publishing assistance across the globe. They aim to make a difference by sponsoring innovative educational programs and extending our educational expertise to help in classrooms and in local communities. More information on the Pearson Foundation can be found at www.pearsonfoundation.org. Nokia and the Pearson Foundation also sponsor the Mobile Learning Institute, which delivers engaging, personalized, project-based learning right to the classrooms and community centers across the United States. Learn more about the Mobile Learning Institute by visiting www.mobilelearninginstitute.org.
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Contact: Emma Samler
Facing History and Ourselves
617.735.1641
emma_samler@facing.org
