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Teaching History The Holocaust and Other Genocides Issue 153 / December 2013 This special edition is brought to you in collaboration with the 02 EDITORIAL 38 ELISABETH KELLEWAY, Institute of Education, University of London THOMAS SPILLANE AND 03 HA SECONDARY NEWS TERRY HAYDN ‘Never again’? Helping Year 9 04 TAMSIN LEYMAN AND think about what happened RICHARD HARRIS after the Holocaust and learning lessons from genocides Connecting the dots: helping Year This edition has been generously supported by the Claims 9 to debate the purposes Conference as part of the IOE of Holocaust and genocide 45 NEW, NOVICE OR NERVOUS? Beacon Schools programme. education 46 MARK GUDGEL 11 DARIUS JACKSON A short twenty years: meeting the ‘But I still don’t get why the Jews’: challenges facing teachers who using cause and change to answer bring Rwanda into the classroom pupils’ demand for an overview of antisemitism 56 JAMES WOODCOCK History, music and law: 18 LEANNE JUDSON commemorative cross-curricularity ‘It made my brain hurt, but in a good way’: helping Year 9 60 POLYCHRONICON learn to make and to evaluate Dan Stone explanations for the Holocaust 62 ANDREW PRESTON 26 IOE UPDATE An authentic voice: perspectives Rebecca Hale on the value of listening to survivors of genocide 30 ALISON STEPHEN Patterns of genocide: can we 72 MOVE ME ON educate Year 9 in genocide The Historical Association prevention? 76 MUMMY, MUMMY... 59a Kennington Park Road London SE11 4JH Telephone: 020 7735 3901 Fax: 020 7582 4989 PRESIDENT Professor Jackie Eales DEPUTY PRESIDENT Chris Culpin EDITED BY Publication of a contribution in Teaching HONORARY TREASURER Richard Walker Arthur Chapman, Institute of Education, University of London History does not necessarily imply the Historical HONORARY SECRETARY Dr Trevor James Paul Salmons, Institute of Education, University of London Association’s approval of the opinions expressed CHIEF EXECUTIVE Rebecca Sullivan Christine Counsell, University of Cambridge Faculty of Education in it. The Secondary Committee of the Association Katharine Burn, Department of Education, University of Oxford has particular responsibility for matters of interest to secondary teachers and schools. © The Historical Association 2013 Michael Fordham, University of Cambridge, Faculty of Education all rights reserved. Suggestions and comments are very welcome Registered charity 1120261 and should be sent to: the Chairholder, Incorporated by Royal Charter CONSULTING EDITORS c/o The Historical Association. Advertising Rachel Foster, Comberton Village College, Cambridgeshire full page/half page/insert Teaching History is published quarterly by The enquiries to telephone: 020 7820 5985 Alison Kitson, Institute of Education, University of London Historical Association. It is available at substantial Printed in Great Britain by discounts to members. Membership of the ESP Colour Ltd, Swindon, PUBLISHER Rebecca Sullivan Wiltshire SN2 8XU Association with Teaching History is £53.50 for DESIGN & LAYOUT Martin Hoare individuals, £98.00 for secondary schools, ISSN 0040-06109 COVER DESIGN Reid Smith [email protected] £34.00 for concessionary members. The Holocaust and Other Genocides The Holocaust, it has been said, is the Leanne Judson each explore aspects of this Memorial Day (HMD). Building on paradigmatic genocide.1 While atrocity issue. Jackson reports a teaching strategy his earlier work, Woodcock discusses and mass murder are common in human designed to help pupils explore the roots interdisciplinarity and how it can add history, the term ‘genocide’ did not of genocide through an exploration of value to learning about the Holocaust exist before the Second World War and change and continuity in antisemitism. and the Rwandan genocide by attending the Nazi crimes have become a lens Judson reports a strategy designed to to the distinctive contributions of through which we perceive crimes against help students to think about, and evaluate subject disciplines. The HMD event that humanity today. Many pupils naturally explanations for, perpetration. Together, Woodcock reports and evaluates drew on make links between the Holocaust and both articles provide fruitful indications disciplinary perspectives from history, other mass atrocities and many teachers of ways in which we can engage pupils in law and music. Woodcock reflects on the wish to help them relate their learning reflection and debate. importance of interdisciplinary learning to the contemporary world. However, conversations between staff and on the there are significant obstacles to doing ‘Never again’ is the clarion call of much role of external experts in the success of this effectively – a lack of research on Holocaust education. The danger, the event.It is common practice to invite most other