Meeting a Moral Imperative: A Rationale for Teaching the Holocaust

Abstract

A primary rationale for studying the Holocaust (Shoah) involves the opportunity to consider the moral implications that can be drawn from examining the event. Studying the Shoah forces students to consider what it means to be human and humane by examining the full continuum of individual behavior, from ultimate evil to ultimate good. This article discusses several implications involved in studying the event, while proposing that a moral imperative exists for the presence of Holocaust education in contemporary classrooms.

Teaching at Holocaust memorial sites: Swedish teachers’ understanding of the educational values of visiting Holocaust memorial sites

“…There has been a growing research field for more than 30 years that is often referred to as Holocaust education, but which cannot be understood as just learning about the Holocaust. Within TLH, there is an outspoken ambition to foster self-aware and democratically orientated youngsters, or as Lindquist (2011) puts it:… studying the Shoah becomes a vehicle that allows students to engage in sophisticated conversations that stretch their understanding of the world and their ability to evaluate the many complex, multi-layered moral situations they will encounter as adults. (p. 28)On behalf of the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance, a multilingual research team found that TLH is often framed at the national level, and that a common element is strong engagement of both teachers and students (International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance, 2017).…”

Holocaust education: global forces shaping curricula integration and implementation

“…A similar tension exists in human rights education though it is framed as learning about human rights or learning for human rights with an emergent and critical third dimension: learning within the framework of human rights (Eckmann 2010). In his inquiry into the question of whether a moral imperative accompanies HE, Lindquist (2011) finds that the 'Holocaust is more than a typical historical event that can be studied in terms of time, place, activity and result' (27). In fact, Lindquist cautions teachers that endeavor to wrestle with the behavioral and moral questions raised in HE that 'cognitive aspects of the teaching/learning situation are matched and often superseded by affective and possibly intrusive elements' (Lindquist,28).…”

“Invisibility is not a natural state for anyone”: (Re)constructing narratives of Japanese American incarceration in elementary classrooms

“…Nonetheless, drawing from the optimism of the Santayanan purpose of history and its aspirations for positive change in the future, difficult histories such as the Holocaust are often viewed by educators as a form of moral and social justice education that help students develop a deeper understanding of human rights (Donnelly, 2006;Lindquist, 2011). Some educators of young learners believe that teaching difficult histories may inspire students to be "upstanders" or advocates who actively fight against the injustices they witness rather than being passive bystanders (Eckmann, 2010;Marks, 2017).…”