Lower East Side Tenement Museum

Overview

K-12 Teachers

Tours

Training Courses

Using history to shape the future:
How history education can foster critical thinking and civic engagement

“P” In-Service Credit Course at the
Lower East Side Tenement Museum
For High School Social Studies Teachers

Tuesdays and Thursdays, 5:00-7:30 PM
April 17-May 24, 2007

Registration is now open. To register, go to www.nyaspdp.org.
Class size is limited to twenty teachers, so please register early.

By the end of the course, teachers will:

Be able to articulate at least three historians’ perspectives on the role of history in the present
Have a solid understanding about the history of immigration to New York City and the enduring issues that immigrants past and present have faced
Know how to do primary source research on immigration-related issues and use primary sources in the classroom
Know how to present immigration history from a variety of perspectives and engage students in dialogue about their different perspectives on enduring immigration issues
Know at least three inquiry-based, participatory educational techniques for engaging students with complicated histories and making connections between the past and the present

NY State Learning Standards:
Commencement

Students explain the importance of analyzing narratives drawn from different ties and places to understand historical events.
Students analyze evidence critically and demonstrate as understanding of how circumstances of time and place influence perspective.
Students compare and contrast the experiences of different groups in the United States
Students compare and contrast the experiences of different ethnic, national, and religious groups
Students understand the interrelationships between world events and developments in New York State and the United States
Students analyze historical narratives about key events in New York State and United States history to identify the facts and evaluate the authors’ perspectives
Students consider different historians’ analyses of the same event or development in United States history to understand how different viewpoints and/or frames of reference influence historical interpretations
Students evaluate the validity and credibility of historical interpretations of important events or issues in New York State or United States history, revising these interpretations

Course Outline:

CLASS ONE

Using the past to shape the future: Making history relevant
The Museum’s staff will discuss why and how history should inform our understanding of the present and our work towards building a better future. Following her presentation, participants will take the Museum’s Getting By tour and discuss the contemporary relevance of the historic issues explored on the tour.

CLASS TWO

An overview of immigration to New York City: 1800-present
Learn about the history of immigration to New York. First, participants will watch a History Channel video about the waves of immigrants who settled in the Lower East Side over time. Then a historian will give a presentation on the history of immigration to New York City

CLASS THREEE

Immigration today
Learn about some of the most pressing issues facing immigrant communities today. Discuss articles in the news about immigration that sparked your interest, and then hear from a member of an immigrant-serving organization about how these kinds of issues are impacting the communities they work with, and how those communities are responding.

CLASS FOUR

Conducting primary source research
Learn how to do your own historical research using primary source documents. The Museum’s Research Manager will discuss the nuts and bolts of doing historical research, highlighting some of the documents he has found that have shed new light on enduring immigration issues.

CLASS FIVE

Teaching through primary source documents
Using the primary source documents the Museum has located about the life and times of the Moore family, participants will endeavor to piece together the Moore family story. Following this activity, participants will discuss the benefits and challenges of working with primary source documents, and strategies for introducing them into the classroom.

CLASS SIX

Presenting history from a variety of perspectives
Using the Museum’s Tenement Inspectors program as a starting point, the Education Director will discuss the advantages of presenting history from a variety of perspectives, with an emphasis on perspectives that have been underrepresented in traditional historiography. Participants will discuss the importance of changing and competing interpretation of different historical developments.

CLASS SEVEN

Teaching through dialogue
Learn about the value of making dialogue part of the learning process and specific techniques for engaging students in dialogue about contentious issues. Education department staff will define “dialogue.” Then, they will discuss the structure of its post-tour dialogue program, highlighting the skills that the Museum’s educators and facilitators are taught as part of their training process. Teachers will participate in a facilitated dialogue about their own views on contemporary immigration issues and then have a follow-up discussion about how to integrate dialogue techniques into the classroom lessons.

CLASS EIGHT

SHARE MIDTERM PROJECTS
Participants will share their midterm projects and get feedback.
Assignment: Using the Tenement Museum’s lesson plan template, develop a draft lesson plan for a classroom activity that would 1) utilize primary source documents to provide students with historical perspective on a contemporary immigration issue; and 2) engage students in dialogue about that issue.

CLASS NINE

Teaching through oral history
Learn how oral histories can shed new light on history and discuss the challenge of verifying the veracity of oral histories.

CLASS TEN

Teaching with objects
Learn how you can use historical objects to interpret immigrant history. Using objects from the Museum’s collections as a starting point, the Collections Manager will discuss how to select objects that will shed light on the history you are addressing, how to acquire those objects, and how to care for them. Following her presentation, the Museum’s Education Director will discuss how to help students explore their personal connections to those objects, and lead participants in educational activities using objects that are meaningful to them.

CLASS ELEVEN

Fostering civic engagement
Learn about historic sites throughout the world that explore difficult histories and use them as a catalyst to foster civic engagement and promote democratic and humanitarian values. Learn about the educational approaches they use to engage young audiences in their work.

CLASS TWELVE

FINAL
Presentation of final papers
Assignment: Write a final paper about the most significant things you learned during the course, how it will impact the way you teach history, and how you believe it will impact student learning. Come prepared to share your final paper with the class.