I believe that the beginning of the Facing History and Ourselves course helped set the foundation for the focus of the course later. Without setting a firm foundation I don’t think the course would have been nearly as effective.
One of the things that stood out was our identity charts where we listed everything that explained “who” we were. Furthermore, Mr. Gallagher asked a significant question one day about identity, “What is the most important thing you own?” After a class discussion, we came to the agreement that the most important thing we owned was our individual names because it is how we are individuals. From this unit I learned that it is important for us to learn about ourselves and who we are before we could possibly understand or relate to other people
Another lesson that I found significant from the earlymonths was the short story titled “Eye of the Beholder” because it really put things in a different perspective. The story set up a different type of society that focused on making everyone equal and no one stood out for being different. The major point of the story was to show that people should not be judged on their appearance nor given so many restrictions that force everyone to act in the same exact manner. In a way, the story explains that although prejudice remarks were attempted to be erased, they were still present because of the handicaps.
On the lines of prejudice, one of my favorite parts of the course was the Mrs. Elliot and Freedom writers section. I want to go into the field of education and therefore I was very interested in learning about how these two teachers could make such a difference in the lives of others. The movie “Freedom writers” is very inspiring as it focuses on how one teacher is determined to make a difference in the lives of children that everyone else has given up on. One of the most significant sections of the movie was when the students had the opportunity to meet Anne Frank’s caretaker, Miep. I found this section of the movie so important because it helped the students realize how special they truly are. Mrs. Elliot’s experiment really shows how prominent bias remarks can become part of reality, even between young elementary age children. The film, “The Eye of the Storm”, points out how different children act depending on the color of their eyes. I think that Mrs. Elliot taught these children a very important lesson that emphasizes how terrible discrimination is.
Discrimination has been present in some way or another throughout the centuries. One of the most significant things I learned from this course was about the Armenian genocide. The Armenian genocide occurred after World War I when the Ottoman Empire decided to demolish the Armenian population. We watched a film about this event, but the most beneficial information I got about the Armenian genocide was from the guest speaker. I found it fascinating to learn about his life story and everything that he had gone through. The priest is a truly remarkable person and his story helped me learn about the genocide. Prior to learning about the Armenian genocide this year I had heard very little about it, so I was very grateful to have the opportunity to learn from someone who had so much knowledge about the genocide.
The Armenian Genocide was not the only mass murder that has occurred in history. Most likely the most well-known was the Holocaust. We started learning about it by watching some films that focused on how Hitler and the Nazi party came to power. By watching these films I realized that the Nazi party was not popular in its first few years, but gained power when Germany continued to be in a depression. Furthermore, I discovered how strong Hitler was as a speaker and how he was able to draw people in by watching “The Rise of the Nazi’s” film. The film showed realistic images of the time period when Hitler would speak to the Germans about his plans for the future. I am glad that I had the opportunity to learn about how Hitler came to power because it helps me understand a little better how things ended up like they did.
The end of the course focused on the Holocaust and more specifically the concentration camps. I was shocked by some of the footage I saw. Although the films were very emotional and difficult to watch, I believe this part of the course taught me its intended purpose. I think the purpose of watching these films on the concentration camps was to show how awful things can turn so quickly if everyone acts as a bystander and lets authority figures take control. One of the movies that I could connect to was “The Boy in the Stripped Pajamas” because I liked seeing the Holocaust from an innocent child’s point of view. Although it was not based on a true story, the film was very realistic and showed how wrong the Jewish population was treated as you watched them work for the family with the Nazi officer.
Overall, I found this course very beneficial to my development as a person. Now, I am more cautious to be aware of my surrounding and others actions. I learned things in this class that could not be learned in any other class in high school. I feel very privileged to have been part of theses class discussions and the many films. I hope that I am able to use the things that I have learned to the best of my ability to make a difference in the lives of others.
