“We are more diverse than ever, and different people have different perspectives,” says Maureen Costello, director of Teaching Tolerance at the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC). The non-profit organization monitors U.S. hate groups and other extremists and also offers programs that help teachers educate children to be active participants in a diverse democracy.
“The main job for teachers in this case is to help students discuss controversial issues without turning into enemies,” says Costello. “The job is also to prepare people with multiple points of view to survive and thrive in self-government.”
“History is happening in the world around us but the issues are rooted in the past,” Costello says. “Teachers must be careful about making their lessons not only about the day’s news.”
Still, lesson plans involving America’s legacy of injustice from slavery and segregation, to the legal discrimination against women, homosexuals, and biracial couples, can be sound sources of teaching and learning, according to Jennifer Rich, an assistant professor at Rowan University in New Jersey. Her research focuses on how teachers can talk about the Holocaust, slavery in America, and the incarceration of Japanese-Americans during WWII in honest and inclusive ways.
To read more of John Rosales' article,please click here.
Comments (0)