At Ashbury College, students spend three weeks (approximately eight classes of 80 minutes each) studying the Holocaust unit as part of the Grade 10 Canadian History course.
To put the unit into proper historical context, we begin with the rise of Hitler and the situation in antisemitic Germany post-World War I. We then cover the main issues such as moving from antisemitism as part of Nazi policy to legislation to violence to ghettos and finally to murder by bullets and gas. Students also study resistance, rescue, and liberation.
Students use two booklets that the department has put together over the years, three to four films or parts of films, and engage in teacher- and student-led discussions. We tweak the program every year but cover the same main points.
At the end of the unit, instead of a standard test, which didn’t feel right, students traditionally complete a variety of assignments, such as writing a reflection on Elie Wiesel’s Night. However, when I heard Professor Irwin Cotler speak at the CHES 2016 Teachers Workshop and read his article, I decided to adapt the assignment and use his article as a basis for a reflection on the whole unit. This gives the students a more global view of genocide and allows them to choose a lesson in Professor Cotler’s article that speaks to them. They then must review their notes and critically analyze and decide how to make links between the lesson they chose and specific information we had covered in the unit.
Alyssa Novick (B.A. Hons, M.A., BEd) has been teaching history and International Baccalaureate History in grades 10 to 12 at Ashbury College for over 30 years. She led several student history trips to the United States and Europe. Alyssa shared her outstanding lesson plan with CHES, as well as a sample assignment by her student Justin Ma. These are now available on our website lesson plans for educators to download for free.
We thank Headmaster Norman Southward, Head of Social Studies Lisa Lewicki, and history teacher Alyssa Novack for reaching out to CHES and for their commitment to engaging in further dialogue and education on this important subject.
“On behalf of the faculty and staff at Ashbury College, I would like to extend our sincere gratitude to both of you, Mina and Avi, for organizing such a valuable professional development session for us. We have received very positive feedback and we are committed to engaging in further dialogue and education on this important subject” – Lisa Lewicki
