We were honored to be joined by Facing History and Ourselves Program Associate and longtime educator Frank Stebbins this week. Frank supports educators across the state of New Jersey, supporting them in doing work is centered around the power that identity and perceived identity can have on the stories that we learn and the stories that we tell. He focuses on who gets to belong and who feels marginalized, whether it’s in our school communities or our global communities, and what the implications are when strategies are determined, when policies are shaped, and when people don’t have an active voice. Importantly, and in ways that are very consonant with NGP, Frank looks at how to incorporate ways to engage in authentic dialogue--not in debate and trying to prove each other wrong but in the service of learning from one another. Another key component of his work is how we can look at events of the past, appropriately memorialize them, and look at the legacy and impact of them on how we live today and how we choose to participate in our communities.
