Disconcerting past – History education on mass atrocities (Impact)

During the genocide in Cambodia between 1975 and 1979, the Khmer Rouge regime killed 1.7 to 2.2 million people, causing physical and mental suffering. The educational sector was almost destroyed, with many teachers killed during the Khmer Rouge revolution. Many schools were turned into prisons or detention centres, including the former Tuol Svay Prey High School, now known as the Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum (TSGM). Today, only 62% of current high school history teachers with Khmer Rouge history backgrounds teach, mostly in rural areas. In 2022, the Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum confirmed over 50 teachers from 20 provinces, showing their willingness to learn new teaching methods and actively participate in student learning activities.

This project is part of the long-term mission of Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum (TSGM), which was initiated with the support of EdJAM in 2022 with our project:  Disconcerting past – History education on mass atrocities .

In 2023, TSGM continues to further develop and implement our 2022 project and aims to:

• ensure the continuation of the use of the teaching methods according to the Violent Past Teaching Manual 
  strengthen teachers’ skills by applying new approaches to actively engage
• students/pupils in the study of the violent past
• encourage the teachers to share their teaching experiences and new ideas
• facilitate feedback on the new teaching methods.

The project will contribute to: 

• creative history teaching method by the teachers
• the active study of history that goes beyond the textbooks
• bringing students/pupils to be engaged learners, curious about their family stories, and to have more dialogue among the family and relatives
• the historical discussions between teachers and students, children and parents, parents or grandparents as a means for reconciliation
• the implementation of the student-centered policy of the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sport

Results

In 2022, TSGM organized training for 52 teachers, and 39 teachers in 2023. In 2024, TSGM trained 35 teachers (20 teachers under funded by EdJAM, and an additional 15 teachers funded by UNESCO planned for September 2024). In total, 111 teachers (47 female) have participated in 12 teacher training sessions, out of the 564 history teachers nation-wide. Those teachers came from 103 of the 581 public high schools and has covered 23 out of 25 provinces across the country. Each of the teachers participated in at least 2 training sessions, which enabled them to understand 10 to 15 of the methodologies to qualify for effective classroom implementation.

The teaching manual (developed during our previous EdJAM Small Grant project) was produced in three languages, Khmer, Spanish and English, 200 copies of the Khmer version were printed. 74 of 111 teachers, who participated in the training, received a printed copy of the Khmer training manual, and a smaller number were distributed to partners and stakeholders.  A follow up survey was distributed to teachers who had attended the training to understand the impact in their classrooms:

• 12 of 111 teachers from Prah Vihear, Kampot, Prah Sihanouk, Prey Veng, and Kampong Thom, later organized a visit to Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum, Choeung Ek Genocidal Center, and other local sites in their community, with approximately 600 students involved in these visits. Site visits were in addition to meeting with the survivors.
• Teachers reported methodologies were implemented 97 times in their classrooms.
• Methodologies reported to have been implemented most were: “What we already know. What came first? Where violent happened.”
• Other activities implemented in classrooms were additionally created by teachers included: exhibitions of student creativity in classrooms and understanding the history of villages through clay models.

37 participants, who were not Cambodian teachers, were also invited to join the teacher training including: participants from Center of Khmer Study, ECCC, and delegation of Timor Leste.

Further information:  

• Visit the educational department of the Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum via our website:  https://tuolsleng.gov.kh/en/education/

Meet the team: