What do students know and understand about the Holocaust?

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Considerations and recommendations 221 Key recommendations: IV. The aims of Holocaust education 1. Educators and organisations should carefully consider their educational aims in light of these findings. More attention must be paid to developing students’ historical knowledge and understanding so that deeper and more informed meanings can be explored in history and across a range of subject areas and disciplines. 2. Those teaching and learning about the Holocaust need to be clear about the distinctions between commemoration and education. 3. Despite its popular appeal, serious consideration should be given to avoiding a simplistic ‘lessons from’ approach to education. It risks becoming tokenistic when not actually grounded in substantive historical knowledge and it may prevent critical and deeper understanding of the Holocaust. 4. The establishment of the new National Memorial and World-Class Learning Centre must take into account the serious findings of this research. It is vital that these exciting developments are positioned to challenge common misconceptions rather than perpetuate them. 5. The UCL Centre for Holocaust Education – underpinned by its research-informed approach, acclaimed pedagogical expertise and engagement with leading historians – should support the Government in ensuring that the national Learning Centre and future developments in Holocaust education are world class. V. Future research and evaluation The Centre’s national study into teaching about the Holocaust (Pettigrew et al. 2009) and this national study adopted a rigorous mixed-methods approach in which detailed surveys were accompanied and substantiated by semi-structured interviews. In both studies, the use of survey instruments to uncover key data on a large scale was profoundly informative and proved a useful platform from which to explore key issues in more detail during interview. Notwithstanding the use of these highly appropriate surveys, it is important to emphasise the particular benefit derived from standalone qualitative studies. In its review of the existing literature, Chapter 1 notes that some of the most insightful and rich studies into teaching and learning about the Holocaust were drawn from long-term ethnographic fieldwork and other qualitative research involving much smaller numbers of students, teachers or schools. More research like this that examines and critically considers the socially situated and context dependent way in which meaning of and from the Holocaust is made will be hugely beneficial to the field. Not enough is currently known about a range of issues central to understanding how students encounter and make sense of the Holocaust. Accordingly, the potential to enrich our understanding of a range of important issues by drawing on research methodologies such as ethnographic observations, in-depth interviewing and classroom case studies is compelling. Such studies might, for example, examine the influence of ethnicity, religion, identity and community on a range of issues including: ■■ how students relate ‘school knowledge’ of the Holocaust to accounts and perspectives they might encounter in other contexts (e.g. from their family or wider community) ■■ how students from different ethnic communities encounter, approach and make sense of the Holocaust ■■ how students from particular religious groups (e.g. Jewish or Muslim students) relate to and/or make sense of and from the Holocaust ■■ how students who have their own personal/ familial experience of being refugees or of escaping persecution relate to or make sense of the Holocaust ■■ how students’ understandings of racism and antisemitism are related to or impact upon their understanding of the Holocaust. Another area in need of more research focuses on how teaching and learning about the Holocaust is pursued in a range of school contexts. Such studies might ask questions like: ■■ What forms of knowledge/understanding are prioritised within different areas of the curriculum? What impact does this educational practice have on student learning? ■■ In what ways and to what extent does a crosscurricular approach and/or whole-school approach to Holocaust education enhance or inhibit students’ understandings? ■■ What is the relationship between the aims of Holocaust education articulated in a particular department or school and how they are enacted or implemented in the classroom? ■■ What challenges and issues do teachers (across a range of subjects) face in teaching about the Holocaust, and how are these addressed? ■■ What pedagogical practices appear to be most effective in developing students’ knowledge and understanding? Future research could also instructively examine the manners in which students encounter and learn about the Holocaust at different ages. As this study www.ioe.ac.uk/holocaust
222 Considerations and recommendations has shown, young people learn about the Holocaust in every year of secondary education (that is, from ages 11 to 18). The research also reveals that many students (approximately 30 per cent) learn about the subject in primary school (typically before age 11). To add to this complexity, the study also illustrates how students learn about the Holocaust both inside and beyond school, and across a range of curriculum areas within school. It is therefore imperative that more is known about some of these vital areas of learning. Fundamental questions that demand attention include: ■■ What do students learn about the Holocaust in primary school? In what contexts? To what extent is this considered age-appropriate? ■■ How does this learning relate to teaching and learning about the Holocaust in secondary school? How coherent, connected and developmental is this learning? ■■ How do students encounter and learn about the Holocaust throughout secondary education? To what extent is their learning based on considerations of progression in students’ cognitive and affective understanding? ■■ What does progression in student learning about the Holocaust look like? How do teachers and schools assess students’ learning about the Holocaust? How appropriate and co-ordinated is this learning? As suggested by the research possibilities outlined above, the potential for a series of detailed qualitative studies is enormous. Well-crafted studies might provide rich insights into how individual teachers approach teaching and learning about the Holocaust or examine how film, TV and the Internet shape students’ understanding of the Holocaust. Inter national comparative studies of Holocaust education in different national contexts would add a much-needed critical dimension to the field. Other focused qualitative research might also centre on attitudinal and behavioural changes derived as a result of studying the Holocaust. Indeed, within the broader framework of this research study, an enormous amount of data remains to be reported which focuses on students’ attitudes to learning about the Holocaust. Beyond focused qualitative research studies, it is imperative that more research and evaluation is conducted which examines the