6 things your students should know about the Holocaust

This online CPD course for secondary school teachers was developed in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, during which we conducted research with a number of teachers around the country which showed that many felt that it would be a perfect time to engage with some meaningful and insightful CPD from the UCL Centre for Holocaust Education. So here it is – the first of hopefully several aimed at both teachers and students!

The course is designed as a basic starting point to acquaint you with some of the main issues arising from the Centre’s research, their implications, and some initial practical ideas about how to start addressing them in the classroom.

Based on the UCL Centre for Holocaust Education’s ground-breaking research into ‘What do students know and understand about the Holocaust?’ (2016) this course identifies six key areas in Holocaust education that educators are encouraged to address with students. They are all areas that the research indicates students have a significant lack of knowledge and understanding, such as the idea that responsibility for the crime of the Holocaust was much broader than just Hitler’s. They each encourage students to reflect on misconceptions they may hold and help start to build a more robust, nuanced understanding of this period of history.

This course is self-paced and can be followed at any time of your choice. It consists of 6 video clips, lasting between 5 and 9 minutes. The 8 video clips in total last nearly 50 minutes. Whilst it is recommended the video clips are watched in sequence, this is not essential to the course. Specific clips can be played in isolation from each other too if necessary. After each of the 6 main video clips there is a brief interactive quiz that can be used to test your knowledge of some of the most salient points. Each quiz contains 2 multiple-choice questions, and you can see how you have done after completing it.

We really hope you find this course useful and would love to hear from you if you start to implement any of its recommendations in the classroom!

Login to UCL eXtend

  • ShareThis