(PDF) (DOC) (JPG)November 19, 2014

(MAHWAH, NJ) – On November 18, 2014, the Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies sponsored a Gumpert Teachers’ Workshop, “Educational Philosophy and the Legacy of Janusz Korczak in Teaching about the Holocaust” in cooperation with the New Jersey State Commission on Holocaust Education that also financially supported the endeavor.

After Dr. Michael A. Riff welcomed participants and briefly placed the topic of the day in context, Dr. Paul Winkler, Executive Director of the New Jersey State Commission on Holocaust Education, presented an inspiring overview of how workshop participants could use educational philosophy and the inspiring story of Dr. Janausz Korczak to enhance the classroom experience of their students

Dr. Alex Urbiel, Professor of Professor of History and Teacher Education at Ramapo College of New Jersey, in his keynote lecture, “American Educational Philosophy and Janusz Korczak: Parallels and Discontinuities,” showed how American educational philosophy developed pupil-centered ideas and strategies similar to Korczak’s. The big difference was that these notions grew out of a system that was profoundly de-centralized, geared towards producing young adults capable of becoming aware citizens in a participatory democracy, and had to respond to rapid economic growth and mass immigration.

Dr. Kurt Bomze, President of the Janusz Korczak Society of the United States, spoke next. His talk, “Who Was Janusz Korczak?,” conveyed the remarkable life story of how the man born as Henryk Goldsmit into a comfortable middle class Jewish family in Warsaw became the legendary pedagogical visionary, child advocate and Holocaust hero. As Dr. Bomze explained, Korczak’s interest in children began as a teenager growing up in one of Warsaw’s poorest neighborhoods. The turning point came when in 1908, after serving in the Russo-Japanese War as a physician, he met Stefania Wilczyńska at Warsaw’s Orphans Aid Society. This led to the founding of an orphanage of his own design for Jewish children 1911. It was in that context, as Bomze explained, that Korczak developed his over-arching principle that each child has a right to be respected on his or her own terms. Adults were to help children achieve their goals, but not impose them.

David Levy, Senior Program Associate at Facing History and Ourselves (New York) discussed “Bringing the Story and Philosophy of Korczak into the Classroom.” This interactive presentation provided participants with hands-on guidance on using the pedagogical approach and story of Korczak to teach about the Holocaust, genocide and human rights

During lunch, workshop participants were able to examine a series of posters depicting the life and work of Janusz Korczak as well as view a short film with children reading eyewitness accounts of life in the orphanage that Korczak ran in the Warsaw Ghetto. Both the posters and the film originated in Israel and were provided by Mariola Strahberg, founder of the Shining Mountain Center for Peaceful Childhood in Chestnut Ridge, New York.

Ms. Strahlberg provided the workshop’s final presentation, “A Korczak Model,” in which she suggested various ways to foster creativity and responsibility among children in the classroom. She stressed the importance of listening to children about their needs and creating an environment in which lighting, diet and exercise are considered as important. For example, she suggested the possibility of schools implementing the Shining Mountain’s 5 Star Program® that consists of 14 core hour-long weekly sessions supported by the 4 once per month follow-up integrated sessions that include nutrition education, Brain Gym®, and compassionate communication or yoga

Attended by 61 educators from throughout New Jersey, the program evaluations demonstrated that participants found the workshop informative and inspiring.

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