While the COVID-19 Pandemic has affected many fields, education remains among those most severely impacted. According to UNESCO, approximately 1.5 billion students in over 174 countries have been prevented from attending school due to closures. Beyond the immediate consequences that the pandemic has had on learning processes, prolonged confinement and the loss of students’ school routines have also had a distinctly negative effect on the emotional wellbeing of the younger generation.
As an organization that works in the field of mass atrocity prevention, the Auschwitz Institute for the Prevention of Genocide and Mass Atrocities (AIPG) is acutely aware of the challenges created by the pandemic, especially those that relate to increased social tensions. Around the world, societies are seeing an increase in discriminatory behaviors, threats to protected human rights, and challenges to democratic governance. These are topics that are especially relevant within the context of the Citizenship and Democracy in School project, which the Auschwitz Institute has been implementing in Brazil since 2018.
In response to this situation, the Educational Policies Program (EPP) of the Auschwitz Institute has prioritized the creation of tools to help teachers have effective discussions with their students about the moment in a responsible and caring manner. In line with the topics that are part of the Citizenship and Democracy in School project curricula, AIPG has created in 2020 6 complementary Portuguese-language activities to facilitate the classroom discussions.
The importance of the topics covered in these new materials was solidified by the results of a questionnaire developed by the Auschwitz Institute for educators who participated in a series of EPP webinars in April and May.
To further assist these teachers in their work, the 6 new EPP activities have been crafted with versatility in mind. The guiding resources for each can be used as a digital online resource, as well as an offline one by printing and distributing the materials to students who may lack consistent internet access.
Continuing the efforts to strengthen the educational community in times of COVID-19, in October 2021, the Auschwitz Institute launched a Portuguese-language activity kit for the returning of in-person classes in Brazilian public education during the pandemic. The purpose of the kit is to help re(establish) collective arrangements and care that contribute to a safer, more reliable, and respectful learning environment. In addition, the proposed participatory methodology intends to provoke reflections on the impacts of the current crisis, understanding its effects not only as individual experiences but also as collective ones.
Both Portuguese-language materials are available below for all teachers who want to bring citizen and democratic education discussions to the classroom.
Access to the Kit
Access to the Kit of Activities for the Return of In-person classes during the Covid-19 Pandemic here.
Access to Complementary Activities
The 6 Portuguese-language activities materials can be accessed here.
For more information, please do not hesitate to contact AIPG’s EPP at education.program@auschwitzinstitute.org.