Holocaust Education Institute for Teachers Launches for 2013-14 School Year

  • November 6, 2013

The first session of the Holocaust Education Institute for this school year was held on the University of Southern California campus on November 1.  More than 40 educators from public, private and parochial schools attended the all-day program that focused on A Multimedia Approach to Teaching the Holocaust, a collaboration between ADL and the USC Shoah Foundation.

During this professional development workshop, participants received training to use their grant-funded copies of Echoes and Reflections – Leaders in Holocaust Education, along with hands-on instruction on I Witness, a website developed by the USC Shoah Foundation that includes more than 1,000 fully searchable video testimonies that complement Echoes and Reflections. Teachers came away from the training with a complete teachers’ guide on the Holocaust as well as how to incorporate visual history testimony into classroom instruction and student projects.

Dr. Stephen Smith, Executive Director of USC Shoah Foundation, addressing participants

Dr. Stephen Smith, Executive Director of USC Shoah Foundation, gave the first presentation of the day.  He spoke about the importance of taking a stand against injustice and cited as an example, Armin Wegner, a German human rights activist who documented the plight of the Armenians during WWI and took a public stand against the Nazis prior to WWII.  According to Dr. Smith, Wegner is the only person recognized as one of the Righteous Among the Nations who did not directly save a person.

Following Dr. Smith’s presentation, ADL Associate Director Matthew Friedman led a training on the Echoes and Reflections program, including a sample lesson and a discussion on the pedagogy of the Holocaust.  Participants finished up the day in computer labs, receiving training on I Witness.Those who attended the workshop praised its applicability, and evaluations of the session’s content indicated consistent ratings of “extremely valuable.” Comments included:

“Excellent program!”

“Excellent overall – great, easy to use tools, creative ideas for constructive classroom activities and very student centered.”

“Awesome!”

Great resources – so applicable to different subjects/ lessons”

“All materials are extremely thoughtful and comprehensive.  I look forward to incorporating the materials into my classroom.”

“Every part of this course should be given to all teachers.”

“I feel more confident about teaching the Holocaust in my classroom.”

Throughout the school year ADL’s Los Angeles Holocaust Institute brings together the finest resources to teach about the Holocaust from the Anti-Defamation League, the CA Center for Excellence on the Study of the Holocaust, Genocide, Human Rights and Tolerance, the Los Angeles Museum of the Holocaust, the Museum of Tolerance and the USC Shoah Foundation.

Sign up now for upcoming sessions.

Bearing Witness™ 2014 (for Catholic school educators) – Monday, February 10, 2014

Experiential Holocaust Education (museum-based resources) – Full-day session, February 21, 2014

For information on any of the upcoming sessions, please visit www.adl.org/laholocaustinstitute, call 310-446-4231, or contact us.