UA Students Learning to Teach About the Holocaust

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UA Students Learning to Teach About the Holocaust

UA elementary education students are learning about ways to appropriately teach about the Holocaust during a conference being held in Tucson this week.

By University Communications
October 14, 2009

Two cohorts of University of Arizona elementary education students are participating in a training program meant to help them teach about the Holocaust.

Nearly 50 UA College of Education students involved in the UCATS program will be taking part in the "Teaching the Holocaust: Building Background Knowledge," conference.

Stephen Feinberg, special assistant for education programs at the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum, is leading the conference, which is being held 4 to 7:30 p.m. on Oct. 15 at Catalina Magnet High School, 3645 E. Pima St.

The conference is training both UA College of Education pre-service teachers and area educators the best ways to discuss the Holocaust with young students, said Crystal Soltero, a clinical assistant professor in the UA's teaching, learning and sociocultural studies department.

"Some elementary teachers are a bit reluctant to teach this period of history to their students," Soltero said.

"The conference is designed to help teachers with strategies, methods and materials for becoming more effective with teaching their students about the Holocaust," she added.

The conference, which is part of an annual teaching conference, is offered by the Jewish Federation of Southern Arizona.

The UA's College of Education is among the list of sponsors for the conference. Others include the Marion and Gerald Gendell Holocaust Remembrance Fund, the Jewish Community Foundation of Southern Arizona, the city of Tucson, the Fear Not Foundation and several southern Arizona school districts.

The UCATS are being offered the training free of cost through a UA faculty/student interaction grant.

The UCATS program itself is a "very unique, off-campus program" that places elementary education majors in area schools where they work directly with teachers and students, Soltero said.

The program places undergraduate teachers-to-be in classrooms in the Tucson area, pairing them with clinical teachers and professors who train them in various methods and subject areas.

"This semester gives these prospective teachers a head start in understanding the unique aspects of the teaching profession," Soltero said.

She noted that UCATS intends to pilot a program next month in which UA students will spend two semesters in an area school's classroom prior to getting involved in a student teaching experience.