Workshop Engages Teachers from Across the World on Issues of Religion, Identity and Democracy

Participants in Facing History's weeklong online workshop considered the challenges schools face as they negotiate the needs of diverse student populations and the pressure to help reinforce a shared civic identity. They closely examined recent debates surrounding headscarves in public schools in France, exploring the role of religion in public life by examining the French Republican model of assimilation. Participants also discussed the ways in which communities define their membership, with an emphasis on the role of immigration and religion in these processes of inclusion and exclusion. They actively engaged in powerful discussions of the goals and conditions of peaceful coexistence and how we can bring these discussions and materials to our students and communities. The workshop introduced three of Facing History's newest resources: Stories of Identity: Religion, Migration, and Belonging, What do we do with a Difference: France and the Debate Over Headscarves in Schools, and Identity and Belonging in a Changing Great Britain.

One participant, Alison H. from Los Angeles, CA, said “It has become very clear that in order for me to teach about 'others' more effectively, I must first help my students discover themselves. I always took the 'we' aspect of Facing History for granted because I thought it was obvious who 'we' were. Now I see that 'we' as... a multifaceted group with so much diversity within ourselves. Once we recognize the similarities and differences within our own group, we will be ready to identify and learn about other groups. I am hoping that this realization among the students will foster the sensitivity needed to understand others.”