Introduction: Close-to-Practice research in Holocaust Education

ABSTRACT

The fields of Holocaust Education and Holocaust Studies almost exclusively foreground the voices of professional academics. Practitioners are often the subjects of research, or the anticipated audience for it. The collection of papers gathered in this Special Edition aims to go some way to address this imbalance through foregrounding the voices of practitioner researchers (specifically teachers of students aged 11–18). The papers present good examples of practice, to offer an important contribution to the conversations that take place (or should take place) between the academy and practice, for their mutual benefit and the benefit of young learners.

KEYWORDS:

• Holocaust Education
• Close-to-Practice research
• CtP
• practitioner research

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1 IHRA, Recommendations for Teaching and Learning, 7.

2 Pearce, “Challenges, Issues and Controversies.”

3 Davies, Teaching the Holocaust; Russell, Teaching the Holocaust.

4 Lindquist, “Guidelines for Teaching”; Pettigrew et al., Teaching about the Holocaust.

5 Richardson, “Holocaust Education: An Investigation.”

6 Law, “Pillars of a Research-Practitioner,” 64.

7 Lykkeslet and Gjengedal, “Methodological Problems.”

8 Richardson, “Site-seeing.”

9 Gross and Stevick, “Epistemological Aspects,” 490.

10 Kelchtermans, “Keeping Educational Research Close,” 3.

11 Gross and Stevick, “Epistemological Aspects.”

12 Ibid.

13 Cowan and Maitles, Teaching Controversial Issues.

14 Foster, Pearce and Pettigrew, Holocaust Education.

15 Cowan and Maitles, Teaching Controversial Issues, 1.

16 Stoll, Making Schools Matter, 18.

17 Cowan and Maitles, Understanding and Teaching, 12.

18 Gray, Teaching the Holocaust, 12.

19 Short, Supple and Klinger, The Holocaust in the School, 17.

20 IHRA, Recommendations for Teaching and Learning.

21 Białecka, Fabienne Regard, and Trojański, European Pack; Lindquist, “Guidelines for Teaching”; Totten and Parsons, Teaching about the Holocaust.

22 Foster, Pearce, Karayianni and McCord, Understanding the Holocaust.

23 Wyse et al., “Education Research.”

24 Richardson, “Holocaust Education: An Investigation,” 170.

25 Bosmajian, Sparing the Child, 11.

26 Kelchtermans, “Keeping Educational Research Close,” 5.

27 Ibid.

28 Wyse et al., “Education Research,” 2.

29 Lankshear and Knobel, A Handbook for Teacher Research, 9.

30 Wyse et al., “Education Research,” 1.

31 Kelchtermans, “Keeping Educational Research Close,” 1.

32 Lykkeslet and Gjengedal, “Methodological Problems.”

33 Parsons, “The Importance of Collaboration,” 7.

34 Lykkeslet and Gjengedal, “Methodological Problems.”

35 BERA, Close-to-Practice.

36 Baumbusch, “Scientific Inquiry”; Hall et al., “Evidence Based Practice”; Lykkeslet and Gjengedal, “Methodological Problems”; Wyse et al., “Education research.”

37 Gray, “The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas”; Kempner, “Refugee Engagement”; Richardson, “Holocaust Education: An Investigation.”

38 Lewis et al., “A Close-up,” 90.

39 Kelchtermans, “Keeping Educational Research Close.”

40 HEFCE, Research Excellence Framework 2014, 105.

41 BERA, Close-to-Practice, 2.

42 Gross and Stevick, “Epistemological Aspects.”

43 Hordern, “Why Close to Practice”; Parsons, “The Importance of Collaboration.”

44 BERA, Close-to-Practice.

45 Kelchtermans, “Keeping Educational Research Close.”

46 Edwards and Brown, “Close-to-Practice Research”; Foster, “We’re Working to Close.”

47 Boyd and Harris, “Becoming a University Lecturer”; Lewis et al., “A Close-up on Close-to-Practice”; Wyse et al., “Education Research.”

48 Coldwell et al., Evidence-informed Teaching.

49 Gersten, Morvant and Brengelman, “Close to the Classroom,” 55.

50 Chi, “Translating a Theory,” 461.

51 Chi, “Translating a Theory”; Hall et al., “Evidence Based Practice”

52 Parsons, “The Importance of Collaboration,” 7.

53 BERA, Close-to-Practice; Hall et al., “Evidence Based Practice”; Jones, “The ‘Teacher Research Group’”; Law, “Pillars of a Research-Practitioner,” 64; Rahman et al., “Translating Research.”

54 McNiff and Whitehead, Action Research for Teachers, 4; Parsons, “The Importance of Collaboration”; Wyse et al., “Education research.”

55 Parsons, “The Importance of Collaboration”; Wyse et al., “Education research.”

56 Bearman et al., “Pre-practicum Training,” 13.

57 Parsons, “The Importance of Collaboration,” 3.

58 Sandbakk, “Let’s Close the Gap,” 961.

59 Lykkeslet and Gjengedal, “Methodological Problems,” 700.

60 Parsons, “The Importance of Collaboration,” 2.

61 Wyse et al., “Education Research.”

62 Kelchtermans, “Keeping Educational Research Close.”

63 Lykkeslet and Gjengedal, “Methodological Problems.”

64 Ibid., 700.

65 Baumbusch, “Scientific Inquiry.”

66 Hall et al., “Evidence Based Practice.”

67 Wyse et al., “Education Research,” 17.

68 Kelchtermans, “Keeping Educational Research Close,” 6.

69 Ibid.

70 Parsons, Hewson, Adrian and Day, Engaging in Action Research, 1.

71 Kelchtermans, “Keeping Educational Research Close,” 3.

72 Ibid., 5.

73 Kelchtermans, “Learning from ‘Good Examples’”; Kelchtermans, “Keeping Educational Research Close.”

74 IHRA, Recommendations for Teaching and Learning.

75 Gray, “The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas”; Gray, Teaching the Holocaust.

76 Kelchtermans, “Keeping Educational Research Close,” 5.

77 Ibid., 3.

78 Parsons, “The Importance of Collaboration”; Wyse et al., “Education research”.

79 Bojesen, “Conversation as Educational Research,” 652; IHRA, Recommendations for Teaching and Learning, 7.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Alasdair Richardson

Alasdair Richardson is a Senior Fellow (Knowledge Exchange) and Faculty co-Head of Research & Knowledge Exchange at the University of Winchester. He is a former schoolteacher, whose research focuses on young people’s engagement with the Holocaust and Holocaust sites. His first monograph ‘The Salesian Martyrs of Auschwitz’ was published in 2021.