CENTRE FOR HOLOCAUST EDUCATION What do students know and understand about the Holocaust? Evidence from English secondary schools Stuart Foster, Alice Pettigrew, Andy Pearce, Rebecca Hale Centre for Holocaust Education Centre Adrian Burgess, Paul Salmons, Ruth-Anne Lenga Centre for Holocaust Education What do students know and understand about the Holocaust? What do students know and understand about the Holocaust? Evidence from English secondary schools Cover image: Photo by Olivia Hemingway, 2014 What do students know and understand about the Holocaust? Evidence from English secondary schools Stuart Foster Alice Pettigrew Andy Pearce Rebecca Hale Adrian Burgess Paul Salmons Ruth-Anne Lenga ISBN: 978-0-9933711-0-3 [email protected] British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data A CIP record is available from the British Library All rights reserved. Except for the quotation of short passages for the purposes of criticism or review, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without prior permissions of the publisher. iii Contents About the UCL Centre for Holocaust Education iv Acknowledgements and authorship iv Glossary v Foreword by Sir Peter Bazalgette vi Foreword by Professor Yehuda Bauer viii Executive summary 1 Part I Introductions 5 1. Introduction 7 2. Methodology 23 Part II Conceptions and encounters 35 3. Collective conceptions of the Holocaust 37 4. Encountering representations of the Holocaust in classrooms and beyond 71 Part III Historical knowledge and understanding of the Holocaust 99 Preface 101 5. Who were the victims? 105 6. Who were the perpetrators and who was responsible? 139 7. When and where did the Holocaust take place? 171 Part IV Reflections and the way ahead 201 8. Considerations and recommendations 203 Appendices 223 1. The survey 225 2. Attitudinal scales used in the survey 247 3. Coding frameworks for free-text questions 249 4. Schools that participated in the survey 252 5. Schools that participated in the focus groups 255 6. Multiple regression analyses 256 References 258 www.ioe.ac.uk/holocaust iv About the UCL Centre Acknowledgements and authorship for Holocaust Education This research report has been written under the auspices The principal authors of the report are Professor Stuart of the University College London (UCL) Centre for Foster, Dr Alice Pettigrew, Dr Andy Pearce and Dr Holocaust Education. The Centre is part of the UCL Rebecca Hale, with significant additional contributions Institute of Education – currently the world’s leading made by Adrian Burgess, Paul Salmons and Ruth- university for education – and is comprised of a team Anne Lenga. of researchers and educators from a variety of different The research upon which the report draws was disciplinary fields. The Centre works in partnership with conducted primarily by Adrian Burgess, Rebecca Hale, the Pears Foundation who, together with the Department Stuart Foster, Andy Pearce, Ruth-Anne Lenga and Alice for Education, have co-funded its operation since it was Pettigrew, supported by Dr Michael Gray, Christopher first established in 2008. Edwards, Catrina Kirkland, Rachel Ryan and Mary A centrally important principle of all activity based Sawtell. The authors are also very grateful to Ros Ashby at the UCL Centre for Holocaust Education is that, whose creative thought and exploratory pilot work wherever possible, classroom practice and support for significantly impacted the direction of this research. teachers should be informed by academic scholarship Colleagues from both the Centre for Holocaust and relevant empirical research. In 2009, Centre staff Education and elsewhere within UCL also provided published an extensive national study of secondary critical insight and commentary. These include Dr Arthur school teachers’ experience of and attitudes towards Chapman, Darius Jackson, Emma O’Brien, Professor teaching about the Holocaust (Pettigrew et al. 2009). Alice Sullivan and Dr Nicola Wetherall. This new report builds on that earlier work by critically Particular thanks are due to Trevor Pears CMG, Amy examining English school students’ knowledge and Braier and Bridget McGing at the Pears Foundation for understanding of this history. In both cases, research their outstanding support, advice and close collegiality. findings have been – and will continue to be – used The Centre also benefits immeasurably from the wise to develop a programme of continuing professional counsel, insights and friendship of Ben Helfgott MBE development (CPD) and classroom materials which are who is a longstanding advocate for the work we do. uniquely responsive to the concerns and issues faced by We would additionally like to thank those individuals teachers and students