Eighteen teachers from six schools attended the four-day Introductory Seminar. Teachers explored the case-studies of eugenics, Nazi Germany and the Holcoaust and apartheid South Africa and focussed on issues of identity, human behaviour and choices. Engaging with these histories also helped the teachers to explore the impact of their past on them personally. The seminar ended with “Choosing to Participate” in which teachers explored what it means to live and act in a democracy.

During the seminar Denis Goldberg, spoke to the teachers about his life and involvement in the struggle for democracy and human rights in South Africa.

Teachers’ responses to the seminar:
”I’m sure it has made me grow as a person, citizen and professional. It has also made me realise again how easily one’s freedom can be eroded if it is not jealously protected. Also how by the responsibility, as teachers and South Africa have to help make this human rights culture (and democracy) a real thing for every person.” Louis Marais, (Wolseley High School)
“Helped me to explore my own feelings about apartheid and human atrocities in general .To be reminded that to feel deeply my own pain and that of others is an intrinsic part of my ‘humanness’.” Roy Hellenberg (Rondebosch Boys High school)

“Oh! I like the personal and spiritual journey it has put me on. I can’t only teach good citizenship must be the example.” Bonita Belelie. (Settlers High School)

To read more about Facing the Past, click here
Shikaya recently hosted a seminar in Hermanus as part of the Western Cape Education Department’s anti-racism in schools intervention. Teachers from five of the six schools in the area attended. The seminar used the historical case-studeis of eugenics as well as segregation and desegregation in schools in the United States in the 1960s to help teachers think more deeply about issues of racism in their schoolsand their roles to promote integration in their classrooms.
“The fact that I could share my deepest emotions with people I did not know 4 days ago actually set me free. I realised I can talk without the fear of being labelled as a racist or a privileged white man. In this sense I gained self-confidence –now I know I will be able to run a community school. I am able to throw my mask away.” George Edwards (Gansbaai Secondary School)
“I’ve been developed to treat others equally and fairly to understand and accept, to be open and speak out, to respect others, to share and unite with others.” Primrose Jimlongo (Qhayiya Secondary School.)

Professor Denis Goldberg, Shikaya’s patron, has been awarded the Order of Luthuli, the highest order of the land. This order is South Africa’s most prestigious award and is granted by the president to those who have made a meaningful contribution to the struggle for democracy.

Denis Goldberg was sentenced to four life terms in prison along with Nelson Mandela at the Rivonia Trial for attempting “to overthrow the apartheid state through force of arms”. He spent 22 years inmrisoned at Pretoria Central.

Over the last year, Denis Goldberg has been visiting Facing the Past classrooms in the Western Cape and speaking to the Facing the Past teachers at various workshops and seminars.

After a visit from Denis, a learner, James, said, “I should be grateful that I am a South African, because we have such a rich history and some of our heroes are still alive to share their experience with us during the harsh times”.

Another learner, Yandisa, added,“People fought for our country now it is up to us to carry on the torch and use opportunities we have as a nation.”

Denis was recently invited to a Facing the Past Introductory Seminar, where he spoke to teachers about his life during apartheid. Many teachers were touched by his story.

One teacher said, “Denis,Oh so lovely to be near him and listen to this living legacy.”

Denis said that, “Meeting and speaking to the teachers was exciting because of their interest in the past and desire to understand it better, it was a great experience”.

Denis Goldberg will be visiting more Facing the Past classrooms during 2009.

Can schools help to bridge hurtful and divided pasts?

In the article, Professor Jansen, answers his question and highlights Facing the Past as one programme that is helping teachers and learners transform:

I do not think so. History is an elective subject in high school, one of the most serious flaws in the post-apartheid curriculum. But even if history was required of all students, the lack of inspection and supervision in most schools means that many teachers either completely ignore “sensitive material” or teach such content in a mechanical and uninterested manner.
Nor am I convinced that we have teachers in the system at the moment who have been trained well enough to enable them to bring children into honest and constructive dialogue about our difficult past.
But it is not simply a matter of technical training. These kinds of “difficult dialogues” require teachers who themselves have confronted their bigotry and their pain to teach empathetically rather than judgmentally.
Fortunately, there are models of good practice in South Africa. One of them is Facing the Past, an NGO project in Cape Town that has transformed black and white students and teachers through its innovative approach to teaching history.”

To read the full article click here.

A while ago United States President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama spoke at a Facing History and Ourselves event in which they talked about the importance of the work of Facing History. Facing History and Ourselves is one of the partners in the South African programme Facing the Past - Transforming our Future.

The First Lady has been a board member of Facing History in Chicago for years and knows the work well. Both she and the President have honoured Facing History with their presence at benefit dinners. Since 2003 Shikaya has been working with Facing History and the Western Cape Education Department to help teachers use the Facing History approaches and methodologies in their classrooms to develop young South Africans who are responsible, caring, critical thinking and aware individuals. So far we have worked with over 100 teachers here in the Western Cape.

This year another 80 teachers will be joining the programme which will see them helping their learners to link the past, theirs and that of others, to the moral choices they make today.

The Western Cape Education Department has chosen Facing the Past as a core programme to deliver their anti-racism in schools intervention.

In March this year Shikaya hosted a Facing the Past seminar for teachers in the Hermanus area as part of Western Cape Education Department’s anti-racism in schools intervention. Eighteen teachers from five of the six schools in the Hermanus area participated in the four day seminar. A reporter from the local newspaper, The Hermanus Times, visited the teachers on the last day of the seminar. A few weeks after the seminar the following article appeared in the Hermanus Times.

Course eye-opening

by Tania Colyn

In a time when accusations of racist behaviour are still being made, it is encouraging to know that steps are being taken to improve the situation. Dylan Wray from the non-profit organisation Shikaya, in partnership with the Western Cape education department, recently ran a four-day course on anti-racism for teachers from schools in the area.

About 15 teachers from Mt Pleasant Primary, Qhayiya Secondary, Hawston Primary, Hawston Secondary, Hermanus High and Lukhanyo Primary attended this course. The aim was to inform teachers on dealing with racial incidents at their schools, but also to deal with their own prejudices first. One of the participants, George Edwards, said this was an eye-opening experience and he feels these kind of courses should be compulsory for teachers and learners in the future.

The course started with a look at a case study on segregation in America, which allowed the participants to make the connection to South Africa’s own history of racial injustice. According to Wray a lot of personal conversations took place, where participants had to talk about their own experiences of apartheid and the injustices they had to suffer. Xolile Nywebeni from Lukhanyo Primary said that this is a step forward in the process of nation-building and that it is very necessary. Dawid Coert from Hawston Secondary said that the course gave the participants the opportunity to discuss and understand the past and that it was a good step in the transformation process of schools in the community.

All the participants agreed that this kind of course should be presented to all teachers and learners in order to try and ensure smooth integration of learners in schools in the future.