HOLOCAUST EDUCATION: AN INVESTIGATION INTO THE TYPES OF LEARNING THAT TAKE PLACE WHEN STUDENTS ENCOUNTER THE HOLOCAUST A thesis submitted for the degree of Doctor of Education by Alasdair John Richardson School of Sport and Education Brunel University April 2012 Alasdair Richardson Holocaust Education: An investigation into the types of learning that take place when students encounter the Holocaust. Abstract This study employs qualitative methods to investigate the types of learning that occurred when students in a single school encountered the Holocaust. The study explored the experiences of 48 students, together with two of their teachers and a Holocaust survivor who visited the school annually to talk to the students. A thematic analysis was conducted to identify prevalent similarities in the students’ responses. Three themes were identified, analysed and discussed. The three themes were: ‘surface level learning’ (their academic knowledge and understanding of the Holocaust), ‘affective learning’ (their emotional engagement with the topic) and ‘connective learning’ (how their encounter with the Holocaust fitted their developing worldview). The first theme revealed that students had a generally sound knowledge of the Holocaust, but there were discrepancies in the specifics of their knowledge. The second theme revealed that learning about the Holocaust had been an emotionally traumatic and complicated process. It also revealed that meeting a Holocaust survivor had a significant impact upon the students, but made them begin to question the provenance of different sources of Holocaust learning. The third theme showed that students had difficulty connecting the Holocaust with modern events and made flawed connections between the two. Finally, the study examines the views of the Holocaust survivor in terms of his intentions and his reasons for giving his testimony in schools. The study’s conclusions are drawn within the context of proposing a new conceptualisation of the Holocaust as a ‘contested space’ in history and in collective memory. A tripartite approach to Holocaust Education is suggested to affect high quality teaching within the ‘contested space’ of the event. 2 Alasdair Richardson Holocaust Education: An investigation into the types of learning that take place when students encounter the Holocaust. Contents Page No. Title page 1 Abstract 2 Contents 3 List of tables and figures 8 Acknowledgements 9 Cover page 10 Chapter 1: Introduction. 11 1.1 Introduction to Chapter 1. 11 1.2 Factors prompting the study. 11 1.2.1 Professional background and interest in the field of study 11 1.2.2 Historical context of the study. 12 1.2.3 The Holocaust in the curriculum and in educational legislation. 14 1.2.4 Reaction to the legislation. 15 1.3 Terminology. 16 1.4 Research topic. 17 1.5 Structure of the study. 18 1.6 Significance of the study. 18 Chapter 2: Literature Review. 19 2.1 Design of the Literature Review. 19 2.2 Holocaust Education in the UK prior to 2009. 20 2.3 Holocaust Education in the UK after 2009. 24 2.4 What kind of learning takes place? 31 2.5 Pupils’ emotional readiness and engagement. 34 2.6 The ethics of horrifying students. 41 2.7 Making sense of film violence. 46 2.8 Holocaust Education and citizenship. 49 3 Alasdair Richardson Holocaust Education: An investigation into the types of learning that take place when students encounter the Holocaust. 2.9 Conclusions. 54 Chapter 3: Methodology. 56 3.1 Introduction to Chapter 3. 56 3.2 Development of a rationale. 56 3.3 The research question. 57 3.4 The research approach. 57 3.4.1 Ontological and epistemological issues. 57 3.4.2 Qualitative methods. 60 3.4.3 Case study approach. 62 3.5 Methodological issues in the design of the study. 64 3.5.1 The research context. 64 3.5.2 The teachers’ perspectives. 64 3.5.3 Recruitment and sampling. 67 3.5.4 Data collection method. 70 3.5.5 Ethical issues. 75 3.6 Practicalities of conducting the interviews. 78 3.7 Other practical considerations – the nature of the Professional Doctorate. 80 3.8 Data collection – a reflexive process. 81 3.9 Data analysis. 82 3.9.1 Data analysis design. 82 3.9.2 The data analysis process. 84 3.9.3 The data analysis process and the gap in the literature. 88 3.9.4 Data analysis – a reflexive process. 88 Chapter 4: Findings and Discussion. 90 4.1 Introduction to Chapter 4. 90 4.2 Surface Level Learning. 90 4.2.1 Defining the Holocaust. 90 4.2.2 Jewish specificity. 93 4 Alasdair Richardson Holocaust Education: An investigation into the types of learning that take place when students encounter the Holocaust. 4.2.3 Perceptions of culpability. 96 4.2.4 Historical references. 98 4.2.5 Sources of learning – curricular. 99 4.2.6 Sources of learning – extra-curricular. 103 4.2.7 Surface level learning – reflections on the theme. 