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AnOverviewofResearchonHolocaustEduca7oninAmericaHolocaustIns7tuteforTeacherEducatorsMichaelJ.Berson,Ph.D.USFProfessorofSocialScienceEduca@onSeniorFellow,TheFloridaJointCenterforCi@zenship

Presenta7onFocus

WhilethehistoryoftheHolocausthasbeenresearchedforyears,inquiryintoteachingandlearningabouttheHolocaustisonlybeginning.Inthissessionwewillexplore:

•  Whatresearchhasbeendoneintheareaof“Holocausteduca@on”?

•  Whatarethegapsinourunderstanding?

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WHYRESEARCHHOLOCAUSTEDUCATION?TheHolocaustconfrontsteacherswithoneofeduca@on’sgreatestchallenges;thehistoryoftheShoahteststhelimitsofhumanunderstandinginitsinhumanity,itscomplexityanditsemo@onalpower.(UNESCO,2014)

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CONTEMPORARYISSUESANDTECHNOLOGICALINNOVATIONSExploringRapidChangesintheFieldofHolocaustEduca@onandEmergingResearchOpportuni@es

NewDimensionsinTes7mony(USCShoahFounda7on,USCIns7tuteofCrea7veTechnologies&ConscienceDisplay)

•  NewDimensionsinTes@monyisanini@a@vetorecordanddisplaytes@monyinawaythatwillcon@nuethedialoguebetweenHolocaustsurvivorsandlearnersfarintothefuture.

•  Thegoalistodevelopinterac@ve3-Dexhibitsinwhichlearnerscanhavesimulated,educa@onalconversa@onswithsurvivorsthoughthefourthdimensionof@me.

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HowNaturalLanguageTech,HologramsArePreservingHolocaustTes7mony(April8,2016)

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VirtualRealityAnneFrankFilmtoImmerseViewersinSecretAnnex

•  “To experience this film will be to immerse oneself in a place and time, to move about a room, among the people, and sense the moment in a way never possible before [virtual reality].”

•  “IwantedtocreateaVRexperiencethatconnectedviewerswitharguablythemostsignificanteventinhumanhistory–thesecondworldwarandtheHolocaust–andIcouldn’tthinkofabeberwaytoexplorethissubjectmaberthanthroughthestoryofAnneFrank.”

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AnneFrankFounda7onSlamsDutch'EscapeRoom'DesignedLikeHerFamily'sApartment

EscapeBunkerinthetownofValkenswaard,140kilometers(87miles)southofAmsterdam,hasaroomstyledtolookliketheapartment.Aspartofthegame,visitorsarelockedinandhavetoescapewithinanhourusingteamwork,crea@vityand"out-of-the-box”thinkingThijsVerberne,theoperatorofthebunker,defendstheescaperoomas"aneduca@onalexperience."

Attheendoftheprogram,eachpersonlearnshisorherfateasafugi@ve.Somearecaptured.Others,hadtheybeenactualslaves,wouldhavebeenamongthosekilled.Manypar@cipantsspendtheen@rehourandahalfintears.Forsure,justasinreallifealmosttwocenturiesago,noteveryrunawayslavemakesittoCanadaandcertainfreedom.

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INTERNATIONALRESEARCHONHOLOCAUSTEDUCATIONINFORMINGOURPRACTICE

TeachingAbouttheHolocaustinEnglishSecondarySchools:AnEmpiricalStudyofNa7onalTrends,Perspec7vesandPrac7ce(UniversityCollegeLondonCentreforHolocaustEduca7on,2009)•  Thereportisthelargestendeavorofitskindinthe

UnitedKingdominbothscopeandscale.v  Exploreswhen,where,howandwhythe

Holocaustistaughtinstate-maintainedsecondaryschoolsinEngland.

•  Thestudyemployedatwo-phasemixedmethodology.v  Onlinesurveycompletedbymorethan2,000

respondentsv  Follow-upinterviewswith68teachersin24

differentschoolsthroughoutEngland.

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TheImpactofHolocaustEduca7on:HowtoAssessPoliciesandPrac7ces?(UNESCO,2014)

•  WelackacomprehensivepictureofwhatishappeninginthefieldofHolocausteduca@onaroundtheworld,includingsomeofthesocie@esmostdirectlyaffectedbytheHolocaust.

•  Itisclearthatthoughmanydynamicprogramsarefamiliartous,theirimpactshavenotbeeninves@gatedsystema@cally.