impact of an educational intervention or programme on teaching and learning. Currently, a range of educational programmes or interventions are offered to teachers but very few are underpinned by robust empirical research, including some quasi-experimental studies which examine the impact of the programme on students’ learning and or attitudes. Research to be conducted by the UCL Centre for Holocaust Education (beginning in 2015) will address this gap in existing practice and explore issues of ‘impact’ by looking at how different pedagogical approaches affect students’ learning. More studies of this kind will undoubtedly provide the field of Holocaust education with rich and meaningful data from which informed decisions could be made about effective practice. In overview, this study suggests that much more needs to be known about Holocaust teaching and learning across the country. Additionally, a need exists for educators, organisations and policymakers to critically reflect on the findings of key research studies and impact evaluations, and to adjust or develop appropriate educational programmes and/or interventions accordingly. For a quarter of a century a large-scale, researchinformed approach to Holocaust education has been absent. As a result of the pioneering national research studies conducted by UCL Centre for Holocaust Education, it is now clear that there is a need to ensure that future developments in the field are underpinned by the principles and findings of robust research and evaluation. If this practice becomes more widespread the potential to improve teaching and learning about the Holocaust in schools across the country will be both significant and profound. Key recommendations: V. Future research and evaluation 1. A need exists for more qualitative research focused on understanding in detail how students encounter and make sense of the Holocaust both in and out of school, across all age ranges and in different subject areas. 2. If Holocaust education is to improve it is imperative that more evaluation studies are conducted which examine the impact of educational interventions or programmes on teaching and learning. 3. The UCL Centre for Holocaust Education is uniquely placed to develop focused qualitative studies, larger-scale research studies and impact evaluations. The results of these studies should be shared with educators and organisations nationally and internationally in order to improve how young people learn about the Holocaust. If this important work is to advance it is essential that continued funding for research and evaluation is provided.
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CENTRE FOR HOLOCAUST EDUCATION What
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What do students know and understan
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iv About the UCL Centre for Holocau
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vi Foreword by Sir Peter Bazalgette
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viii Foreword by Professor Yehuda B
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2 Executive summary ■■ Many stu
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Olivia Hemingway, 2014
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8 Introduction ■■ What forms of
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10 Introduction the fate of the Jew
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12 Introduction two reasons here in
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14 Introduction Figure 1.1 Variatio
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16 Introduction Holocaust are never
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18 Introduction ■■ the inclusio
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20 Introduction ■■ The chapter
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24 Methodology Of particular note w
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26 Methodology were asked questions
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28 Methodology Vocabulary test We e
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30 Methodology Table 2.2 Breakdown
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32 Methodology Focus group details
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34 Methodology How were the focus-g
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38 Collective conceptions of the Ho
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72 Encountering representations of
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102 Preface often socially construc
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Emile Holba, 2014
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106 Who were the victims? students
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108 Who were the victims? Figure 5.
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110 Who were the victims? statement
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112 Who were the victims? first ins
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118 Who were the victims? the war,
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120 Who were the victims? (Longeric
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122 Who were the victims? many of J
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128 Who were the victims? unending
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132 Who were the victims? the Nazi
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134 Who were the victims? and Read
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136 Who were the victims? many stud
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Emile Holba, 2014
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140 Who were the perpetrators and w
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Page 236 and 237: Appendix 1: The Survey 225 Appendix
Page 238 and 239: Appendix 1: The Survey 227 How do y
Page 240 and 241: Appendix 1: The Survey 229 Word qui
Page 242 and 243: Appendix 1: The Survey 231 Explorin
Page 244 and 245: Appendix 1: The Survey 233 Do you r
Page 246 and 247: Appendix 1: The Survey 235 42. Who
Page 248 and 249: Appendix 1: The Survey 237 The Nazi
Page 250 and 251: Appendix 1: The Survey 239 64. What
Page 252 and 253: Appendix 1: The Survey 241 71. If y
Page 254 and 255: Appendix 1: The Survey 243 Returnin
Page 256 and 257: Appendix 1: The Survey 245 87. Have
Page 258 and 259: Appendix 2: Attitudinal scales used
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Page 270 and 271: References 259 Assmann, A. (2010)
Page 272 and 273: References 261 Carr, E.H. (1964) Wh
Page 274 and 275: References 263 Emler, N. and Ohana,
Page 276 and 277: References 265 Howitt, D. and Crame
Page 278 and 279: References 267 Levstik, L.S. (2000)
Page 280 and 281: References 269 Resnick, L.B. (1989)
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References 271 Snyder, T. (2009)
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References 273 Yeager, E., Anderson
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Centre for Holocaust Education UCL
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