PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — The School District of Philadelphia is providing Holocaust education training to teachers through a brand new partnership with the Philadelphia Holocaust Remembrance Foundation.
Eszter Kutas, the foundation's executive director, said her organization's relationship with the district began last year.
"The school district has made an effort to bring a new curriculum into the classrooms that have a strong anti-racist component to it," she said. "We are so excited that just since December, we have trained 140 public school teachers."
Kutas added the Holocaust education resources they provide create greater context in explaining not only what happened, but how it happened. "We also look at the common threads between antisemitism and racism, both historically and today," she said.
The foundation also provides a variety of materials and ideas for educators. "We understand that a lot of the students today connect best through resources that are not just books," said Kutas.
"There were a lot of resources that were provided, including virtual walking tours," said Edison High School English teacher Emily Cohen.
Cohen said the training provided her with an abundance of Holocaust education resources online and throughout the city.
"I actually did not even know that there was this whole area on the Ben Franklin Parkway that had a remembrance or a memorial set up," she admitted.
Related
Kutas said teachers involved typically teach grades 6-12. She conceded the content can be disturbing or difficult, but it's important not to avoid it, which is why it's crucial to have training on how to teach the Holocaust in an age appropriate manner.
"The Holocaust is obviously a very somber topic," she said, "but the focus of Holocaust education is not on the devastating killings."
One subject the training addresses is propaganda.
"The facilitators would show propaganda examples," recalled Cohen, "ask us what we noticed about them, just an open-ended 'What do you see?'"
In one session over Zoom, Kutas opened a discussion about the nature of propaganda, asking participants what comes to mind when they think of it.
"Misinformation," said one person. "Pushing an agenda," replied another.
The training, which is part of the district's anti-racism curriculum, is typically two hours long. Kutas said the goal is to provide a framework to better approach this difficult topic.
"We should not avoid talking about this," she said. "Just because it's somber, just because it's a very dark piece of history, we shouldn't avoid it."
Cohen appreciated the ways in which she was able to tie the material into her own lessons.
"What I loved about the training," she shared, "is that although it was initially designated for social studies teachers, as an English teacher, I was also able to tie the information into my lessons and into my curriculum."