Resources
Explore a wide range of valuable resources on GCED to deepen your understanding and enhance your research, advocacy, teaching, and learning.
88 Results found
History at the gates: How teacher and school characteristics relate to implementation of a state mandate on Holocaust education This quantitative study examines implementation by one Florida school district's fifth grade teachers of a state mandate to teach about the Holocaust. Teachers' responses to survey questions were analyzed to determine the relationships between choosing to teach about the Holocaust and factors like exposure to Holocaust content and teacher/school demographics. In addition, this study explores descriptive data about the nature of resources, materials, and teaching methods used to teach about the Holocaust in elementary classrooms. The findings of this study demonstrate the background knowledge and resources that teachers need to increase their implementation of Holocaust education in the classroom. Suggestions for the development of more effective workshops, information dissemination strategies, and teacher resources for Holocaust education and other mandated areas are also included in this study. To provide the necessary background for the exploration of the implementation of Florida's Holocaust education mandate, this study examines: the importance of Holocaust education; effective instructional practices in Holocaust education; connections between Holocaust education and multicultural goals; and the history of the passage of legislation related to Holocaust education. As the title suggests, teachers are the final "gatekeepers" of the curriculum: their decisions determine the extent to which topics will be taught. For this reason, this study examines the connections between teachers, their experiences, and their decisions to teach about crucial, mandated subjects like the Holocaust. (By the author) 
Powerful and Authentic Digital Media and Strategies for Teaching about Genocide and the Holocaust The continued prominence of genocide and Holocaust education, along with the movement toward the affective in social studies curricula, the advent of the Internet, and continued scholarship in the field, has led to the availability of a staggering array of digital resources for teachers (D. S. Symer 2001). These resources have the potential to enhance genocide and Holocaust education by providing robust content resources and interactive opportunities for students to develop new skills and understanding. In this article, the authors identify new digital media resources and strategies that engage students in authentic learning experiences about genocide and the Holocaust. They use F. W. Newmann and G. G. Wehlage's (1993) framework for "authentic instruction." Using this framework, the authors identify digital media that engage students in moral and ethical valuing, emphasize historical inquiry, and are relevant to the world outside of school. (By the author) 
Teaching the Holocaust: The relevance of children's perceptions of Jewish culture and identity The Holocaust is now part of the history curriculum for all 11-14-year olds in maintained schools in England and Wales. In this paper it is argued that for the Holocaust to be taught effectively, teachers will need to have some idea of how children within this age group perceive Jewish culture and identity. The empirical core of the paper attempts to go some way towards meeting this need. Seventy-two children aged between 12 and 14 were interviewed in order to explore their knowledge of Judaism, the nature of any misconceptions they may have about the faith, the extent to which they appreciate the commonalities between Judaism and Christianity and their awareness of anti-Semitism. The paper concludes with a discussion of the policy implications of the findings. (By the author) 
The role of the Holocaust in antiracist education: A view from the United Kingdom The failure of antiracist educators in the United Kingdom to engage seriously with the issue of anti‐Semitism provides the background to this article. With specific reference to the Holocaust, it argues that a lack of interest among antiracists in how the subject is taught has had a number of adverse consequences. These include the forfeiture of a potent vehicle for reinforcing and advancing the aims of antiracism and the loss of the unique contribution that a study of the Holocaust can make to an understanding of racism. Lack of interest in the Holocaust has also meant that inadequate consideration has been given to the consequences for antiracist education of the subject being taught badly. To obviate these drawbacks, the article advocates a definition of racism that can embrace anti‐Semitism and thereby facilitate the involvement of antiracists in teaching about the attempted annihilation of European Jewry. (By the author) 
Holocaust Education in Ontario High Schools: An antidote to racism? The premise underpinning this article is that if the Holocaust is taught well, it can help to promote anti-racist goals. The need to realize the Holocaust's anti-racist potential is self-evident, but is arguably greatest where conventional anti-racism (aimed at enhancing the life chances of visible minorities) is under threat. Such a situation currently exists in Ontario, where the right wing Progressive Conservative party was elected to office in June 1995. The uncertain future of anti-racism in the province provides the background to this article. It examines the teaching of the Holocaust in Ontario high schools and reports the findings of a survey carried out among history staff in May 1998. Various ways are suggested in which the teachers involved (and others elsewhere) might alter their approach to the Holocaust in order to strengthen its contribution to anti-racist education. (By the author) Arab Teachers and Holocaust Education: Arab Teachers Study Holocaust Education in Israel This paper examined whether change occurred in the attitudes of Arab teachers in Israel toward Holocaust education following an in-service study course. Survey and interview data indicated that after the course, teachers had a better understanding of what occurred during the Holocaust, and their willingness to know about its effects on Jewish people increased. However, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict impacted participants' views. (By the author) 
