The Fight for Educational Justice: Teaching Choices in Little Rock

Educators play a critical role in helping young people understand lessons from history to navigate our world today. This seminar will introduce teachers to Facing History’s newly revised Choices in Little Rock unit, which delves into the historical context and circumstances of the 1957 Little Rock school desegregation crisis. Centered in the content is the essential question: How do the choices people make, individually and collectively, strengthen or weaken democracy?

This three-day seminar will focus on people’s civic choices —the decisions people make as members of a democracy. Those decisions, both in 1957 and now, reveal that democracy is not a finished product but a work in progress. Educators will be provided with tools to help students grapple with the legacies of history and empower them to reflect upon the issues and dilemmas that shape civic life today.

Participants will:

• Investigate the history of desegregation in Little Rock as a case study of democracy and participation
• Make local connections to NYC’s fight for equitable access to schooling during the civil rights movement
• Engage with strategies and materials designed to foster civil discourse and discussions of civic topics in your classroom
• Explore ways to center students’ voices and lived experiences as they develop civic agency and responsibility

This offering is for: 6–12th grade US history, civics, humanities teachers, curriculum specialists and department chairs.

Schedule: Live sessions will take place from 8:45am to 3:00pm from August 11th through August 13th.