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Teaching the Holocaust in Primary Schools in Scotland: Modes, methodology and content Most consideration of teaching the Holocaust in Britain is based on teaching pupils aged 12-15 in England (Supple, 1993; Short, 1995; Carrington & Short, 1997; Brown & Davies, 1998). This paper directs attention to some experiences of teaching the Holocaust to pupils of primary stages 5-7 in Scotland (i.e. those aged between 9 and 11) and considers the significance of teaching Holocaust history in the primary context. The rationale for teaching this area is examined both in terms of the topicality, the universality of its lessons and the suggestions in various documentation about developing positive values in pupils. Eight primary teachers, five of whom regularly teach aspects of the Holocaust to this age group in Scottish schools when allocated the upper primary stages, were interviewed at length to ascertain the nature of the integration of the Holocaust into the Scottish 5-14 curriculum, the methodologies applied and the content of their studies. These findings are analysed and their implications discussed. (By the author) Ukrainian High School Students' Understanding of the Holocaust What students know about the Holocaust has been the subject of numerous studies, based mainly on quantitative surveys. This article relies on qualitative methods, in particular discourse-analysis, to evaluate essays produced by high school students in Eastern Ukraine, an important site of mass exterminations of Jews during World War II. The essays reveal much about young people's knowledge of, and attitudes toward, the Holocaust. (By the author) The boy in the striped pyjamas: a blessing or curse for Holocaust education This essay analyses the effectiveness of The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas as a pedagogic tool in Holocaust education. Drawing upon an empirical study conducted on 298 students’ preconceptions of the Holocaust, it suggests that the book and the film have had a large influence on existing ideas and have helped to establish problematic misconceptions. By highlighting its historicalinaccuracies and skewed moral messages, this essay suggests that The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas is principally a curse for Holocaust education. It concludes by considering practical responses to the story’s popularity and how its negative impact can be reduced. (By the author) Exploring pupil perceptions of Jews, Jewish identity and the Holocaust This paper argues that effective Holocaust education involves exploring pupils' perceptions of Jews and Jewish identity. Identifying these preconceptions is necessary for combating anti-Semitism, challenging misconceptions and facilitating a historically accurate understanding of the Holocaust. How do pupils define the Jews and what it is that makes someone Jewish? How do pupils explain the causes of the Holocaust and why it was that the Nazi regime specifically targeted Jews? The empirical basis of this paper attempts to help answer these questions. One hundred and forty seven children aged 13 and 14 took part in mixed-method research in order to explore their ideas and concepts of Jewish identity and why the Holocaust took place. The paper concludes with a discussion of the implications of the findings for Holocaust education. (By the author) Teaching the Shoah in History Classes in Israeli High Schools The Shoah is the only subject in the school curriculum that is anchored in the 1980 Compulsory State Educational Law, and is therefore an important integral part in the school history curriculum. Since the Shoah is part of the Israeli collective memory and has a substantial presence in its public discourse, it has been a didactic challenge for the composers of the curricula. This article examines the teaching of a curriculum set in 2000 to implement a new educational policy that emphasizes acquiring knowledge, disciplinary skills, and historical concepts rather than values and sentiments. It looks into teaching itself by studying official and unofficial textbooks, exams, and summaries in four subjects: central themes in former curricula (armed resistance, steadfastness, ghettos, and the participants), new themes in historical research (work, regional studies, the "other"), integration of Jewish and general history, and academic skills (processes, documents). (By the author) Israeli and Diaspora Students Travel to the Holocaust Sites in Poland: The Impact on the Perceptions of the Holocaust, Jewish Identity, and Israel-Diaspora Ties The Ministry of Education encourages Israeli students to visit sites of historic Jewish communities in Poland and the sites of Nazi death camps. The trip is designed to reinforce the youngsters’ sense of belonging to the Jewish people, their connection to and identification with Jewish heritage and history, and their commitment to the future of Jewish life in Israel and its sovereignty. This study explores the impact of trips to Poland, organized by Tachlit Center, on Israeli and overseas university students. The vast majority of participants confirm that the trip emphasizes the important role of the Holocaust memory and commemoration. Findings on the impact of Holocaust education on other Israeli and Jewish values (e.g., the significance of immigration to Israel and ties to the Jewish Diaspora) are discussed, along with the implications for future Holocaust education programs. (By the author) Naming and misnaming the nation. Ambivalence and national belonging in German textbook representations of the Holocaust At a time when the power of schools and both state and federal education authorities to guide young people’s sense of belonging is being challenged by multilingualism, by the claims of supra- and subnational regions and minorities, by memories of national catastrophes and crimes, and by out-of-school educational media, this collection of essays provides an apposite exploration of the ways in which shared narratives continue to be transmitted and learned. Its authors, whose work emerged from a series of conferences organized by the French National Institute for Pedagogical Research in Lyon, Barcelona and Paris in 2010, demonstrate not only ways in which multiple disciplines (including history, literature, social and language studies) address young people’s sense of attachment, but also how challenges to educational policy are reflected in school textbooks and curricula in Algeria, Bulgaria, Catalonia, France, Galicia, Germany, Quebec, Senegal and the USA. These studies about the role of education in relation to largely tenacious but shifting national identities should appeal to specialists of education, nationalism studies, history and political science. (By the author) The Holocaust and Education for Citizenship: the teaching of history, religion and human rights in England The importance of the Holocaust is undeniable. It seems that this truism has long been accepted by teachers and education policy makers. A superficial prediction would be that the Holocaust will continue to have both a high profile and a high status in the schools and colleges of England and Wales. However, on the basis of small‐scale work using data from teachers’ perceptions, we draw attention to certain problems in learning about the Holocaust and begin to suggest issues which should be investigated further. The issues which need further investigation are related to the possibilities that there may be too little time devoted to teaching about the Holocaust; the events of the Holocaust may sometimes be used as a mere context for understanding World War Two; teachers may not perceive the Holocaust as being significantly unique; teachers may not collaborate effectively; there may be a lack of clarity about the nature of the affective and cognitive aims of such work. (By the author) Historical Understanding - Beyond the Past and into the Present In this chapter Boix-Mansilla looks at the possibilities for using history to understand present-day issues. Partially funded through the Facing History and Ourselves organization, this study looked at whether learning about the Holocaust provided a more contextualized understanding of the 1994 genocide in Rwanda. This research found that students often used an ineffectual I-know-this-history-so-I-know-that-experience reasoning when making links between the two genocides, even though historical comparisons rely on both similarities and differences in analysis. Boix-Mansilla emphasizes that directed instruction on the process of historical comparison can remedy the weak reasoning demonstrated in the study and cites the literature on the strengths of using history to speak about present events to support this. (By the author) 
Historicizing the Uses of the Past: Scandinavian Perspectives on History Culture, Historical Consciousness and Didactics of History Related to World War II This book presents new developments in Scandinavian memory cultures related to World War II and the Holocaust by combining this focus with the perspective of history didactics. The theoretical framework of historical consciousness offers an approach linking individual and collective uses and re-uses of the past to the question how history can and should be taught. It also offers some examples of good practice in this field. The book promotes a teaching practice which, in taking the social constructivist notions of historical consciousness as a starting point, can contribute to self-reflecting and critical thinking - being fundamental for any democratic political culture. (By the author)