Second IWitness Educator Workshop in Rwanda Welcomes Teachers to Muhanga

The second IWitness educator workshop in Rwanda will be held next week, and will incorporate new elements to provide an experience unique from the first workshop last November.

The workshop is part of the IWitness in Rwanda initiative, which aims to introduce secondary school teachers to IWitness, USC Shoah Foundation’s interactive educational website, so they may use it in their classrooms to teach about genocide and tolerance. IWitness allows students to watch testimonies of survivors of the Holocaust and Rwandan Tutsi Genocide and complete activities using a built-in video editor. IWitness in Rwanda is a joint effort between USC Shoah Foundation, Aegis Trust and Kigali Genocide Memorial (KGM) that is funded by the UK’s Department for International Development (DFID).

At the workshop, teachers will learn how to use IWitness in their classrooms, including how to assign activities, search for clips, and create their own lessons. They will have time to reflect on what they’ve learned and discuss different challenges they might face.

Kim Simon, USC Shoah Foundation managing director, and Kori Street, director of education, will be in attendance. Simon will deliver an introductory presentation about the work of the USC Shoah Foundation, and Aegis Trust country director Freddy Mutanguha will deliver an introductory presentation about the work of Aegis Trust.

This workshop is being held in Muhanga, not Kigali like the first workshop in November, to give teachers from the Kamonyi, Muhanga, Ruhango, Huye and Musanze districts the opportunity to come to a workshop closer to home.

Taking into account feedback from the first workshop, more time will be spent discussing the ways audiovisual testimonies and IWitness can fit within the Rwandan curriculum. Teachers will also have more time on the computers to practice what they’ve learned. Also, teachers from the first cohort will come and speak with the group about their experiences and offer advice.

As with the first workshop, two classroom pilots will follow the Muhanga session.