Lotte Weiss inspires new program
The Sydney Jewish Museum and Emanuel School recently held the inaugural Intercultural Day for school students.
THE Sydney Jewish Museum and Emanuel School recently held the inaugural Intercultural Day in honour of the late Holocaust survivor Lotte Weiss.
Weiss’ message was one of kindness, tolerance, friendship and intercultural understanding. With rising antisemitism, discrimination and divisive rhetoric in the media and local schools, the Weiss family felt it was the right time to build awareness.
Sydney University’s Professor Fiona White helped build a program designed to bring together year 6 students from different backgrounds who would never usually have met, and show them the beauty in difference and shared connections – laying the foundation for empathy and kindness at a young age.
The program uses object-focused teaching to engage students in learning techniques for collective storytelling.
Held in late November to honour Weiss’ birthday on November 28, the 120 year 6 students who were brought together came from Emanuel School, Pal Buddhist School and St Matthew’s Primary Windsor.
The SJM’s head of learning Rebecca Kummerfeld introduced students to Weiss’ story, messages and how a museum can be used to share those messages.
All students brought in a personal cultural object and in smaller groups worked together to create museum displays that highlighted shared connections and collective stories.
The atmosphere was lively and colourful, and there was a buzz of new friendships forming as they worked together to build their showcases. The students presented their displays to each other and by the end of the day, educators noticed students planning to connect with each other again.
Each student left with a card featuring a quote from Weiss: “As humans we have the wisdom to choose what is right and what is evil.”
Asked what they had learned from the program, a St Matthew’s student said, “Today I learned that we don’t need to be in groups because of our religion and culture, because we are not different at all. I learned we are all human and should love each other.”
A student from Emanuel added, “Learning others’ perspectives about life, religion and culture has changed my views … this program is beneficial in telling stories to prevent conflict.”
“Today I learned that we can live in peace if we work together, and that we can make friends with people outside our culture,” said a Pal Buddhist student.
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