Facing History and Ourselves

Facing History and Ourselves uses lessons of history to challenge teachers and their students to stand up to bigotry and hate.

At Facing History and Ourselves, we believe the bigotry and hate that we witness today are the legacies of brutal injustices of the past. Through our partnerships, we help educators around the world face our collective history and address racism, antisemitism, and prejudice—so that their students can connect difficult choices made in the past to those they will confront in their own lives.

We integrate the study of history and literature with ethics and innovative teaching strategies, providing the expertise needed to guide challenging conversations and establish more equitable learning environments. We trust students to wrestle with complex moments in history and complex moments today. When students understand the roots and persistence of injustice, as well as the importance of their own choices, they are equipped and empowered to build a stronger democracy.

Our Partnership

Facing History and Ourselves is partnering with Chicago Public Schools' Office of Teaching and Learning and the Office of Social Science and Civic Engagement to bring Facing History’s curricular units on civil rights, the Holocaust, and Reconstruction to all 8th grade social studies and high school World History and American History classrooms. These standards-aligned units developed expressly for CPS educators reflect Proven Practices in Civic Learning and connect historical study and ethical reflection to informed action.

Resources

At Facing History and Ourselves, we believe education is the key to creating the next generation of compassionate leaders, and our offerings help make this possible. Informed by decades of research in adolescent development and grounded in expert historical resources, our work supports teachers around the world, and reaches millions of students in thousands of classrooms every year.

• Topics: Browse by topic our extensive library of educator resources that connect past to present.
• Books & Borrowing: Visit our lending library and store to find resources to borrow and our original publications to download or buy.
• Connecting to Current Events: Discover activities and strategies for making meaningful connections between current events and your curriculum.
• On Demand Learning Center: Get a glimpse inside real classrooms in our classroom videos to see our teaching strategies in action, learn from our on-demand webinars, and engage with our self-paced workshops to further your professional learning.
• Professional Development Calendar: Our learning opportunities are designed to fit your goals and busy schedule. Gain a new perspective, add more tools to your teaching toolbox, and benefit from the experience and fellowship of other teachers.

Featured Resources

Access the Toolboxes to Implement the CPS Five-Week Units

Connect with FHAO

Please contact the Facing History team at cps@facinghistory.org.