The Testimony Project
Presentation by: Andrea Webb
Session A | 9:00 – 9:20 | Room 208
Abstract:
With the incoming curriculum changes, educators in British Columbia will now have greater flexibility to engage students in personally relevant, inquiry-based learning. The Vancouver Holocaust Education Centre is embracing this change through the development of teaching materials for the Testimony Project.
The Testimony Project is a grant-supported initiative to preserve, digitize, and make accessible over 200 Holocaust survivor testimonies dating back to the early 1980s. A key part of the project has included the development and piloting of materials for educators. The teaching materials for the Testimony Project are based in the literature on Holocaust Education, the use of video to teach controversial topics, and input from a local teacher advisory group. As well, feedback from the pilot will inform the direction of future materials. When the project concludes in June, these materials will be made freely available on the web.
This presentation will provide an overview of the Testimony Project, outline the teaching materials that will accompany the testimony clips, including connections to the new BC curriculum and the Big Six of Historical Thinking, and introduce the different ways that practicing teachers have used the testimony clips in the classroom pilot. Depending on the time allotted, the presentation could be a 20 minute individual presentation or a 40 minute group presentation, that includes the teachers from the pilot.
The discussion at IOP will invite participants to ask questions about the pilot materials and make suggestions for the ongoing development of more resources that meet classroom needs.
