“Northwestern State University is pleased that the Heritage Education program was designed and developed with our College of Education, which has long been a leader in teacher training in Louisiana.
“The pilot program in Louisiana has demonstrated the importance of teaching about our heritage resources in schools, and now the potential is evident for the model developed at NCPTT for implementation throughout the United States.
“We are proud at NSU to have been a partner on this project from inception to design to implementation and now expansion to other states.”
One component of the Heritage Education – Louisiana program is summer workshops for classroom teachers.
The workshops provide intense activities, including field trips, thatdrive home the concept of place-based learning. Using historical structures, archeological sites and cultural landscapes as content, staff from Northwestern State University’s College of Education instruct teachers in how to use local cultural resources to create unique lessons and activities that meet curriculum needs for Math, English/Language Arts, Science and Social Studies.
The workshops are two-day sessions with activities that aid teachers in enriching their lesson plans through creative teaching methods. Participants have taken the lessons learned from the workshops into the classrooms, utilizing technology and multimedia techniques to inspire students to embrace their heritage. The workshops give teachers valuable ideas and insight in not only our local culture and heritage, but also new ways to introduce these to their students.
Recently developed lesson topics include:
- Town Square, Bayou Teche
- Learning to "Read" Louisiana Buildings
- The First Americans
- Breathing Life into Cities of the Dead
- Jackson Square
- Our Community