105 4.3 Affective Learning. 106 4.3.1 Student’s emotional engagement with the topic. 107 4.3.2 Empathetic reactions to the topic. 108 4.3.3 Students’ reflections on their emotional engagement with the topic. 112 4.3.4 Students’ reflections on the emotional engagement of others. 114 4.3.5 Students’ emotional engagement with the Holocaust in popular film. 116 4.3.6 Students’ encounters with a Holocaust survivor. 120 4.3.7 Students’ reflections on their encounter with a Holocaust survivor. 123 4.3.8 Other sources of testimony. 126 4.3.9 Students’ reflections on the age-appropriateness of their learning. 129 4.3.10 Other reactions to the topic. 132 4.3.11 Affective learning – reflections on the theme. 133 4.4 Connective Learning. 135 4.4.1 Students’ reflections on possible reasons why they had learned about the Holocaust. 135 4.4.2 Students’ connections between their learning and the contemporary world. 141 4.4.3 Students’ perceptions of repetition in the contemporary world. 144 4.4.4 Students’ perceptions of the factors that could prevent a repetition in the contemporary world. 147 4.4.5 Students’ opinions about further learning. 148 4.4.6 Connective learning – reflections on the theme. 150 4.5 Jonathan – a case study. 152 5 Alasdair Richardson Holocaust Education: An investigation into the types of learning that take place when students encounter the Holocaust. 4.5.1 A natural conclusion...? 152 4.5.2 Jonathan – an introduction. 153 4.5.3 An analysis and discussion of Jonathan’s views on his work in schools. 153 Chapter 5: Conclusions. 162 5.1 Introduction to Chapter 5. 162 5.2 Reflexivity – bringing it all together. 162 5.3 The significance of the study in 2012. 163 5.4 Conclusions. 164 5.4.1 Summary of main the findings of the study. 164 5.4.2 Considerations of current practice, in light of the main findings. 165 5.4.3 Strengths and limitations of the study. 167 5.4.4 Recommendations for future research. 168 5.4.5 Conclusions – an end... or just another beginning? 169 5.5 Implications. 170 5.5.1 Holocaust Education – towards a new theoretical conceptualisation. 170 5.5.2 Defining the Holocaust as a ‘space’. 170 5.5.3 The Holocaust as a ‘contested space’. 173 5.5.4 The nature of conflict within a ‘contested space’. 175 5.5.5 The Holocaust as a ‘contested space’ in a globalised world. 177 5.5.6 The ‘contested space’ of Holocaust survivor testimony. 180 5.6 Bringing it together – conceptualising future teaching. 184 5.7 Reflexivity – Implications for my professional practice. 186 References. 189 Books, journals and articles. 189 Films and television. 216 6 Alasdair Richardson Holocaust Education: An investigation into the types of learning that take place when students encounter the Holocaust. Websites. 217 Appendices. 219 Appendix 1 (Research Ethics Committee approval). 220 Appendix 2 (Participants’ handout). 221 Appendix 3 (Thematic analysis process). 222 Appendix 4 (Outline of a 35 minute testimony given to Year 9). 227 7 Alasdair Richardson Holocaust Education: An investigation into the types of learning that take place when students encounter the Holocaust. List of Tables Table 1 Braun and Clarke’s (2006) six steps for conducting a thematic analysis. Table 2 Morrissey and Gaffikin’s (2006) model of the eight types of conflict within ‘contested spaces’. List of Figures Figure 1 A photograph of headstones that were vandalised during the Second World War. Taken at the New Jewish cemetery, Lublin. Figure 2 An outline of the three types of learning evident within the data. Figure 3 A model of students’ learning about the Holocaust. Figure 4 The Homomonument, Amsterdam. Figure 5 A tripartite approach to Holocaust Education. Figure 6 A fragment of the Ghetto wall, Krakow. 8 Alasdair Richardson Holocaust Education: An investigation into the types of learning that take place when students encounter the Holocaust. Acknowledgements A great number of people have contributed to this research and have made it possible for me to complete it. To all those many friends and colleagues, thank you! My thanks are also extended to the staff and students at the school of this study for their welcome and for sharing their experiences with me so willingly. I would also like to thank those members of the various professional organisations that have helped and supported me along the way, particularly those at the Holocaust Educational Trust and the Holocaust Centre, Laxton, Nottinghamshire. My particular thanks goes to Professor Ian Rivers (Brunel University) for acting as my supervisor for this thesis. His support, guidance, encouragement and advice have been invaluable and I am very much indebted to him for that. I am also grateful to Dr Pam Alldred and Dr Nic Crowe (Brunel University), who have supervised me along the way at various points and given me their valuable help and support.