Holocaust Education in Quebec: Teachers’ Positioning and Practices (original) (raw)
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2009
This research was commissioned by The Pears Foundation and the Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF). The aims were to examine when, where, how and why the Holocaust is taught in state-maintained secondary schools in England, and to inform the design and delivery of a continuing professional development (CPD) programme for teachers who teach about the Holocaust. A two-phase mixed methodology was employed. This comprised an online survey which was completed by 2,108 respondents and follow-up interviews with 68 teachers in 24 different schools throughout England. The research reveals that teachers adopt a diverse set of approaches to this challenging and complex subject. In the report, teachers’ perceptions, perspectives and practice are presented and a range of challenges and issues encountered by teachers across the country are explicitly identified. The research shows that, although most teachers believe that it is important to teach about the Holocaust, v...
Teaching History, 2010
In this powerfully argued article Paul Salmons focuses directly on the distinctive contribution that a historical approach to the study of the Holocaust makes to young people’s education. Not only does he question the adequacy of objectives focused on eliciting purely emotional responses; he issues a strong warning that turning to the Holocaust in search of universal moral lessons – ‘lessons’ that merely confirm what we already believe – risks serious distortion of the past. Citing widespread use of the Holocaust as a rhetorical device, Salmons’ contention is that failure to engage with its historical and highly complex reality in fact leaves young people open to manipulation and coercion from those who would use the past to push their own social or political agendas. What he offers here is not merely a justification for the Holocaust’s position as a compulsory element of the school history curriculum – but a fundamental defence of the place of history in school.
Teaching about the Holocaust in English Secondary Schools
Before designing a national Continuing Professional Development programme for teachers, it was considered imperative to find out more about what was already happening in classrooms across the country and to listen to teachers about their experiences, needs and challenges in teaching about the Holocaust. This landmark study explores when, where, how and why the Holocaust is taught in state-maintained secondary schools in England. Research began in 2008 and was published in 2009. The researchers employed a mixed methodology over two phases. First, quantitative data was gathered via an online survey completed by 2,108 teachers. This survey contained 54 questions and was completed by teachers from a range of subjects and backgrounds. Second, qualitative data was acquired through follow-up interviews with 68 teachers in 24 schools in England. The research produced wide-ranging findings, relevant to academics, educators, teachers and policy-makers, including: The Holocaust was taught in all secondary years in several subjects, with most attention in Year 9 History (aged 13 to14). Teaching time varied considerably, with an average of six hours spent on the subject. Although some teachers demonstrated detailed specialist knowledge and clear understanding, others had significant gaps in subject knowledge. Many seemed to draw on popular rather than academic discourse. Teachers indicated their teaching tended to be dominated by a focus on Auschwitz and the persecution of the 1930s. Scant attention was given, for instance, to pre-war Jewish life, or victims’ perspectives. This reflected and perpetuated perpetrator-orientated narratives found in many textbooks. 85% of teachers believed the Holocaust should be compulsory in the secondary history curriculum, but many struggled to articulate its distinct historical significance. Many teachers prioritised civic-based (e.g. focused on broad understandings of racism, prejudice, discrimination) over subject-specific teaching aims (e.g. focused on understanding the Holocaust as an historical phenomenon) . There was also uncertainty over how to define the Holocaust, though most indicated they understood the Holocaust to include various victim groups rather than focus on the particular fate of Jewish people. Very few teachers received specialist professional development. 82.5% considered themselves self-taught and 77.5% wanted CPD.
On Teaching the History of the Holocaust: A View from the United States
Teach: Journal of Christian Education, 2019
Teaching the history of the Holocaust is certainly complicated in a number of educational settings. However, in the attempt to make the Holocaust relevant we are all susceptible to glossing over key historical facts. Since we live an age of some anxiety over the future of Holocaust memory and Holocaust education, educators should teach Holocaust history without flattening it for the sake of certain outcomes. They should offer an approach that wrestles with the specificities of the Holocaust and considers contextual factors in the lives of individuals.