Holocaust education Contents

Conclusions and recommendations

1.We have received a wealth of written evidence attesting to the importance of
high-quality Holocaust education. This requires a detailed knowledge of the subject including when, why, where and who as well as an understanding of the roles of perpetrator, victim, bystander and rescuer. We have heard about examples of inspiring education which take students well beyond the classroom. At its best, Holocaust education can lead students towards being active and informed citizens.
(Paragraph 10)

2.The status of the Holocaust within the National Curriculum creates demand for high quality teacher training above and beyond the training available for discretionary topics. (Paragraph 14)

3.The Department for Education should take steps to support the organisations it funds to deliver Holocaust education to more history teachers. The Department for Education should also consider how the teacher training it funds could be extended to teachers of subjects other than history. (Paragraph 15)

4.The personal testimony of Holocaust survivors is irreplaceable. Work is underway to preserve the stories of survivors, as well as those written records of people who died during or since the Holocaust. We recognise the current and future role to be played by relatives and descendants of victims of the Holocaust. We hope that the Government will respond favourably to proposals that are made by the Holocaust Commission for preserving Holocaust testimony for future generations, when they are made. (Paragraph 19)

5.The Government should consider giving more young people the opportunity to visit Auschwitz, preferably through the Lessons from Auschwitz programme. Subsequent visits to other sites might also be encouraged. (Paragraph 21)

6.We agree that the teaching of other genocides should not come at the expense of failing to teach the Holocaust. Some of the testimony we have received from witnesses supported the teaching of other genocides following on from the Holocaust. (Paragraph 28)

7.A growing number of students are at schools where the Holocaust is not required to be taught by the National Curriculum. While many academies will rightly elect to teach students about the Holocaust, the Government should take steps to ensure that Holocaust education does not become inadvertently patchy. (Paragraph 32)

8.We recognise the importance of ensuring that the Holocaust is taught in sensitive and age-appropriate ways, and conclude that the teaching of the Holocaust would be strengthened by the adoption of a deliberately cross-curricular approach. (Paragraph 36)




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Prepared 21 January 2016