Becoming a Holocaust EducatorL Pledger, Crandall, and Warren

[Momodou Sarr]

“Teachers teaching teachers”, a familiar motto to those of us affiliated with writitng projects at a university, college, or other location is what struck me browsing through this book. Michelle Pledger’s chaoter looked famiiar to me immedately, and it inspired me to adapt her strategies in our last Summer Holocaust Seminar to show the value of authentic action in “Participatory Youth Action Research”. Michelle’s lesson plan included most of the elements of Youth Participatory Action Research; Inclusion, Shared Authority, Knowledge Legitimacy, and vehicle for social change. I was able to show how these elements look like in a Holocaust lesson plan/class using a Participatory Action Research methodology.

In Crandall’s chapter, I was struck by how she built and sustained student curiosity tthrough questions, a process familiar to me through what Paula Freire called building students epistomological curiosity. Cara’s use of inquiry based learning in an interdisciplinary manner was very effective, and she too in my mind was able to share authority with students to help them did deeper. One thing that resonated with me is the power of socialization. I could see what Emma was struggling with. Could schooling undo what we learn at home and our larger social circles?

Wendy’s chapter stands out to me in that a pedagogy of empathy is as legitimate a process of teaching as any other pedagogy, and especially needed in these difficult circumstances. Empathy is a legitimate pathway to learning about others, and building a school community/culture that is inclusive, respectful, and capable of social action for change. Wendy’s chapter also remineded me of how deep seated and invinsible ideology can be, and that we must consider our roles in an ethical way to challenge it in our classrooms.
Some familiar themes in Wendy’s chapter are the power of socialization, universality of suffering, and hope. I will keep these in mind as we gather in New York.

[Bridgett Paddock]

Momodou,
I also resonated with much of the same. As a Writing Project teacher, I connected with the teachers teaching teachers model. I also connected strongly with Warren’s lessons on the importance of empathy. It is probably one of the most important things we can do in a classroom.

[Author]

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