“Children Who Speak in Their Parents’ Clichés”: Exploring the Broader Social Relationship Between Cultural Practices and Teacher Identity in Lithuanian Holocaust Education

Abstract

This article examines how broader cultural practices influence teachers teaching the Holocaust in Lithuania. This article uses the concept of the “cultural curriculum” to examine how community “stories” intersect with formal education. It finds that teachers feel they have become responsible for challenging long-standing cultural practices as well now. This is not always welcome because most are uncertain how to engage with community behaviors and preserve their place in the community at the same time.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Support for this project came from the Takiff Family Foundation at the Mandel Center for Advanced Holocaust Studies at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars Global Europe Program, the U.S. Department of State Small Grants Program, the Fulbright Association, Indiana University, and the Department of Education Foreign Language Area Studies Grant program.

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Notes on contributors

Christine Beresniova

Christine Beresniova is the Executive Director for the South Carolina Council on the Holocaust where she oversees educational programs across the state. Prior to this work, she designed international and domestic teacher training programs at the US Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, DC. She also consults on the implementation of culturally-aware Holocaust programming around the world, most recently in Rwanda.