Teaching Holocaust and Human Behaviour (Canada)

In today’s world, questions of how to best build and maintain democratic societies that are pluralistic, open, and resilient to violence are more relevant than ever. Studying the Holocaust allows students to wrestle with profound moral questions raised by this history and fosters their skills in ethical reasoning, critical thinking, empathy, and civic engagement—all of which are critical for sustaining democracy.

Independent evaluation has shown that implementing Facing History’s approach improves students’ higher-order thinking skills, increases students’ civic efficacy and engagement with civic matters, and increases students’ tolerance for others who hold contrary views.

In this three-day in-person seminar featuring the fully revised, printed edition of Holocaust and Human Behavior—teachers will:

1. Learn current scholarship on the history of the Holocaust, antisemitism and research focused on human behavior, group dynamics, and bias
2. Increase their ability to facilitate respectful classroom discussions on issues such as racism, antisemitism, and other forms of exclusion in a way that invites personal reflection and critical analysis
3. Learn a new way of structuring curriculum to help students connect history to their own lives and the choices they make
4. Engage with classroom-ready multimedia resources and learn how to build a customized unit that meets your curriculum objectives
5. Discover new teaching strategies that help students interrogate text, think critically, and discuss controversial issues respectfully
6. Experience site based learning in historic Kensington market connected to the history of Toronto’s Jewish community.  Discover stories of migration, employment, activism, community and culture connected to this place and beyond.
7. Experience moving personal stories, historic artifacts and  more at the newly opened Toronto Holocaust Museum.
    

After this seminar, attendees will:

• Become part of the Facing History educator network, with access to a rich slate of educator resources, including downloadable unit and lesson plans, study guides, and multimedia resources

 Who should take this mini-course: 

This course is intended to support both secondary school educators teaching the Holocaust and genocide studies, and grade 6 teachers in Ontario preparing for the new curriculum expectations for teaching Jewish Canadian stories and the Holocaust.

This event will be hosted in-person in Toronto, Ontario, Canada:

• Time: 9:30 am- 4:00 pm EST for all three days.
• Day 1 & 2 - Centre for Social Innovation (192 Spadina Ave)
• Day 3 - Toronto Holocaust Museum @ Prosserman Jewish Community Centre (4588 Bathurst St.)