Lessons, resources, film recommendations, events, and more
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Coordinated by Rethinking Schools and Teaching for Change
Amplify LGBTQ+ History in the Classroom
June is Pride month, a time to celebrate that LGBTQ+ people have helped change the world.
It is crucial for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer youth to feel connected to their history. We must defend the right to share these essential stories.
Self-portrait by transgender political prisoner Marius Mason.
We recommend Cured, the PBS documentary which chronicles a pivotal moment in LGBTQ+ history: the early 1970s campaign to remove the diagnosis of homosexuality from the American Psychiatric Association’s manual of mental disorders.
The film serves as a primer on organizing in the face of repression, using a wide range of tactics. Available in a 35-minute classroom version.
Rethinking Schools’ Transgender Justice in Schoolsoffers inspirational stories from trans students and educators, along with resources for teachers, students, and parents seeking to build communities where everyone flourishes. This book will educate, challenge, inspire — and save lives.
Transgender Justice in Schools was awarded a 2024 Foreword INDIES Silver Book of the Year Award, Skipping Stones Award, and Independent Book Publishers Association (IBPA) Gold Award.
To highlight the connection between education censorship and the gutting of the Voting Rights Act, we added banned or challenged books on voting rights to the Teach Truth pop-up display. Each box will include either One Person, No Vote (YA edition): How Not All Voters Are Treated Equallyby Carol Anderson with Tonya Bolden or Turning 15 on the Road to Freedom by Lynda Blackmon Lowery.
The Zinn Education Project hosted an end-of-year showcase for the 2025–2026 cohort of Teaching for Black Lives study groups with special guest, Dr. Bettina Love, award-winning author, abolitionist, and professor. Love affirmed the importance of the study groups:
Meeting in Teaching for Black Lives study groups is exactly what educators should be doing right now. You are gearing up, you are getting the muscles, you are getting the strength, so when the pendulum of justice swings back, you’re ready. If you stay ready, you ain’t got to get ready.
Check out these events hosted by the Zinn Education Project, our coordinating organizations (Rethinking Schools and Teaching for Change), and colleagues.
The Pennsylvania Educator Diversity Consortium is hosting its 7th annual virtual summit from June 23–25. This year’s theme is Unfinished & Unafraid: Advancing Culturally Relevant and Sustaining Education, Justice, and Educator Diversity in a New Era with plenary sessions, concurrent workshops, and collective action. The keynote speakers include Nikole Hannah-Jones, Bill Ayers, and Stacey Patton.
On Wednesday, June 24, join Science Teaching for Social Justice editors and contributors for a Rethinking Schools book launch and celebration! Science Teaching for Social Justice shares stories of educators and students who explore how social and political systems shape science.
From preschool to graduate studies and across disciplines, this new book contains lessons that empower students to use science as a tool for equity and justice.
On July 21–22, join the Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian education initiative Native Knowledge 360° and featured speakers for an in-depth look at the newest classroom-ready resource for middle school teachers and students — American Revolution: Haudenosaunee Perseverance, which explores how the Haudenosaunee Confederacy persevered during and after the American Revolution.
ASL interpretation and PD certificates are provided.
On Monday, October 26, join Rethinking Schools editor Jesse Hagopian in conversation with journalist Howard Bryant to discuss his book Kings and Pawns: Jackie Robinson and Paul Robeson in America. ASL interpretation and PD certificates are provided.
Teachers are under attack for teaching truthfully about U.S. history. Please donate so we can continue to offer free people’s history lessons and resources, and defend teachers’ right to use them.
