WINTER 2001
Thoughtful, knowledgeable, and
effective educators for a diverse society
NWCHE Evaluates Participants'
Learning
What
are the essential concepts, methods and resources needed for
teachers to successfully integrate Holocaust/genocide studies into
grade 4-12 English, social studies, and world language
instruction? In search of this answer, evaluators from Western
Washington University's Northwest Center for Holocaust Education
(NWCHE) are poring over more than 250 pages of data submitted by
fifteen middle and high school teachers from eight school
districts.
These teachers were participants in 72 hours (over a period of
13 months) of Holocaust/genocide study workshops funded by the
National Endowment for the Humanities. Workshop participants
included teachers from the Anacortes, Bellingham,
Burlington-Edison, Ferndale, Mount Baker, Mount Vernon, and
Snohomish School Districts as well as from Explorations High, an
independent school.
Summarizing the insights and ideas from fifteen teachers in one or
two paragraphs is an impossible task. Nonetheless, here are a few
samples from the preliminary findings:
- I have learned that the most effective way to teach the Shoah
is to present students with an understanding of the reality of
what life was like before, during, and after World War II . . .
The perpetrator, bystander, resister, rescuer, victim, and
survivor each need to be explored so students may see that every
one of these players is, in fact, a person.
- How does one rebuild a life, sublimate the horrors of
concentration camps, and move forward in a world that can't be the
same? How does one survive the brutal loss of loved ones, in some
cases whole families? This realization prompted me to extend my
unit on the Holocaust beyond the events of 1933-1945.
- Studying Dietrich Bonhoeffer allows for discussion of
resistance and of Christian involvement, two issues most high
schoolers do not think about when they are introduced to the
Holocaust. Bonhoeffer's writings bring up a disturbing but
interesting point: no innocent bystanders. This opens a door to
serious debate and learning.
- Reading excerpts from Wiesel's Night gives students an
attachment, an affective link that is missing from their daily
academic work . . . Students can identify with Wiesel's struggle
with his faith; they are questioning creatures who battle their
own doubts on a day-to-day basis. Clearly, Wiesel's experience is
different from teenage angst, but it can be a powerful springboard
for studying the Holocaust in depth.
- While we may have only begun to scrape the surface of
understanding all there is to know about the Holocaust and other
genocides, I feel very grounded . . . I believe that the greatest
success of this seminar is the creation of a community of
educators of varying levels, backgrounds, content areas, and
experiences . . . Together we can continue to improve our
knowledge and skills.
The complete results of this assessment, along with samples of art
and poetry created by students in classes taught by these teachers,
can be found at the NWCHE website, http://www.wce.wwu.edu/nwche.
Ray Wolpow
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