Teaching about genocide is not an easy task. Very often, certain fears hold teachers from approaching this sensitive topic head-on, such as the fear of students' reactions to the crimes they will be studying and the racism and hate that are expressed.
However, teaching about genocides is extremely important to educate citizens equipped to build a better way of living together, both locally and globally. To prevent other genocides, it is not enough to "remember the names of genocides", but we must understand this complex phenomenon. The tools you will find on this website offer a comparative, socio-historical and ethical approach to these tragedies.
The guide includes nine cases of genocide recognized by the United Nations (UN) or by the Canadian government:
Remember the names of the genocides so that in your time you won't have your own [traduction]
Introduction and instructions Analysis tools
Accès aux corrigés (new window)
Si vous avez un code, inscrivez-le dans la case Mot de passe.
Si vous n'avez pas de code, remplissez ce formulaire.
Sivane Hirsch is a professor in the Department of Education at the Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières. She works on the teaching of ethics and the challenges of taking into account ethnocultural and religious diversity in schools, both in teaching practices and in the school system more broadly.
Sabrina Moisan is a professor in the Department of Pedagogy at the Faculty of Education of the Université de Sherbrooke. She works on history teaching and citizenship education and is particularly interested in representations of "national" history in Quebec and the challenges of teaching an inclusive history in a pluralistic society.
Following years of research on the teaching of genocide and racism, we have developed an approach to the study of genocide that is both interdisciplinary (history and ethics) and anti-racist, with a focus on the racist ideology behind all genocide. By addressing these sensitive topics in the classroom, we aim to contribute to students' understanding of these issues and to their preparation for present and future citizenship.
The guide and its pedagogical pathways are freely available: you can use them as they are, or modify them as you wish. They are accompanied by a set of answer keys that suggest answers to the questions raised with the students. If you would like to have access to these answers, we invite you to register here. We will then send you the access code for this section of the site.
If you have any questions of a pedagogical or technical nature, we invite you to write to the following address: guide.genocide@uqtr.ca.
Please note some external links may change without notice due to the dynamic nature of the Internet. We are not responsible for these changes. If you come across a broken link, please let us know.