HolocaustEduca7oninaGlobalContext(UNESCO,2014) “Withthispublica@on,educa@onswillhaveattheirfinger@psanup-to-dateaccountofthemostsalientissuesdiscussedinthefieldofHolocausteduca@on,”writesUNESCODirector-GeneralIrinaBokova.

•  Descrip@veoverviewofHolocausteduca@oninEurope.•  Addressesissuesrelatedtoeduca@onpoliciesandmethods,includingresearchinthefieldofpedagogy,currenttrendsintextbookdesign,andopportuni@esrelatedtothedevelopmentofGenocideStudies.

•  Providesin-depthcasestudiesonHolocausteduca@onbeyondEuropeandshowshowtheuniversalreferenceoftheHolocaustcanbecomeastar@ngpointtounderstand,anddealwith,otherhistoricaltraumas.

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AstheWitnessesFallSilent:21stCenturyHolocaustEduca7oninCurriculum,PolicyandPrac7ce(2015)

Thisbookincludesacollec@onofempiricalresearchfromaroundtheworldproducedtodate.Itfeaturesnewstudiesofna@onsthathavebeenstrugglingwiththelegacyoftheHolocaust–includingIsrael,Germany,Poland,andtheUnitedStates–andtracksthehistoricaldevelopmentofHolocausteduca@on,establishingaclearframeforthemostimportantissuesandrecentdevelopmentsinthefield.

The International Status of Education about the Holocaust: A Global Mapping of Textbooks and Curricula (UNESCO, 2015)

Thispublica@ondocumentsthewaysinwhichtheHolocaustispresentedinsecondaryschoollevelhistoryandsocialstudiescurriculaworldwide,andconceptualizedandnarratedintextbooksfromtwenty-sixcountries,withallcon@nentsrepresented.

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TheInterna7onalHolocaustRemembranceAlliance’s(IHRA)Interna7onalResearchConferenceonEduca7onabouttheHolocaust(2016)Broadtrendsintheresearchliteraturewereiden@fiedacrosslanguagesandregions.Somehighlightsinclude:•  Lessconfidentteacherstendtoemploymoreemo@veteachingapproaches,

whilstconfidentteacherstendtowardsmorecogni@veandexperien@almethods.

•  Groupencountersareeffec@veinreducingprejudiceorstereotypesaboutthe“other.”However,whilstthegreatestchangesseemtooccurthroughfacilitatedreflec@onanerthecontact,thisstepisonenbypassedinclassroomsdueto@meconstraints.

•  Onthewhole,teachingandlearningabouttheHolocaustappearstoleadtoimprovementsinhistoricalunderstanding,poli@caltoleranceandmoralreasoning;toareduc@onofstereotypesandprejudicetowardsJewsandotherminori@es;toincreasedempathyandengagementandinadesiretolearnmoreaboutthetopic.

WhatdostudentsknowandunderstandabouttheHolocaust?EvidencefromEnglishSecondarySchools2ndedi7on(UniversityCollegeLondonCentreforHolocaustEduca7on,2016)•  Thisresearchdrawsoncontribu@onsfrommorethan

8,00011-18yearolds,makingittheworld’slargeststudyofitskind.v  Comprehensivesurveyandaseriesofin-depth

interviewswithmorethan200youngpeople•  Theauthorsframethisna@onalportraitasacallto

ac@ontoreclaimtheclassroomasaspacefordeeper,morechallenging,andmoremeaningfulteachingandlearningabouttheHolocaust.

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U.S.RESEARCHONHOLOCAUSTEDUCATION:HIGHLIGHTSOFSELECTEDWORKS

SimoneSchweber•  MakingSenseoftheHolocaust:LessonsfromClassroomPrac@ce(2004)•  “HolocaustFa@gue”:TeachingItToday(2006)•  "Educa@onalResearchonTeachingandLearningabouttheHolocaust”ThomasFallace•  Fallace,T.D.(2008).EmergenceofHolocausteduca2oninAmerican

schools.PalgraveMacmillan.•  Fallace,T.D.(2007).PlayingHolocaust:OriginsoftheGestapoHolocaust

simula@ongame.TeachersCollegeRecord,109(12),2642-2665.SamuelTo`enandStephenFeinberg•  Essen@alsofHolocaustEduca@on:FundamentalIssuesandApproaches

(2016)

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ShouldThereBeHolocaustEduca7onforK-4Students,TheAnswerIsNo(To`en,1999)

•  AprimarypurposeofHolocausteduca@onshouldfocusonteachingstudentsthehistoryoftheHolocaust.

•  Sowhatdoesthefutureholdforauthen@cHolocausteduca@onattheK-4levels?– “Hopefully,nothing!”

