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Session 2: Background on Choosing to Participate

 

Guiding Questions for this Session:

  • What is Choosing to Participate, and what are the main themes and ideas of the website?
  • Where does Choosing to Participate fit within the Facing History journey?
  • What does "choosing to participate" mean to students?

 

 

Created by Facing History and Ourselves, Choosing to Participate is a multifaceted educational and civic initiative that encourages young people and adults around the world to think deeply about the importance of participating in a democratic society. The Choosing to Participate initiative focuses on civic choices—the decisions people make about themselves and others in their community, nation, and world. The choices people make, both large and small, may not seem important at the time, but little by little they shape us as individuals and responsible global citizens.

Choosing to Participate represents the culmination of the Facing History Journey, when students reflect on the key concepts they have learned through the study of some of the darkest episodes in human history: that history is not inevitable, but is constructed everyday by the choices of individuals, groups and nations; that genocides and other instances of mass violence would not be possible if not for the silence and inaction of bystanders. Students come to realize that without the active participation of its citizens, a democracy can not be sustained.

Facing History offers the following tools and resources to help students deepen their sense of civic agency as they think about their role as citizens in an increasingly interconnected world:

  • Choosing to Participate is a multimedia website (choosingtoparticipate.org) that allows teachers, students, and community members to explore the themes and content, and provides an opportunity to get connected to the Facing History global community. (The website will be explored in this workshop during "Session 3: The Choosing to Participate Website.")

  • Choosing to Participate is a resource book that uses case studies in history to elaborate and expand on the key themes, challenges and consequences associated with an individual's choice to participate--or to not participate--in civil society. The resource book challenges us to think deeply about what democracy really means, and what it asks of each of us. (The Resource Book will be explored in this workshop during Session 4)

  • And, Choosing to Participate is a traveling exhibit that has reached hundreds of thousands of teachers, students, and community members. While the exhibition was in Cleveland in 2010, Choosing to Participate drew more than 20,000 people, including over 9,000 students. Visitors to the Choosing to Participate exhibition, which will be in Washington, DC as of February, 2011, will experience a series of multimedia installations about people and communities whose stories illustrate the courage, initiative and compassion needed to protect democracy and human rights.This powerful exhibition examines the impact and history of racism and injustice through a series of stories that illustrate the courage and compassion necessary to protect democracy. Read more about the history of the exhibit here.
     

 

Please make sure you have checked the "Mark as read" box at the top of this page. Then continue to the next activity: Choosing to Participate and the Facing History Journey.