#sikh ncss17 ncss2017

[thekaurfoundation]

Booth #202

Kaur Foundation joined hundreds of institutions and educational groups in the National Council for the Social Studies exhibition hall at the Moscone Center on November 17th and 18th for the annual conference for teachers, curriculum advisors and other visitors.  The bustling hall was full of life as educators traveled from booth to booth to learn of new methods to enhance their classrooms.  

Kaur Foundation’s board members and volunteers set up shop in section 202 with a bright display of pictures and goody bags. Cultural Safari, an engaging video resource about the Sikh faith developed by the organization, played in the back.

Dozens and dozens of educators marked Kaur Foundation’s booth on their maps and arrived with plenty of questions about Sikhism, as well as the curricula and teacher trainings that Kaur Foundation offers.

We were so excited to see such a high level of interest and enthusiasm from educators. Many eagerly asked about how their classrooms could incorporate lessons about Sikhism, and how they might develop social studies into a more diverse area of study at their local schools and districts.

A frequent comment educators made was that despite their school’s current standards which excluded Sikhism from the curriculum, they hoped to add information about the religion to their own lesson plans. Many teachers said they wanted their students to be well-rounded, global citizens, which would not be possible without exposure to a wider range of content. This is actually a situation we are working hard to change by creating constitutionally-sound textbook chapters and resources, in addition to providing teacher training and educating the general public about the basic tenets of Sikhism.

Volunteers and members of KF were not only there to present materials, but were also around to teach school leaders from around the nation about the importance of diversity education and the need for modules on the Sikh religion. We even demonstrated turban tying on several instructors and guests who were interested in the process.

In addition to raising awareness about the Sikh identity, our education director Dr. Pritpal Kaur Ahluwalia led a workshop on “Diversity and Dialogue through the Sikh-American Tradition” for conference attendees on Saturday. We also held a half-day clinic for teachers on Thursday called “Exploring Sikhism.”

Teachers were drawn to the clinic and workshop for a variety of reasons. Some had heard about Sikhs but didn't know much about them and wanted to find out more. Some had Sikh students and wanted to know how they could best understand and support them. And others wanted to explore curriculum materials for new courses on world religions that they were hoping to offer.  

These workshops were attended by educators nationally who will now be better equipped to teach about Sikhism in their classrooms. Teachers said they found the sessions informative and engaging, and stressed how much they learned. They were happy to be exposed to new and exciting ways to introduce the Sikh religion and culture into their classrooms.

As a volunteer, I really valued the time I got to spend with educators throughout the weekend, and was excited to share the organization’s carefully developed resources that encourage diversity in the K-12 education system. I hope to return to many more NCSS conferences and social studies discussions to ensure the inclusion of Sikhism amongst other religions in classrooms.

To learn more about Kaur Foundation or to donate to the cause, please visit kaurfoundation.org.