August 9, 2006
“Teaching Tolerance.” Southern Poverty Law Center. 8 Aug 2006.
Teaching Tolerance is a website founded in 1991 by the Southern Poverty Law Center. It is primarily a resource for lesson plans and educational materials (posters, movies, etc.) that promote respect for differences and appreciation of diversity in the classroom. The lesson plans are labeled by grade and span from kindergarten to high school. In addition, the site has links to tips for teachers in diverse classrooms, a “news watch” that summarizes recent race-related news and a “kids” section which offers diversity-related games, readings and activities.
In its mission statement, the Southern Poverty Law Center refers to the UNESCO definition of “tolerance” as, “respect, acceptance and appreciation of the rich diversity of our world’s cultures, our forms of expression and ways of being human. Tolerance is harmony in difference.” This website strives to encourage “harmony in difference” in K-12 classrooms by offering teachers strategies, ideas and materials to deal with diverse classrooms.
The suggested activities and lesson plans span a wide range, both of grades and of disciplines. The search function is especially useful as it allows teachers to search for activities by grade, subject or “tolerance topic.” The site is useful both for brainstorming lesson plans or for supplementing existing lesson plans with materials or activities.