in encountering this complex and and organisations who acted as external consultants challenging subject in schools. at various stages of this research, including Professor The UCL Centre for Holocaust Education is Monique Eckmann, Dame Helen Hyde, Michael the only institution of its kind, both within the United Maddison and Dr Geoffrey Short as well as officials Kingdom and internationally, where pioneering empirical from the Department for Education. Professor David research leads to innovative and ground-breaking teacher Cesarani, Professor Tony Kushner and Professor Tom development and the production of accompanying Lawson each provided invaluable historiographical educational resources specifically designed to address feedback on specific chapters of this report. clearly identified classroom needs. Enormous thanks are also due to Ashleigh Thomson, The Centre offers a wide-ranging educational Chitro Ghose, Louise Palmer, Julia Vale, Shazia Syed, programme appropriate to teachers at all stages of their Robin Friend and Laura Schmah. Their support careers through a carefully constructed ‘pathway of and combined expertise and patience have been professional development’. This provides opportunities indispensable in both managing the logistics involved in for individuals to progressively deepen their knowledge undertaking a research project of this scope and scale and improve their practice. It offers a national programme and in drawing together this final report. of Initial Teacher Education in Holocaust education and a Finally, we are especially grateful to all of the students variety of in-depth and subject-specific CPD. In addition, who participated in this study sharing with us their the Centre also offers online distance learning facilities, understandings and opinions and to all the teachers including a fully accredited taught Masters-level module and other staff members who made it possible for us to The Holocaust in the Curriculum. Through its Beacon visit their schools. School programme, Centre staff work intensively with up to 20 schools across England each year in order to recognise and further develop exemplary whole-school approaches and effective pedagogy. All of the courses and classroom materials developed by the UCL Centre for Holocaust Education are available free of charge to teachers working in England’s state- funded secondary schools. Further information can be found at www.ioe.ac.uk/holocaust. v Glossary A Levels Key Stage 3 The A Level is a school leaving qualification offered The English education system is structured into by educational bodies in England (and in other several ‘key stages’ that mark the progressive countries) to students completing secondary or periods of schooling. Key Stage 3 comprises the first pre-university education. Typically, students aged 16 three years of students’ secondary education − Years to 18 intensely focus on a small number of school 7, 8 and 9 − in which students are typically aged subjects (i.e. 2, 3 or 4) over a two-year period. The between 11 and 14. A Level is generally split into two parts. The first part is known as the Advanced Subsidiary Level (or AS Mean Level) and the second part is known as the A2 Level. The everyday numerical average score. So, the In most subjects A Level grades (A-E) are awarded mean of 2 and 3 is 2.5 (Howitt and Cramer 2011). according to the results of rigorous formal exams. Mean scores were calculated for some of the scales in the survey. For example, in the case of the 11 Cronbach’s alpha (α) multiple-choice knowledge-based questions, a total Used to assess internal reliability, giving an indication score was calculated for each student to find out of how consistent each participant is when how many questions they answered correctly. These responding to questions within a scale. To assess scores were then added together and divided by the this, the Cronbach’s alpha is calculated. Values range total number of students, to give a mean score for from 0 to 1, with values below 0.7 indicating that the the whole sample. scale lacks reliability (and so should be refined or removed from the survey). Values above 0.7 indicate Principal Components Analysis (PCA) an acceptable level of reliability and the scale can be This is a technique that can be used on scales which kept in the survey (Field 2013). examine things that cannot be measured directly, like attitudes (Field 2013). Scales of this sort will comprise English secondary schools multiple questions to capture different aspects of the In the United Kingdom, the separate countries − phenomenon being examined; PCA can be used to England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland − determine whether individual