genocides, still less on the however, is that it can become merely a survivors of the Holocaust to speak about comparative level, and a subsequent pious wish. How can we help pupils to their experiences to pupils in schools dearth of reliable educational materials reflect on genocide prevention? Alison and colleges. Systematic reflection on designed for such a study in the classroom. Stephen reports the development of a the value of working with survivors scheme of work and a cross-curricular is rarer, however. Andrew Preston It is to tackle such challenges that the Global Awareness Day that aimed to help reports how his school has worked with Institute of Education (IOE) at the students compare genocides and reflect on Martin Stern, a Holocaust survivor, and University of London – with the generous genocide prevention, and evaluates the reflects on how to make best use of the support of the Claims Conference – collaborative learning that these projects opportunities and challenges associated established the IOE Beacon Schools in stimulated. Elisabeth Kellaway, Thomas with bringing an authentic voice into the Holocaust Education programme to Spillane and Terry Haydn report teaching classroom. Preston’s article is not simply work intensively and collaboratively strategies focused on what came after about ‘voice’ but is itself multi-vocal. with a small number of schools at the the Holocaust: on events in Rwanda, on Preston offers a teacher’s perspective leading edge of teaching and learning warning signs and steps to genocide and and Stern the perspective of a survivor about the Holocaust and, in so doing, to on genocidal language. They encouraged with extensive experience of speaking in make a genuine contribution to the field, students to apply their learning to the schools. Madeleine Payne Heneghan adds designing new approaches and classroom present – in Chechnya – with beneficial the important perspective of a student materials and disseminating this new effects on student engagement and listening to a survivor. thinking to other schools.2 This special understanding. edition of Teaching History, which is being distributed to every school in the country, Mark Gudgel’s article focuses on Rwanda REFERENCES provides an opportunity to celebrate and – on the country and its history and on 1 Bauer, Y. (2001), Rethinking the Holocaust. New share some of that work, and we hope that the events of 1994, emphatically arguing Haven and London: Yale University Press. it will contribute to further innovation in against the mistake of reducing the 2 For further information on the Claims Conference see www.claimscon.org/. For further information teaching and learning about the Holocaust former to the latter. Teachers have to about the IOE Beacon Schools in Holocaust Education and other genocides. learn in order to teach. Gudgel’s article programme and how your school can apply to become part of this programme, please email emerges from a process of learning about [email protected] Why do we teach about the Holocaust Rwanda through personal scholarship and about other genocides? Although, the and direct experience of the country and Holocaust has been a compulsory part of its people: Gudgel shares this knowledge the English National Curriculum since and pedagogic reflections and makes a Arthur Chapman Christine Counsell 1991, curriculum documents say little powerful case for exploring Rwanda and Katharine Burn about why pupils should learn about the its history with pupils. Michael Fordham Holocaust. Tamsin Leyman and Richard Editors Harris used the opportunity presented by Like Stephen’s article, James Woodcock’s the recent National Curriculum review to focuses on a whole-school approach to Paul Salmons explore this issue with pupils. They report genocide in the context of Holocaust Guest Editor how students responded to the challenge and argue that asking students to think about why they are learning has beneficial effects, not least on students’ thinking about the Holocaust’s significance. Why genocides occur is a perplexing and complex question. Darius Jackson and 2 Teaching History 153 December 2013 The Historical Association HA Secondary News HA forums have brought teachers the past. The advice is obviously Dear members together to begin sharing their ideas, unnecessary this year – with questions The theme of curriculum reform is hard while the supplement that accompanies of how we should commemorate and to avoid. With the ink barely dry on this issue of Teaching History offers what exactly we should learn about (and the final draft of the revised National a helpful overview of progression from) the First World War already being Curriculum, another consultation was across Key Stages 1, 2 and 3 as well as keenly debated in the
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