THE VOICE OF WITNESS EDUCATION PROGRAMUsing Voice of Witness books as foundational texts, our Education Program is geared towards introducing teachers and students to the process of creating oral history. Through the practice of enabling people to speak for themselves, Voice of Witness provides educators with the training and tools to engage students with the powerful, untold stories in their communities.

Voice of Witness is a nonprofit book series that empowers those most closely affected by contemporary social injustice. Using oral history as a foundation, the series depicts human rights crises around the world through the stories of the men and women who experience them. Our books have focused on topics as diverse as Hurricane Katrina, immigration and the Sudanese diaspora. Voice of Witness was founded by author Dave Eggers and physician/human rights scholar Lola Vollen, and is the nonprofit division of McSweeney’s Books.

849 Valencia StreetSan Francisco, CA 94110www.voiceofwitness.org

AMPLIFYING UNHEARD VOICES:

REWOP EHT SUMMER 2012 WORKSHOPORAL HISTORY TRAINING FOR EDUCATORS

Grades 8 through college July 16-19

OF THE STORY

“Teaching Voice of Witness was a wonderful experience. From state reading standards about non-fiction, to autobiographical writing, to critical evaluation of media, the material helped me cover a lot of the lessons I needed to cover in the space of my classroom. Of course, that space being abuzz with teenagers marveling at the interconnectedness of all people and the power of telling our own stories (and realizing they have the ability to tell their own!) was the greatest gain of all.”

—CHERYL NELSON, TEACHER, BALBOA SCHOOL, SAN FRANCISCO, CA

“It’s the best learning I’ve seen from my students, of us learning together.”

—EILEEN O’KANE, HISTORY TEACHER, IMMACULATE CONCEPTION ACADEMY, SAN FRANCISCO, CA

“The Bentley School community has been incredibly enriched by its involvement with Voice of Witness. It has proven to be a very motivating and educational relationship for us.”

—SUSAN BOGAS, LIBRARIAN, BENTLEY SCHOOL, LAYFAYETTE, CA

“This is the type of project that just smacks you in the side of the head. I actually get this now—not to judge people. I need to look deeper into their stories. I feel that people should try these projects because it would change a lot about the community and how we interact with each other.”

—JASON JEONG, STUDENT, ENVISION ACADEMY, OAKLAND, CA

“Experiencing other people’s stories was more effective than reading from a textbook.”

—MARTHA CUEVAS, STUDENT, IMMACULATE CONCEPTION ACADEMY. SAN FRANCISCO, CA

VOICE OF WITNESS PRESENTSWHAT PARTICIPANTS HAVE TO SAY

VOICE OF WITNESSILLUMINATING HUMAN RIGHTS CRISES THROUGH ORAL HISTORY

WORKSHOP LOCATIONImmaculate Conception Academy

3625 24th Street · San Francisco, CA 94110For directions visit: www.icacademy.org

WHY ORAL HISTORY?As an educator, I have always been drawn by the power of personal narrative as a bracing, real-world teaching tool. Reading, witnessing and creating oral history has a way of humanizing issues and events, encouraging students to see themselves reflected in the first-person testimony of others. For students participating in oral history for the first time, it can be a potent realization that history does not always emanate from the top down, and that the world surely has many unvoiced stories needing to be heard.

Teaching oral history promotes a complex and nuanced understanding of its subjects. A primary function of oral history is to feel honored for having been entrusted with hearing someone else’s story. There is limitless potential to increasing one’s capacity to listen without judgment. This willingness to listen is best described by Luis Alberto Urrea in his foreword from Underground America: “How can we understand the problem if we don’t listen? How can we fix it if we don’t understand it?”

—CLIFF MAYOTTE, EDUCATION PROGRAM DIRECTOR, VOICE OF WITNESS

AMPLIFYING UNHEARD VOICES: THE POWER OF THE STORY

Summer 2012 WorkshopDates: July 16-19

Times: 9:30 am-4:30 pmFee: $450

This unique 4-day training will highlight the power of personal narrative and provide educators with the tools to conduct oral history projects in their classrooms and communities. Workshop participants will engage in an interactive process that introduces the skills, ethics and social significance of creating oral history, as exemplified by Voice of Witness and other leading practitio-ners in the field.

DURING THE TRAINING, PARTICIPANTS WILL:Conduct and share an oral history interview Explore various media in relation to “amplifying” oral history narrativesHone transcribing and editing skillsRead and discuss narratives from the Voice of Witness book seriesWork in small groups to create oral history lesson plansWork with members of the Voice of Witness staff and prominent local oral history educators

The training is geared towards new and experienced teachers alike, and is particularly useful for teachers of history, the humanities and the arts.

Amplifying Unheard Voices aligns with several Common Core Curricular Standards, particularly in the areas of Reading History, Speaking and Listening, and Writing, in addition to promoting cultural competency and vital literacy and media skills.

WORKSHOP OUTCOMESAfter completion of the training, teachers will be better able to empower students to create their own oral history projects:

booksvisual essayspodcastsaudio slideshowslive performancesdocumentary filmsnarrative painting

REGISTRATION AND MORE INFORMATIONCliff Mayotte

Education Program Director, Voice of Witness cliff.mayotte@voiceofwitness.com

“Oral history, and the literacy skills that go along with it, should be built into the map of what all teachers teach.”

—TREVOR GARDNER, LEAD HUMANITIES TEACHER, ENVISION ACADEMY, OAKLAND, CA

“There is limitless potential to increasing one’s capacity to listen without judgment.”