ABOUT FERGUSON
Dr. Marcia Chatelain, The Atlantic, #FergusonSyllabus. A crowdsourced document about race, African American history, civil rights, and policing.
Renée Watson, Happening Yesterday, Happened Tomorrow: Teaching the ongoing murders of black men. An account of a lesson plan.
Jenee Desmond-Harris, The Root, Do’s and Don’ts for Teaching About Ferguson. Tips for teachers facilitating classroom discussions.
Aida Manduley, The Ferguson Masterpost: How To Argue Eloquently & Back Yourself Up With Facts. A comprehensive presentation of all of the facts, ways to address inaccuracies or ignorant/misguided statements and more.
Teaching and Learning in a #Ferguson World. A Ferguson Syllabus-type crowdsourced document begun by and for Boston Public Schools teachers.
LearningFromFerguson&Beyond. A Ferguson Syllabus-type crowdsourced document begun by and for folks at St. Louis University.
Katherine Schulten, Tom Marshall and Michael Gonchar, The New York Times: The Learning Network, The Death of Michael Brown: Teaching About Ferguson. Resources and ideas for discussing the facts of the case, the protests and related social justice issues in the classroom.
Michael Gonchar, The New York Times: The Learning Network, 6 Q’s About the News | Grand Jury Does Not Charge Ferguson Officer in Michael Brown Shooting. Questions for students to answer about the facts of the case before forming an opinion.
Michael Gonchar, The New York Times: The Learning Network, What Is Your Reaction to the Grand Jury’s Decision in the Ferguson Case? An article about the case with question prompts for students at the end.
David M. Perry, The Chronicle of Higher Education, #FergusonSyllabus. An article about how academics should respond to the events in Ferguson.
The Ignatian Solidarity Network, Resources for Ferguson: Racism Today is the Ultimate Evil in Our World. “Resources from Catholic and social justice contexts that relate to the issues of racism and violence that our country is struggling to make sense of right now.”
DC Public Schools, Preparing to Discuss Michael Brown in the Classroom. A helpful classroom guide with tips for class discussions and suggestions for articles and civic engagement.
Julian Hipkins III, Teaching for Change, Teaching About Ferguson. This resource breaks down the different entrance points for approaching Ferguson in the classroom (Police Brutality, International Human Rights, History of Racism, etc.).
ShareMyLesson, First Week of School – Ferguson Events. “An 8th grade lesson plan that grew out of #FergusonSyllabus. This lesson is 1 90-minute block and 3 subsequent 45-minute blocks.”
Marieke von Woerkom, Morningside Center for Teaching Social Responsibility, Challenging Stereotypes: Michael Brown and #IfTheyGunnedMeDown. A lesson plan where “students explore the mainstream media’s portrayal of Michael Brown, an unarmed teenager, by a police officer in Ferguson, MO, and the conversation it has touched off about racial stereotyping. ”
Marieke von Woerkom, Morningside Center for Teaching Social Responsibility, What Happened in Ferguson – And Why?. A lesson plan where “students discuss the police killing of Michael Brown, 18, in Ferguson, MO, and consider the racial and economic backdrop to the killing and the protests that have followed.”
The Anti-Defamation League, What Happened in Ferguson, MO? This resource has an extensive list of reading resources, warm-up, vocabulary, and several discussion topics and activities.
Nicki Lisa Cole, Sociology About.com, The Ferguson Syllabus: Sociological Research Puts Ferguson into Context. This list of articles and their descriptions details the sociological background of the events in Ferguson.
Katherine Schulten, Tom Marshall and Michael Gonchar, The Learning Network, The New York Times, The Death of Michael Brown: Teaching about Ferguson. A lesson plan with ideas, questions and resources addressing this summer’s events in Ferguson, Mo., in the classroom.
Katherine Schulten, The Learning Network, The New York Times, Will What Happened in Ferguson Change Anything?. Student opinion questions.
Renee Watson, Rethinking Schools Blog, Teach About Mike Brown. But Don’t Stop There. An article with tips and activities for taking a lesson on the events in Ferguson a step further.
Christopher Emdin, Huffington Post Education Blog, 5 Ways to Teach about Michael Brown and Ferguson in the New School Year. A listicle of tips for teachers.
AND MORE
United States Institute of Peace, Peacebuilding Toolkit for Educators: Middle School Edition. This resource is designed to support the work of educators as peacebuilders.
United States Institute of Peace, Peacebuilding Toolkit for Educators: High School Edition. This resource is designed to support the work of educators as peacebuilders.
Teaching for Change, Teaching About Selma. A compilation of lesson plans and recommended resources for teaching about Selma in reaction to the events of 1965.
Deborah Menkart, Alana Murray, Jenice L. View, Putting the Movement Back Into Civil Rights Teaching: A Resource Guide for Classrooms and Communities. A book.
Claudia Alick and Megan Sandberg-Zakian, American Theatre, The Ferguson Theatre Syllabus. A crowdsourced list of plays that can provide opportunities for conversation around this particular historical moment.
Paolo Freire, Pedagogy of the Oppressed. A book.
bell hooks, Teaching to Transgress: Education as the Practice of Freedom. A book.
Harlon Dalton, Racial Healing: Confronting the Fear Between Blacks & Whites. A book.
Seth Schoen and Christopher Carter, Contemplative Race Theory. An academic paper.
Linda Christensen, Rethinking Schools, Trayvon Martin: Writing towards justice. An article.
Paul Kivel, Uprooting Racism: How White People Can Work for Racial Justice. A book.
Chrysanthius Lathan, Rethinking Schools, Dear White Teacher… An article.
Tanzina Vega, The New York Times, Schools’ Discipline for Girls Differs by Race and Hue. An article.
Jose Luis Vilson, This Is Not a Test: A New Narrative on Race, Class, and Education. A book.
Jacqueline Woodson, The New York Times, The Pain of the Watermelon Joke. An OpEd.
Chase Madar, The Nation, Why It’s Impossible to Indict a Cop. An article.
Bonnie Kristian, The American Conservative, Seven Reasons Police Brutality Is Systemic, Not Anecdotal. An article.
Dr. Bob Reuschlein, The Journal of Nonviolent Change, Militarized Terror Policing. An academic paper.
The Martin Luther King, Jr. Research and Education Institute, Stanford University, Liberation Curriculum Lesson Plans. The Liberation Curriculum features lessons on King’s letter from Birmingham Jail, the role of youth in the African American freedom struggle, civil rights/human rights, Vietnam, and more. More information about the Liberation Curriculum can be found here.
The Speak Truth to Power Initiative, John Lewis: Nonviolent Action Lesson Plan. This resource approaches the topic of nonviolent action through the story and words of John Lewis.
The Speak Truth to Power Initiative, Van Jones: Police Brutality Lesson Plan. This resource approaches the topic of nonviolent action through the story and words of Van Jones.
The Washington Peace Center, Step Forward, Step Back. This classroom activity a great warm-up for a class discussion about privilege.
The Learning Network, The New York Times, Why is Race Hard to Talk About?. This resource is from 2010, but it is still a good discussion for younger people.
Victor M. Rios, American Sociological Association, Stealing a Bag of Potato Chips and Other Crimes of Resistance. An academic paper.
Tom H. Hastings, A New Era of Nonviolence: The Power of Civil Society Over War. A book.
Rivera Sun, The Dandelion Insurrection: Love and Revolution. A book.
Jacqueline Goldsby, A Spectacular Secret: Lynching in American Life and Literature. A book.
John Paul Lederach, Building Peace: Sustainable Reconciliation in Divided Societies. A book.
Jacques Semelin, translated by Leah Brumer, Nonviolence Explained to My Children. A book.
Audre Lorde, There is No Hierarchy of Oppressions. A scholarly article.
Peggy McIntosh, White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack. A scholarly essay.
Harvard Complicit Association Test. A study examining bias against different groups that students (and anybody else) can participate in.
The Society of Peace, Conflict, and Justice: Peace Psychology, The Peace Psychology Book Series. A book series about how problems of human security challenge us to develop psychologically-informed theory to understand major threats to human security and to create practices that help us address issues of human well-being and survival today.
The Society of Peace, Conflict, and Justice: Peace Psychology, The Encyclopedia of Peace Psychology. A resource featuring almost 300 entries contributed by leading international scholars that examine the psychological dimensions of peace and conflict studies.
The Society of Peace, Conflict, and Justice: Peace Psychology, Peace and Conflict: Journal of Peace Psychology. Features articles that examine peace, conflict, and their interaction at all levels of analysis, from interpersonal to community, regional, national, and international issues.
The Institute for Democratic Renewal and Project Change Anti-Racism Initiative, A Community Builder’s Toolkit: Tools for Creating Healthy, Productive, Interracial/Multicultural Communities. A set of tools for activists and commnunity-builders.
The United States Institute of Peace, Nonviolent Civic Action. A study guide for nonviolent activists.
The Washington Peace Center, DC Resource Guide. A list of resources for organizing, obtaining materials and even finding housing for activists in the DC area.
Teachers Teaching Teachers, Ferguson and the Start of the New School Year. A webcast.
The Washington Peace Center, Anti-Oppression Resources. A list of resources for oppression-conscious activists (so, all activists).
The Washington Peace Center, Anti-Oppression Principles and Practices. The basic attitude of oppression-conscious activists (so, all activists).
Nicole LeFavour, Challenging Homophobia, Racism and Other Oppressive Moments. This document describes how to approach difficult moments in a discussion about oppression. This resource is particularly helpful for teachers with students who are just beginning to understand oppression and privilege.
Teaching Ferguson 