Harm and Distrust: Honoring Historical Truths in the Classroom

This free webinar for educators, presented by the News Literacy Project on edWeb.net, focuses on tackling difficult classroom conversations about race, equity and injustices.

Teaching historical truths can sometimes lead to difficult conversations in the classroom. It is essential for us to not only meet conversations about race, equity and injustices head-on, but to do so in a way that honors all voices. We need to create a safe environment for students to learn about the past and feel empowered to change the future based on facts.

During this expert panel as part of a free webinar on edWeb.net, participants will learn about:

• the historical failure of mainstream news organizations to serve all people equally.
• the legacies of distrust this has caused among specific groups in America — particularly Black Americans.
• recent efforts by news outlets to improve their coverage.

Hear from education professionals  — Brittany Hogan, educational equity consultant, and K.C. Boyd, a news literacy ambassador and a library media specialist at Jefferson Middle School Academy in Washington, D.C. — about how they tackle these conversations in the classroom, and how they draw on their personal experiences to shed light on historical truths. Brittney Smith, NLP’s senior manager of education partnerships (East), will moderate.

In addition, the webinar will highlight some of the resources — including the News Literacy Project’s new “Harm & Distrust” lesson on Checkology® — that are available to support educators as we all work to make progress toward a more equitable and just society.