Professional Development
The Frederick A.O. Schwarz Education Center offers profession learning programs throughout the year and is a CTLE certified provider.
Check back soon to find upcoming virtual and in-person programs for educators. We will update the educator events calendar throughout the academic year with upcoming programs.
Interested in a more bespoke experience? We offer virtual workshops year round, led by our trained Museum educators and featuring hands-on activities that utilize the Museum’s rich collections of prints, photographs, ephemera, and more!
Professional Development Workshops
Bring the museum to your virtual classroom. Our in-depth and engaging workshops for educators and administrators utilize the Museum's rich collection to connect the stories of the past to our city today. All virtual workshops are led by museum professionals.
Each session includes access to primary and secondary sources, techniques for connecting the materials to your curriculum, and activities that support the Common Core Standards, Next Generation Learning Standards, and the Danielson Framework. Session lengths can be tailored to meet your needs, from 80-120 minutes. Each session is $850 for up to 40 teachers.
For more information or to reserve a workshop, please contact us at pd@mcny.org.
Who is New York? Mapping Immigration Then and Now
Use the history of early 20th-century mass immigration as a springboard to discuss immigration today, by examining maps, charts, and census data to learn where immigrant groups came from and where they settled and by reading powerful personal statements about the immigrant experience.
Activist New York
Explore the long history of New Yorkers speaking their minds and mobilizing around issues they believe in by examining primary resources spanning 350 years. Choose from over 20 case studies including immigration, Civil Rights, LGBTQ activism, environmental advocacy, and the Movement for Black Lives.
“A Unifying Principle”: Understanding Intersectionality in Women’s Activism
Explore the history of intersectionality within the women’s movement and understand how the related power dynamics of race, class, gender, and sexual orientation have shaped the goals of many women’s right’s activists.
New York’s Hidden Voices
From community advocates to merchants, activists, engineers, writers, and dancers, use primary resources to examine the lives of lesser-known individuals who shaped our city from the 1600s to today. The Hidden Voices project is a collaboration between the New York City Department of Education and the Museum of the City of New York.
Life in New Amsterdam
Learn about individuals, such as Maria van Angola, a black woman who gained her freedom from slavery, and Petrus Stuyvesant, the final Director-General of the colony, to explore what life was like for the inhabitants of Dutch New Amsterdam. Use primary resources to understand the development and organization of the city and its legacy today. This program can also focus on trade and interactions between the Dutch and the Lenape.
The Grid: Urban Planning in New York City
Learn about the origins and evolution of Manhattan’s street grid system and how it changed over time. Topics will include an introduction to concepts such as city planning, zoning, and land use regulations.
How Transportation Shaped The City
From horse-drawn omnibuses to electric cars, transportation in New York City has undergone many changes from the 1800s to the present day. Use primary resources to create a pictorial timeline of the evolution of transportation in the city.
Rediscovering Jacob Riis
View the Museum’s collection of Jacob Riis photographs to investigate poverty, mass immigration, and housing in New York City during the Gilded Age. Explore Riis as one of the founding figures of American Progressivism, as well as a pioneering figure in documentary photography and muckraking journalism.
Using the Museum's Collection Portal in the Classroom
Experience the art, artifacts, maps, and photographs available on the Museum’s online Collections Portal. This interactive experience will be arranged according to grade level.
Additional Topics
Interested in learning more about the history, art, culture, or urban environment of New York City? We are able to create a wide variety of workshops to meet your specific topic needs.
Here are just some of the additional themes we can cover: New York Then and Now, Sports Activism from Jackie Robinson to Today, Water in New York: From the Croton Aqueduct to Rising Sea Levels, Woman’s Suffrage, Street Art, and more.
