Fateh! New Lesson Plan About Sikh American History Available to Educators Nationwide

(May 10, 2023 – Madison, Wisconsin) The Sikh Coalition is proud to announce the rollout of a new lesson plan about Sikh American history, just in time for Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month in May.

The lesson plan, developed in collaboration with Tejpaul Singh Bainiwal of the Sikh American History Project, explores the history and experiences of Sikhs in the United States. Through media and historical archives, students will study how the community has been impacted by anti-Sikh hate incidents from the early 1900s, to the 2012 Oak Creek Wisconsin shooting, to the present day. More importantly, students will analyze how the Sikh community responded to these incidents.

“Sikh American history has been marginalized for far too long resulting in a lack of understanding about Sikhs and their experiences in the United States. This lesson plan helps to strengthen the foundation and build a stronger understanding about the history of Sikhs in the United States,” said Tejpaul Singh Bainiwal, Doctoral Candidate at UC Riverside.

This lesson plan builds on the Sikh Coalition’s ongoing work to ensure educators understand and are better able to support Sikh students. In the past year, we have presented and facilitated additional speakers at the Wisconsin Council for Social Studies’ annual conference, helped to host an open house event showcasing a new Sikh Book Collection at the Oak Creek library, and facilitated virtual Sikh Heritage Study Circles for Wisconsin educators with the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction. All of this work compliments our nationwide advocacy to ensure Sikh inclusion in the social studies standards of every state, our recent push to collect more than 2,200 surveys cataloging the experiences of Sikh students, and our other efforts to help Sikh children feel safe and included in their classrooms.

“We are grateful to have the support of the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction and the opportunity to work closely with the Wisconsin Sikh community.” said Harman Singh. “Introducing Sikhism through public education is a first step to creating inclusive classrooms that ultimately reduce hate.”

On May 22nd, we will present to the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction staff about our new lesson plan, as well as how to effectively teach about Sikhism in the classroom. We will continue to engage with Wisconsin community members and elected officials to ensure Sikh history and faith are taught and celebrated. For more information on how to provide this lesson plan to your local district or educator, please contact harman@sikhcoalition.org.

As always, the Sikh Coalition urges you to practice your faith fearlessly.