Educational Autonomy and the Holocaust: A Comparative Study of Teachers’ Freedom in European Narratives

Figures & data

Table 1. Teachers’ EaH Goals, Freedom-Related Goals or Lessons and Corresponding FQ Elements.

Goal Category	Freedom and Choice-Related Goals/Lessons	FQ Element Reflected in Freedom-Related Goals
Commemoration Goals	− Take responsibility because the Holocaust happened here	Cultivating Virtues: Agency
Citizenship Goals	− Do not be a bystander − Oppose injustice; resist	Generating Options Cultivating Virtues: Courage
Humanistic Goals	− Become autonomous − Make courageous and unpopular choices if needed	Generating Options Cultivating Virtues: Courage
Academic goals	− Develop critical and independent thinking − Use data to understand historical context	Be Rational: Knowledge-Building

Table 2. Five Types of Freedom-Related Actions Among Holocaust Educators.

Category	Definition and Countries	Examples
Teach Freedom	Teacher makes freedom to choose a central theme, goal, or lesson in EaH * Appeared in all 4 countries, most prevalent (46 percent of all appearances of this coding category) in Germany	Peter (England): ‘When you encounter stories of people who made very active choices to resist […] the more of those stories you encounter, the more you are able to deconstruct the idea that everybody had no choice, and no agency in participating in the Holocaust, and that, I think, is really valuable for young people because it tells them that their choices matter.’ Milena (Poland): ‘I would like to be remembered as a teacher who told them not to follow any radicalism, that you must be very careful, that if the crowd goes one way, you go the other way. Never follow the crowd.’
Grant Freedom	Teacher offers students choice and autonomy in EaH * Appeared infrequently, in equal small measures in the 4 countries	Richard (England): ‘[My Holocaust education pedagogy is] almost like discovery, questioning, inquisitiveness, developing thinking skills. And based on people.’
Forego Freedom	Teacher describes having to self-censor due to circumstances * Most prevalent (66 percent of coding cases) in Hungary. Often involves teachers reporting having observed this among colleagues	Pál (Hungary): ‘I don’t even bring it up anymore. I practice self-censorship because if I know that Haver [an EaH NGO] is a no, and UCUU [an NGO combatting discrimination against the Roma] is a no, then Amnesty International is an absolute no.’ Kálmán (Hungary): ‘My experience is that the majority have the opposite view, and if someone goes against the tide, he will be left without a job and, although they say that there is a shortage of teachers, I would not be able to find a job so easily.’
Reclaim Freedom	Teacher experiences reactance to loss of freedom and engages in acts of educational resistance * (Appeared exclusively in Poland and Hungary, both in equal measures)	Josef (Hungary): ‘I think the most important message […] is that you always have to stand up [to injustice - NND]. I take the high-school students to these anti-prejudice demonstrations all the time.’ Pál (Hungary): ‘I will not change. It is therefore certain that I will not teach anything but what I think is a fact. Therefore, the NAT [New Curriculum] will not influence me, nor will the ways in which certain politicians express themselves. I have seen many films and many documentaries. I have been to Auschwitz […] I have been to both camps – there is nothing to argue about.’ Milena (Poland): ‘I once had a situation, quite unpleasant, when a parent phoned my principal to inform him that his child’s teacher said that Ms. Milena said Poles murdered Jews during the war. […] But when I use facts, I think nobody will […] – though I don’t know. With the current government, you can’t be sure. They are really capable of doing a lot of evil.’
Conform	Teachers internalized norms about EAH and report conformity and unanimity among teachers * (Appeared infrequently in England and Germany)	Michael (England): ‘Normally when, in a department, you say ‘Right, let’s do this, let’s teach this particular topic’ – we’re lucky we have a lot of freedom in the independent sector – normally you have dissenters, and they’ll say ‘no, no, no, I want to do this or that, or whatever,’ but on this [EaH] – everybody does it, and everybody uses the resources, and that’s pretty rare for our place.’

Figure 1. A Conceptual Model of the Relationship Between Positive and Negative Liberty in Educating about the Holocaust.

Table 3. Number of References to Using Creative EaH Pedagogies, by Country.

Country	Accumulative # of references
England	18
Hungary	27
Germany	46
Poland	49