Jewish Education Program
More than 1,300 educators working in Jewish settings have attended an introductory seminar or workshop to learn how to bring the themes and materials of Facing History and Ourselves’ Jewish Education Program into their classrooms.
Facing History’s Jewish Education Program extends the organization’s content and teaching strategies to Jewish day and congregational schools across the United States, Canada, Israel, and Mexico City. Using the Facing History resource book The Jews of Poland in conjunction with Facing History and Ourselves: Holocaust and Human Behavior, the program provides professional development and resources that enable teachers and students to:
- Explore Jewish identity through an examination of diverse Jewish life in the Diaspora and make connections to their own lives
- Study the multi-textured Jewish culture in pre-World War II Europe through art, music, and literature
- Examine the tremendous difficulties and choices Jews faced during the war in the ghettos and camps
- Learn about the Jewish resistance through ghetto uprisings and other actions
- Explore the legacies of the Holocaust for Jews today
- Incorporate the study of Jewish text into the study of humanities
For more information or questions about the Jewish Education Program, contact Amanda Hadad.
Visit our Israel page for more information on news and events related to the Jewish Education Program.
Program Highlights
Jewish Education Schools Project
Through the Jewish Education Schools project, Facing History is working to create a richer and more meaningful Jewish educational experience for middle school and high school students. Since the inception of this project in January 2009, Facing History has begun to develop strong relationships with eight schools in the greater Boston and greater Los Angeles communities. These schools will be characterized by the infusion of Facing History’s multi-faceted content and innovative pedagogy into classes at several grade levels and across different disciplines. The use of Facing History’s approach will reinforce the connection between Jewish values and the humanities in the larger school community. This project is generously funded by the Jim Joseph Foundation.
Jewish Text Project
The Jewish Text Project is designed to integrate Jewish studies and general studies through the dissemination of materials that link the study of Jewish text (Biblical, Rabbinic, and contemporary) to the study of the Holocaust through the themes examined in the Facing History program. This project is generously funded by the Covenant Foundation.
Jewish Peoplehood Project
The Jewish Education program is cultivating its teacher leadership through the Peoplehood Project. In partnership with Beth Hatefutsoth and the International School for Jewish Peoplehood Studies, a group of 15 educators traveled to Israel during the summer 2009 to study the themes of membership, Jewish identity, community, and pluralism. Since then they have been collaborating with Facing History staff to develop materials for their classrooms and have been in touch through an online educator community. A new group of educators will participate in the program in summer 2010. This project is generously funded by the Nadav Foundation and by Solelim.
Working with Florida Teachers
The Jack and Harriet Rosenfeld Foundation has also funded Jewish Education at Facing History to work with Jewish Day and Congregational School educators in the Miami-Dade and Broward counties. Last summer, six educators from these counties attended the national summer seminar held in New York City, and since then have continued to work with program staff to integrate Facing History in to their classrooms.