Understanding Matters: Holocaust Curricula and the Social Studies Classroom Over the past two decades, interest in Holocaust education has grown substantially as individual states, starting in the 1980s, began to mandate and/or recommend Holocaust studies as part of the social studies curriculum. As a result, these mandates and/or interest in the Holocaust have spawned any number of curriculum products, some of which seek less to help the student of history acquire an understanding of this historical event, and more in terms of dictating to the social studies student what he or she should understand. Hence, the purpose of this paper is to critique Holocaust curricula that have been developed under the auspices of a state department of education (SDE) or endorsed by a SDE, as we believe that teachers unfamiliar with the Holocaust will turn to these products as sources of authority. We base this critique on what we refer to as three approaches or considerations to understanding history—the body of work on historical thinking which we view as the underpinning of historical empathy and positionality, historical empathy as articulated by Elizabeth Yeager, O.L. Davis, Jr., and Stuart Foster, and the guidelines on teaching the Holocaust developed for the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum by William Parsons and Samuel Totten. These three elements, each in their own way, help us to understand the challenge for teachers and students whose foundation for understanding the Holocaust may solely rest upon curriculum products whose curricular aims and/or design often obstruct the quest to “understand,” e.g., lack of historical accuracy, lack of depth, and historical gaps. (By the author) 
Transferring findings from genocide education research into strategies for teaching and learning about genocide in schools In recent years interest in schools outreach and academic enrichment has increased dramatically, reflecting a greater social conscience and awareness of the impact that universities can have on the wider community. The transferable skills that academics bring to schools need to be honed for this new learning environment, as delivery methods and success benchmarks are radically different in a schools context. This collection addresses the numerous issues raised when arts and humanities academics become involved with schools, bringing together practitioners from a broad range of fields within the arts and humanities to share experiences and insights. (By the author) What can we learn from the dark chapters in our history? Education about the Holocaust in Poland in a comparative perspective The article investigates what research tells us about the dynamics of educational practice in both formal and informal education about the Holocaust. It poses such questions as whether it is possible to identify good practices on a political and/or educational level, whether there are links between education about the Holocaust and human rights education, and how education about the Holocaust relates to attitudes toward Jews. Examples of both international studies (such as those by the Fundamental Rights Agency of the EU and the American Jewish Committee) and some national surveys on education about the Holocaust are discussed, followed by an analysis of empirical studies from Poland based on focus group interviews and individual interviews with educators. The choice of case study was based on the historical fact that occupied Poland was the site of the murder of almost 5 million Jews, including 3 million Polish Jews. In many cases a strong association with a Polish sense of victimhood based on the memory of the terror and the murder of almost 2 million ethnic Poles during WWII creates conflictingapproaches and generates obstacles to providing education about Jewish victims. Nevertheless, following the fall of communism, the number of educational initiatives designed to teach and learn about the Shoah is steadily increasing. The article presents tips for successful programmes of education about the Holocaust which can be generalized for any type of quality education, but are primarily significant for education about tolerance and education aimed at reducing prejudice, counteracting negative stereotypes and preventing discrimination. (By the author) 
Does the Singularity of the Holocaust make it Incomparable and Inoperative for Commemorating, Studying and Preventing Genocide? Britain’s Holocaust Memorial Day as a Case Study This article is a response to the controversy surrounding the first national Holocaust Memorial Day in Britain, held on 27 January 2001. The discussion is centred on the British experience, but it is intended to have a wider resonance and relevance. It begins by summarizing the aims of Holocaust Memorial Day and then looks at some of the significant interventions in the nationwide debate about it. Much of the discussion was informed by the work of the American historian Peter Novick, so the article examines his influential argument about Holocaust commemoration and education. It concludes with an attempt to answer the question set out in the title, showing briefly that researching and teaching about the Holocaust as well as the work of remembrance and memorialization are crucial to commemorating, studying and preventing genocide. (By the author)