We've had an ongoing job training program for (primarily) refugee women. They learn how to work in local childcares and to use their traditional songs on the job. The program has expanded to have graduates of this program act as song coaches, and work with early childhood classrooms, teaching about their songs and their cultures. This has helped us make extraordinary strides in educating the general population about the diversity we've got and got everyone singing lots of great songs in Arabic, Swahili, Spanish, and Nepali. We use the songs here at the Museum as a regular part of tours, too, as school age kids, too, find them fun and fascinating.
The songs also have been great ambassadors of culture for teacher trainings, too. They are charming, disarming, and help bring down defenses and allow for conversation and learning about diversity and culture.
We've got a CD (kind of a "greatest hits"...36 songs pulled from the 90+ we've collected) available. All the songs are sung in the native language (by a native speaker) and also sung in English. http://erieartmuseum.org/old-songs-new-opportunities/
We don't have a neat little curriculum to trot out, but I'd be happy to discuss our program more if you are interested. I'd love to be able to replicate it in other communities!
Sincerely,
Kelly
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Kelly Armor
Education Director
Erie Art Museum
Erie PA
folkart@erieartmuseum.org
Original Message:
Sent: 11-17-2016 11:16 PM
From: Joseph Klem
Subject: Looking for examples of family-focused tolerance programs
In light of the strong post-election partisan feelings that continue to polarize our country, we're interested in examples of museum programs that would be suitable to help parents engage their children in discussions of how to deal with people who are different in terms of race, religion, political views, sexual orientation, or any other attribute that can lead to exclusion or persecution. Can you recommend examples of museums that offer, on an ongoing basis, opportunities for families that include not only exhibitions, but also actor/interpreter performances and/or facilitated discussions? Thanks in advance -- this seems like a much-needed resource right now.
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Joseph Klem
Director, Public Relations
American Alliance of Museums
Arlington VA
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