Welcome to the new Teaching Tolerance website. Speaking for our team, we hope you find it inspiring and useful.
When Teaching Tolerance began in 1991, our program was far simpler than it is today; the job of teaching was simpler, too. We produced a magazine and filled its pages with ideas for celebrating diversity and reducing prejudice among young people. Soon after, we began producing classroom films that kept the civil rights movement alive for students.
Over the years, we added classroom lessons, blogs, webinars, reports, a set of social justice standards and a national event: Mix It Up at Lunch Day. We even launched a second website to house our curriculum, Perspectives for a Diverse America.
We’ve grown, and our vision has, too. While prejudice reduction is still important, it doesn’t go far enough. We need to educate young people to become engaged actors in a diverse democracy.
That means nurturing positive self-identity and appreciation of all groups. It means cultivating empathy, curiosity about others and the ability to see the world from multiple perspectives. It means developing the ability to recognize and think critically about injustice and, most importantly, honing the skills and dispositions necessary to take informed action.
I suspect our vision is your vision, too. And now, at long last, we have a website that will make it easier for educators to realize that vision.
The new tolerance.org brings all that Teaching Tolerance offers together in one vibrant, well-organized and dynamic site. Not only does the site house years of legacy content, it allows you to construct learning materials that fit the specific needs of your students.
We hope you’ll spend some time exploring what we offer, but I’d also like to point out a few highlights:
See The Moment on the home page? Keep your eye on this spot. It’s where we’ll assemble timely resources to help you teach what’s happening now. Whether it’s lessons on a timely topic, resources for supporting vulnerable students or tips for making it through a tough time of year, we’ll have what you need front and center. (Sign up for an email alert that will come your way whenever we debut a new “moment.”)
Want FREE world-class classroom resources? Browse hundreds of scripted lessons and find exactly what you need. If we don’t offer something ready-made, consider making your own with our customized Learning Plan Builder. You’ll find essential questions, leveled texts, teaching strategies and student tasks that used to live on the Perspectives for a Diverse America site. If you like what you’ve built, you can publish the plan and share it with others. We hope you’ll add notes letting other teachers know how it worked with your students.
If professional development is a priority for you, spend some time with our webinars, modules and other materials. You can use them alone or with others to inform your practice and deepen your skills.
Our magazine, publications, blogs and other articles now have their own section on the website. Like everything else on the site, they’re now searchable according to topic.
Finally, you’ll notice a section called Frameworks. Here’s where you’ll find the keys to what it means to “teach tolerance,” starting with the Social Justice Standards. More and more schools are mapping their entire curriculum to these anchor standards and grade-level outcomes. Then there’s Critical Practices for Anti-bias Education, practical strategies that set the stage for culturally responsive and inclusive pedagogy. Teaching the Movement offers principles for teaching about the modern civil rights movement in appropriate depth and breadth. Keep your eye on the Frameworks section of the website: There’s more coming!
We hope you enjoy the changes and discover new resources and ways to make the most of Teaching Tolerance. We stand with you as you approach this school year with a renewed commitment to serving vulnerable students and fostering a kind and inclusive school climate.
And, please, keep in touch; we want to know what’s happening in your school and classroom and how we can support you.