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Zinn Education Project - Teaching People's History
Teaching About the Pandemic
Credit Peter Kneffel dpa via AP
Credit: Peter Kneffel/dpa via AP.
We are becoming new teachers, new teacher educators, new parents.
The pandemic has demanded so much. . . There has been educational accomplishment and creativity, and there has been failure and loss.
— "The Fight of Our Lives" in Rethinking Schools, Summer 2020
As remote instruction continues into the new school year, we share resources for teaching in these challenging conditions. We also offer a new lesson for students on who is responsible for the death and destruction from the pandemic.
New Lesson
Who’s to Blame? A People’s Tribunal on the Coronavirus Pandemic
By Caneisha Mills
Washington, D.C.
In mid-March 2020, D.C. public schools closed their buildings, like other school districts across the country, as the world watched the COVID-19 pandemic unfold.

I wrote this lesson, Who’s to Blame? A People’s Tribunal on the Coronavirus Pandemic, to help my students grapple with the forces that would change their lives.

This people’s tribunal begins with the premise that a heinous crime is being committed as tens of millions of people’s lives are in danger due to the outbreak of the novel coronavirus — COVID-19. But who — and/or what — is responsible for this crime? Who should be held accountable for the spread of the virus and its devastating effects?
New Issue from Rethinking Schools

The summer issue of Rethinking Schools is a special, longer issue that focuses on teaching and learning in the pandemic. In their editorial, “The Fight of Our Lives,” Rethinking Schools editors describe the summer issue as “a lamentation, but it is also a celebration — and a call to action.”

This edition includes articles about what it means to show up for students at this time, the history of anti-Chinese racism and its intersection with disease in the United States, and how 12 teachers cope and think about what it means to be an educator right now.
Teaching People's History in the Pandemic
While teaching remotely in the midst of a pandemic, we remain committed to building up and supporting our community of people's history teachers across the country.
We Must Teach Climate Justice this Year
This year is on track to be the hottest year in recorded history. The climate crisis has not paused for the pandemic nor for police violence and racial inequality. In fact, these struggles all connect.

Students deserve a curriculum that helps them make sense of this moment and that explores the connections between crises.
Support People's History Students
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The main support to sustain and grow the Zinn Education Project comes from individual donors like you. Read our Donor Testimonials and see What Teachers Are Saying to explore how our work affects students across the United States.
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