FOUNDATION FOR GENOCIDE EDUCATION
New resource now available to high school teachers to help address genocide in the classroom

As part of Genocide Remembrance, Condemnation, and Prevention Month, the Foundation for Genocide Education is proud to announce the official publication of the pedagogical guide Studying Genocides. This guide was produced by Professors Sabrina Moisan of the Université de Sherbrooke (UdeS) and Sivane Hirsch of the Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières (UQTR), with the collaboration of the Foundation for Genocide Education and the financial support of the Ministère de l'Éducation du Québec.

Available to all high school teachers in Quebec at education-genocide.ca, this guide will enable over 343,000 students in 800 schools to study the history of nine significant genocides of the 20^th century. The educational guide includes a series of case studies and definitions of the six stages leading to genocide, as well as teaching plans, reference documentation and instructional videos. It also examines the various genocides through testimonial videos of survivors or children of survivors living in Canada today. In addition, training workshops will be offered to teachers to help them use the guide effectively.

The genocides presented in the guide include the genocide of the First Nations in Canada, the genocide of the Herero and Nama in Namibia, the genocide of the Armenians under the Ottoman Empire, the Holodomor (genocide of the Ukrainians in the USSR), the genocide of the Roma and Sinti by the Nazis during the Second World War, the Holocaust, the genocide in Cambodia, the genocide of the Muslims in Bosnia and the genocide of the Tutsi in Rwanda.

The consequences of hatred and intolerance have a devastating impact on society, and the study of genocide will empower students to understand and address such manifestations. These complementary teaching resources are intended to support teachers in this delicate task and to facilitate the teaching of the history of genocide in Quebec schools.

A complete list of the members of the inter-university team, as well as the individuals and community associations consulted in the development of the guide, is available here.

"Ignorance often translates into hate, and we believe that an essential part of the solution to end hate begins with education. We believe that this guide will help students develop critical thinking skills to allow them to recognize the signs of intolerance and racism, and equip them to speak out against hate wherever they encounter it. The Foundation is pleased to finally see this project come to life as a result of our discussions with the government about the need to provide quality genocide education to youth."

Heidi Berger, Founder and President of the Foundation for Genocide Education

"This pedagogical guide is the result of a research and development process that Sivane Hirsch and I conducted over several years. I can therefore confirm that this guide offers an innovative anti-racist pedagogical approach through the analytical tools it offers and also through its focus on the various forms that prevention of violence can take at different stages of the genocidal process. This work was made possible thanks to the collaboration of a large number of actors from scientific circles and communities that have been victims of genocide. We are grateful to them."

Sabrina Moisan, Professor of History Education, Faculty of Education, Université de Sherbrooke

"To address as sensitive a topic as genocide in the classroom, teachers need to be well equipped. Thanks to its informative and pedagogical content, the guide Studying Genocide will become a true reference for teachers who may sometimes feel uneasy about the subject or the right ways to educate students about these tragedies, their causes and their impact on the history of the 20th century."

Sivane Hirsch, Professor of Ethics Education, Department of Education Sciences, Université de Québec à Trois-Rivières