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ABSTRACT
Drawing upon a qualitative study of an optional course taught annually over seven years, considerations are discussed around how an interdisciplinary and historically grounded programme of study can be delivered which seeks to enable students to acquire a sophisticated understanding of the Holocaust. Particular consideration is given to the defining of key terms as well as how to develop an understanding of the Holocaust which more appropriately reflects the phenomenon’s evolution, complexity and jurisdictional variations. The study also explores how students understand comparative genocide with a focus on both the Holocaust and the Genocide Against the Tutsi in Rwanda.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).
Notes
1 See: Short, Lessons of the Holocaust; Salmons, Universal meaning; Gray, Why teach about the Holocaust?
2 Pettigrew et al., Teaching about the Holocaust, 8.
3 Academies are schools which are fully funded directly by the UK Government, run by an academy trust, and have greater autonomy, including no requirement to follow the National Curriculum.
4 Pearce and Chapman, Holocaust education, 223.
5 Independent schools are fee-paying schools which are independent from state ownership and control. Students within these schools are not, for example, required to study the National Curriculum and have greater autonomy in their practices. Approximately seven per cent of students within the UK are independently educated. Some independent schools are selective in their admissions criteria, including the school in which this research was conducted.
6 Advanced Levels (A Levels) are national two-year qualifications within the UK for students aged 16–18 which serve as the principal entry-route to university.
7 Prep is designated and compulsory academic time each evening for students to conduct tasks, written exercises and independent study which have been set by their teachers during their lessons.
8 Personal, social, health and economic education is an umbrella term and taught in all schools. Pettigrew et al., Teaching about the Holocaust, 40.
9 A GCSE is a general certificate in secondary education and is a national qualification based on a two-year programme of study. Students may study eight or more GCSE qualifications.
10 Simpson and Tuson, Using Observation, 79.
11 The research sough to comply with BERA guidelines.
12 Eckmann, Exploring the relevance, 10.
13 See for example, Friedländer, The Years of Extermination and Snyder, Bloodlands for the relationship between the Second World War and the evolution of the Holocaust. See Kershaw, The Nazi Dictatorship for a discussion of the internal incoherence and contradictions within the structures of the Third Reich.
14 As part of this, there was also discussion around how the lines between victim, bystander, collaborator and perpetrator could often be blurred with various examples cited.
15 Foster et al., What do students know, 63.
16 Short et al., The Holocaust, 20.
17 Gray, Preconceptions of the Holocaust, 179.
18 Gray, Exploring pupil perceptions, 428.
19 Totten and Feinberg, Teaching and studying the Holocaust, 49.
20 Arguably, given that most students studied the Holocaust as part of their international GCSE course, it is a concern that their definitions were often so vague.
21 Snyder, Black Earth, 4.
22 IGCSE History is studied by approximately two-thirds of the cohort.
23 Pendry et al., Pupil preconceptions, 20.
24 Lee and Shemilt, I just wish we could go back, 25.
25 Gray, Preconceptions of the Holocaust, 243; Foster et al. What do Students Know, 175.
26 Langerbeink, Hitler’s Death Squads, 25.
27 Browning, The Origins of the Final Solution, 35.
28 Cesarani, Final Solution, 503.
29 Gilbert, The Holocaust, 239.
30 Nikitina, Three strategies.
31 This philosophical commitment is aligned with the belief that students should be real-world ready.
32 Boyne, The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas.
33 Wiesel, Night; Wiesenthal, The Sunflower.
34 Goldhagen, Browning, and Wieseltier, USHMM Symposium.
35 The Forgiveness project shares stories from both survivors and perpetrators of crimes and conflict who have rebuilt their lives. It was founded in 2004 by Marina Cantacuzino.
36 Gray, The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas, 121-4; Richardson, 103-4; Rich & Percy, The Boy in the Striped Pajamas.
37 Task Force, Education Working Group. Gray, Teaching about the Holocaust, 71-79.
38 For example, the Genocide against the Tutsi brings to the fore issues such as the community-based Gacaca courts, the interpretation of the Genocide Convention, as well as the impact of sexual violence and HIV/AIDS on communities. See Gray Finding a Place and Beer Voice from Rwanda for fuller discussions.
39 Lemarchand, Dynamics of Violence, 111; Newbury and Newbury, The Genocide in Rwanda, 140.
40 See the concept of ‘redemptive antisemitism’ in Friedländer, The Years of Persecution, 87.
41 See Baldwin, Sexual Violence and Person, Sexual Violence.
42 See Wallis Stepp’d in Blood, 521-554.
43 Feedback from the students is sought continuously as part of the Elective programme with adaptations being implemented where appropriate. That said, the essence of the course remained unchanged throughout and was not significant for the data.
44 Salmons, Universal meaning, 60.
45 See Eckmann, Exploring the relevance, Leyman and Harris, Connecting the dots.
Additional information
Notes on contributors
Michael Gray
Dr Michael Gray is Headmaster of Hereford Cathedral School and a Fellow of the Chartered College of Teaching. He was previously Director of Studies at Harrow School in London. He has published widely on Holocaust education including Contemporary Debates in Holocaust Education (Palgrave MacMillan, 2014) and Teaching the Holocaust: Practical Approaches for Ages 11–18 (Routledge, 2015).