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New book provides key lessons for teaching the Holocaust
6 July 2020
A new book providing important knowledge and insights into teaching the Holocaust in schools has been published today (6 July).
Written by UCL Institute of Education (IOE) academics, the book examines key challenges in Holocaust education. It covers the impact of misconceptions and misinformation, the dilemmas of using atrocity images in the classroom, and teaching in ethnically diverse environments.
Designed for teachers, teacher educators, researchers and policymakers, the book covers some of the most significant debates in Holocaust education and provides wider context for classroom evidence.
Many of the authors are based in the IOE’s Centre for Holocaust Education, a specialist institute supporting teachers on Holocaust education in the classroom, using the best in contemporary research.
Dr Alice Pettigrew, Senior Research Associate at the IOE and co-editor of the book, said:
“Over the last ten years, thousands of secondary school students and teachers have kindly shared their thoughts and experiences with researchers from the UCL Centre for Holocaust Education to help us better understand teaching and learning about this complex history in England’s secondary schools. We really appreciate all the time they have given us and are delighted that, with the publication of UCL’s Open Access collection, Holocaust Education: Contemporary Challenges and Controversies, the research they so significantly contributed to will find new and expanded audiences.
“Within the collection, individual chapter authors critically consider the Centre’s research findings in relation to important contemporary issues such as antisemitism, the use of atrocity images, the employment of popular historical fiction and teaching at primary school. Through these and other chapters, we hope that the classroom experiences of future students and teachers will continue to be impacted by the insights that earlier research participants shared.”
Co-editor Dr Andy Pearce said:
“The field of Holocaust studies is vast and sprawling: it traverses traditional disciplinary boundaries and is home to innovative approaches. Yet, Holocaust education – as a body of practice and an area of academic research – has, for some time, existed only on the margins of Holocaust studies.
“With this collection, academics working in Holocaust studies can extend and deepen what they know and understand about some of the key issues and challenges around teaching and learning about the Holocaust. In the process, they will be able to identify new connections with other realms of Holocaust-related research.”
Professor Stuart Foster, Executive Director of the UCL Centre for Holocaust Education, said:
“It was a privilege to work with colleagues to discuss and identify some of the most contentious and difficult issues in Holocaust education… this ground-breaking, new book tackles head-on many of the most complex contemporary questions in Holocaust Education, e.g., how should we teach about Britain’s response? What knowledge is essential for student understanding? Should ‘The Boy in Striped Pyjamas’ be shown/read? It also focuses on key issues and challenges including the perspective of Muslim students, the psychology of ‘obeying orders’ and the use or appropriateness of atrocity images. It is a must-read for teachers, teacher educators, researchers and policymakers.”
Holocaust Education: Contemporary challenges and controversies was published on 6 July 2020 by UCL Press.
Links
- Holocaust Education: Contemporary challenges and controversies
- UCL Centre for Holocaust Education
- Department of Curriculum, Pedagogy and Assessment
- Read a blog by Dr Andy Pearce: ‘What are the challenges in and the challenges of education?’
- View Professor Stuart Foster’s research profile
- View Dr Alice Pettigrew’s research profile
- View Dr Andy Pearce’s research profile
Image
Credit: Phil Meech for UCL Institute of Education