ACaseofaSingularNarra7ve:“CurricularCreep”•  “WhatHappenedtoTheirPets?”:ThirdGradersEncountertheHolocaust(Schweber,2008)

•  Toben,S.,&Pedersen,J.E.(2012).Educa2ngaboutsocialissuesinthe20thand21stcenturies:Acri2calannotatedbibliography.Charlobe,NC:Informa@onAgePub.

•  TheInterna@onalHolocaustRemembranceAlliance’s(IHRA)Interna@onalResearchConferenceonEduca@onabouttheHolocaustReport(2016)

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TheStatusofSocialStudies(2013)Ateamofresearchersfrom35statesacrossthecountrydevelopedasurveydesignedtocreateasnapshotofsocialstudiesteachingandlearningintheUnitedStates.•  Withover12,000responses,itisthelargestsurveyofsocial

studiesteachersinoverthreedecades.•  Inasearchoftheen@retexttheterm“Holocaust”cameup

onlytwice:v  Russell,W.B.,III.(2007).TeachingtheHolocaustwith

onlineart:Acasestudyofhighschoolstudents.JournalofSocialStudiesResearch,31(2)35–42.

v  “Theyaregenerallyresponsivetosomedegreetoexternalmandates(e.g.,includetheHolocaustinworldhistory,theIrishpotatofamineinU.S.history).”

MycurrentresearchonHolocaustEduca7onfocusesonfourstrands:

•  Useofdigitaltes@monyandinnova@vetechnologytoextendHolocaustpedagogy

•  Cri@calliteracyandHolocaustPrimarySources•  Place–basedlearningwithHolocaustsites•  Holocaustpedagogywithyounglearners

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RESEARCHANDEVALUATION

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WheredowefindHolocaustEduca7onresearchpublished?Inwhatscholarlypublica7onsshouldHolocaustEduca7onResearchbedisseminated?Commonsourcesinclude:•  JournalofCurriculumStudies•  InterculturalEduca2on•  TheSocialStudies•  HolocaustStudies:AJournalofCultureandHistory•  SocialEduca2on•  HolocaustandGenocideStudies•  JournalofJewishEduca2on

MethodologicalApproaches•  Implementa@onResearch(i.e.,NIRN)•  Descrip@veresearch(Casestudy)•  Surveys•  Outcomestudies(e.g.,affec@vedimensions,historicalthinking/knowledge,civicengagement)

•  Visualresearchmethods•  Meta-analysis•  LongitudinalStudies

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ACLOSERLOOKATIMPLEMENTATIONRESEARCH

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Resources:ResearchonCurriculum

•  Exploretextbooksordistrictcurriculumdocuments.Whatresearchques@onscouldbegeneratedrelatedtotheteachingofthiscurriculum?

•  Visitaleadingna@onalorganiza@on’sstandardsforbestprac@ceofteachingspecificsubjectmaber.Howdoesthedeliveryofyourcurriculummeshwithbestteachingprac@ceasadvocatedbytheseassocia@ons?– USHMMGuidelinesforTeachingabouttheHolocausthbps://www.ushmm.org/educators/teaching-about-the-holocaust/general-teaching-guidelines

–  Interna@onalHolocaustRemembranceAlliance(IHRA)HowtoTeachabouttheHolocaustinSchoolshbp://www.holocaustremembrance.com/node/319

Fit:ExploringCulturallyRoutedPrac7ce

•  ConsiderthelistofHolocausttopicsyouteach.Inves@gatethecontentoftheresourcesyouareusing.– Whatperspec@vesarepresentormissing?–  Howdoculturallydiversegroupsrelatetothetopic?

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Capacity:FocusonDevelopingContentKnowledge

•  Consideralistoftopicsthatyoubelievewouldenhanceteachers’classroomprac@cesiftheypossesseddeepercontentknowledge.Whattopicdoyoubelieverequiressubstan@vetransforma@onoradapta@on?

Readiness:DesiretoImproveorExperimentwithTeachingStrategiesandTeachingTechniques

•  Brainstorm a list of teaching strategies for Holocaust Education you would like to try to implement and state your reasoning.

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Need:UnderstandingtheTeachingandLearningContext

•  Brainstormalistofcontextualchallenges,andiden@fythechallengestoHolocaustEduca@on.

ResearchBrainstorming

•  StudentOutcomes•  TeacherPedagogy•  Curriculum•  Instruc@onalMaterials•  Educa@onalPolicy(Implementa@onofMandates)