What do students know and understand about the Holocaust?

Considerations and recommendations
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3. SMSC, Ofsted and the Holocaust
Teaching and learning in schools has always been
influenced by a range of factors that shape particular
priorities and needs. However, in recent decades
the influence of the Ofsted framework and its
accompanying inspection regime has focused the
attention of head teachers across the country.
Ofsted is the Office for Standards in Education,
Children’s Services and Skills. It is responsible for
inspecting and regulating services that care for
children and young people, and services providing
education and skills for learners of all ages. In
practical terms, if a particular issue or subject forms
part of the Ofsted (2014, 2015) framework it is very
likely that schools will give it priority and focus. As
with many other curriculum subjects, it is perhaps
not surprising that the Holocaust is not mentioned
in the current broad-based Ofsted frameworks.
Nevertheless, a thoughtful study of the Holocaust
in many ways relates to the spiritual, moral, social
and cultural (SMSC) framework which schools
are required to address as part of their curriculum
planning in response to Ofsted mandates.
According to Ofsted, ‘the spiritual development of
pupils’ is shown by a range of indicators, including
their ‘ability to be reflective about their own beliefs,
religious or otherwise, that inform their perspective
on life and their interest in and respect for different
people’s faiths, feelings and values’ (Ofsted 2015:
34). Additionally, students’ moral development
should include ‘understanding the consequences of
their behaviour and actions,’ offering ‘reasoned views
about moral and ethical issues, and being able to
understand and appreciate the viewpoints of others
on these issues’.
Notably, if a school’s SMSC is not judged to be
‘outstanding’ by the Ofsted inspectorate, the school’s
overall rating cannot be ‘outstanding’. According
to the criteria, an ‘outstanding’ school will ensure
‘thoughtful and wide-ranging promotion of pupils’
spiritual, moral, social and cultural development and
their physical well-being enables them to thrive in
a supportive, highly cohesive learning community
(Ofsted 2015: 35).
Significantly, it is possible for schools that
incorporate high-quality Holocaust education in
their curriculum planning to demonstrate some,
and perhaps all, of the SMSC elements inspected
by Ofsted. For example, high-quality teaching
about the Holocaust compels students to consider
their pre-existing views and knowledge and to
reflect upon and question the new information
they acquire. Furthermore, through learning about
the consequences of the diverse actions and
behaviours of people during the Holocaust (including,
for example, Jews, perpetrators and the German
people), students can appreciate the complexity of
human behaviour and reflect on their own attitudes
and behaviours. They can also explore the ethical
and moral dimensions of people’s decisions and
actions during the Holocaust. Meaningful study of
the Holocaust can also help students develop critical
and independent thinking skills that are transferable
to other subject areas and topics.
Using the Ofsted framework and its particular
reference to SMSC it is perhaps easy to see how
some schools have used Holocaust education as
a vehicle to develop some of the complex moral,
spiritual and ethical understandings important to any
student’s education. Indeed, some schools have
been very successful in developing a whole-school,
cross-curricula approach to SMSC using study of
the Holocaust as both its focus and engine. What
is instructive here is that these schools – typically
staffed with innovative and reflective practitioners
– illustrate that it is possible to use a study of the
Holocaust as part of an effective SMSC curriculum.
However, other schools have been less successful
in developing a coherent approach and have faced
two major criticisms. First, that the Holocaust has
sometimes been smuggled in to the curriculum
to serve a school’s instrumentalist need to meet
the Ofsted criteria, rather than primarily for its
educational value. Second, if taught inappropriately,
it is possible for Holocaust education to exacerbate
some of the problems identified by this research.
For example, a rush to arrive at neat moral lessons
from the Holocaust rather than a critical engagement
with unsettling moral and ethical issues is likely to
perpetuate simplistic moral tales of good versus evil.
Arguably, what is required, is an Ofsted framework
that compels schools to include a study of the
Holocaust as part of their SMSC focus. To be
effective this should be supported by guidance
material, pedagogically sound rationales, curriculum
frameworks and recommendations for achieving
progression in students’ learning. Above all,
consideration must be given to how teaching and
learning about the Holocaust under the SMSC
framework accords with the exam specifications
and curriculum guidelines of other subject areas,
including history.
Key recommendations: III. Curriculum,
policy, accountability
1. Schools require clearer guidelines to ensure that
access to high-quality teaching about Holocaust
education is the entitlement of every student.
Central to this should be clear and intelligent
articulation of why the Holocaust should be taught.
2. Specific guidance should be provided on what
www.ioe.ac.uk/holocaust