A philanthropy-backed education program aims to build an inclusive society, combat discrimination and warn against spreading misinformation.
As the Australian school year kicks off for 2023, one group of teachers are aiming to create a more compassionate classroom, empowered by their learnings from a philanthropy-backed education program.
Run by the Gandel Foundation, the Gandel Holocaust Studies Program for Australian Educators aims to equip non-Jewish secondary school teachers with practical tools to address the Holocaust in an age-appropriate and factual manner, and in so doing, help to reduce instances of anti-semitism.
The global Jewish community commemorated International Holocaust Remembrance Day last Friday, which acknowledges the anniversary of the liberation of the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp and the six million Jewish victims of the Holocaust, also called the Shoah.
It is particularly timely given the growing threat of far-right extremism in Australia, which has seen Victoria become the first state to ban the Nazi swastika, and other states taking similar actions including the recent consideration to outlaw the Nazi salute.
“The Gandel program trains and equips teachers from around Australia so they learn and understand how best to teach about the Holocaust in a professional, skillful, empathetic and contemporary way,” said Gandel Foundation CEO Vedran Drakulic OAM.
Read the article by Ruby Kraner-Tucci in Pro Bono.