Become a Beacon School
Experience history: free study visit to Poland for teachers as part of our Beacon School programme.
Independent thinking
The Centre for Holocaust Education is the only specialist institute supporting teachers in the classroom with the best in contemporary research.
Through CPD, resources and our Beacon Schools we help teachers to deepen students’ understanding of the Holocaust so they can think for themselves.
Highlights
News
@UCL_Holocaust: RT: What R your aims when teaching about the Holocaust? What do you in/exclude when teaching Year 9 or 13? Why does thi… https://t.co/bRq4KF8MXU
@UCL_Holocaust: RT: Is learning about the Holocaust primarily about learning lessons for the present? Should The Boy in The Striped Pyj… https://t.co/tiUO1o67qS
@UCL_Holocaust: RT: Our secondary teachers survey is looking to capture the landscape in Holocaust T&L today, so if you explore a Holoc… https://t.co/xzu0drqFRJ
A model of independent learning
Our lesson 'Being human?' is a perfect tool for nurturing independent learners, incorporating a variety of learning styles. It helps teachers to:
- 1 Take account of pupils' prior thinking
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Uncover preconceptions
Individually, pupils suggest what kind of people they think were the killers and collaborators, bystanders and rescuers.
This tends to reveal a range of stereotypes and misconceptions, from mad, evil monsters to heroes.
- 2 Focus on evidence
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Test the ideas
In small groups, the pupils test their prior thinking and expectations against a range of historical case studies, examining the situations faced by real people.
They discuss and debate the dilemmas and decisions, beliefs and motivations of people in the past.
- 3 Embrace complexity
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Expectations versus evidence
Contrasting their research findings to their prior expectations, pupils discover that the past is far more complex, nuanced and troubling than they had imagined.
They see how easily ordinary people - not monsters or psychopaths - can become complicit in genocide.
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“The most challenging, inspiring and useful CPD you will ever do.”
Jane, Head of History, Bolton