Certification in Holocaust Pedagogy
The Greenspon Center’s Holocaust Pedagogy Certification Program (CHP) provides intensive training on methods and strategies for teaching about the Holocaust across subjects and grades in 6-12 settings. Through the skills of historical examination and interpretation, this program prompts participants to ask questions and think critically about why the Holocaust happened, what it means for learners today, and how we can engage others in our schools and communities to do the same.
It will meet the necessary educational standards in North Carolina and complement the recent mandate for Holocaust education in the state by engaging educators in conversations about the new Gizella Abramson Holocaust Education Act.
Become Certified in Holocaust Pedagogy
Our program is ideal for individuals with:
- Professional credentials demonstrating experience and familiarity with teaching about the Holocaust and other genocides or atrocities
- Motivation to deepen content knowledge and learn new ways of teaching, all with humility at the vastness of the field
- Commitment to the field of study and availability for the duration of the program
Duration/Commitment
Sept-March
Format
Cost
Inaugural Program
The pilot program begins in September 2022 and will include select educators across subjects and grades in the CMSD as well as teachers from schools with a public-private charter in the district.
Our pilot program for 2022-23 is tailored for active classroom teachers who have a background in Holocaust and/or genocide education and demonstrate a working knowledge of Holocaust history.
Enroll in a Future Program
We seek to expand our programs to the following groups in 2023 and beyond:
- School leadership, policymakers, and administrators with whom we can amplify the impact of individual teacher learning by encouraging school or community-wide commitments to Holocaust education.
- Advanced Teacher Trainers who have demonstrated interest in advancing their knowledge to support and seek to continue their own learning for the sake of training other Holocaust educators.
To request information or to indicate interest, please contact Katie Cunningham, Holocaust Pedagogy Certification Program Coordinator, Stan Greenspon Holocaust and Social Justice Education Center, at cunninghamk@queens.edu.
What Makes CHP Different?
The CHP program was specifically developed for the Greenspon Center and is based on comprehensive research from the last 75 years of Holocaust Education in the United States. This program takes proven foundations in Holocaust history and folds in adaptive and innovative methods in an effort to be responsive to the changing landscape of teaching, especially in a post-pandemic world. As a result, these new strategies will bring about different outcomes-oriented goals when learning about the Holocaust.
A New Approach
The program’s foundations are Pedagogy, History, and Praxis
Participants will also choose one of three outcomes-focused tracks based on their goals for teaching the Holocaust: Engaged Learning, Commemoration, and Community Building.
See full program details, including additional information on tracks here.
Why CHP at Greenspon?
This program will provide:
Mentorship and Community
We recognize that part of successful Holocaust education is building and maintaining a structured educational community that feels safe and continues to engage with one another even after the course has concluded. We are committed to developing a community of connected education professionals who are supported by mentors throughout the program and beyond.
Structured Feedback and Discussion Groups
This program is designed to be responsive to the needs of educators by providing structured time for feedback, questions, and assessment of the program as participants experience it.
Robust Educational Goals to Equip all Participants
Upon completion of the program, participants will demonstrate a firm grasp of Holocaust history, make connections between the learning dimensions of Holocaust education, and develop their own community or classroom-specific learning goals, lessons, and/or programs that will be immediately applicable to their teaching.
A Lasting Impact
Holocaust education is essential to American society, but it is also at a crossroads in terms of how we can ensure its continued efficacy in American schools. The CHP program will also conduct empirical research about the effectiveness of its teaching practices to contribute to the developing field of Holocaust education in real-time.
Within the program’s development, we will engage with other academics, researchers, and practitioners to help answer key questions in the field around:
- inclusivity and relevance
- impact to or reimagining of teaching approaches
- evaluating the impact of Holocaust education on combatting antisemitism
Meet the Curriculum Developers and Program Facilitators
Christine Beresniova, PhD
Christine Beresniova, PhD
Lead Educational Consultant
Kristin Thompson
Kristin Thompson
Curriculum Developer
Kristin Thompson is an experienced classroom educator and curriculum designer. She is currently the founding director of Humanus Network, an educational consulting firm dedicated to developing Holocaust and human rights educational resources. Most recently, she designed curriculum for the Jewish Community Relations Council of Minnesota and the Dakotas that promoted a deepened historical knowledge of the Holocaust for teachers, which she presented at the 2021 National Conference for Social Studies.
Prior to this work, she was the Educational Program Coordinator at the Levine Institute for Holocaust Education at the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C. For over five years, she led the Museum’s flagship education and special programs, including the annual Arthur and Rochelle Belfer National Conference for Educators, the Museum Teacher Fellowship program, the Conference for Holocaust Education Centers (CHEC), and the Holocaust Institute for Teacher Educators (HITE).
During her tenure at the Museum, she developed & facilitated multiple, rigorous programs that annually engaged hundreds of educational leaders from around the globe. She also researched and created a museum-endorsed learning module for teacher training, Oath and Opposition: Education Under the Third Reich, which critically examines the role of teachers during the Holocaust and its applicable lessons for today. She presented this module at Holocaust education conferences around the world, including at Trinity College Dublin, Ireland and University College London (UCL), United Kingdom.
She holds a Master’s Degree in Educational Leadership as well as a Bachelor of Arts degree in History and Political Science, Bachelor of Science degree in Social Studies Education, and specialized licensure in Curriculum and Instruction.
