Teaching the Holocaust as a Cautionary Tale

“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).…”

Resistance Is not Futile: Badiou, Simulacra and a Story From the Nazi-Occupied Netherlands

“…As a former high school social studies teacher and now as an instructor of preservice teachers, I have been wrestling with this question. It is common to hear a rationale along the lines of prevention; for example, that we must learn about genocides so that others may not occur (Marks, 2017). However, in my classes (and at times in myself), I noticed that teaching a bare historical narrative of atrocities resulted in a fixation on cold facts (e.g., death tolls), in a despair that humans have been awful and would always continue to be, and in feelings of powerlessness to do anything about these horrors of history.…”