The Holocaust in the National Curriculum after 25 years

Abstract

This article provides a historical overview of the position of the Holocaust within the National Curriculum since 1991. Through close analysis of the five iterations of the curriculum, it traces changes and continuities in how teaching and learning about the Holocaust has been stipulated by successive governments. By contextualising these with reference to shifts in England's Holocaust culture, it is shown that the National Curriculum has acted as a fulcrum for the evolution of Holocaust consciousness. However, it is also argued that many of the faults and failures, challenges and shortcomings within the National Curriculum are symbiotic and closely entwined with wider issues in Britain's Holocaust culture.

Democratic pilgrimage: Swedish students’ understanding of study trips to Holocaust memorial sites

“…Cooper, 2019), there is no empirical research on the relationship between public Holocaust discourse and educational content in Sweden. However, Pearce (2017) demonstrated strong connections between public discourse on the Holocaust and educational content in the case of England, and there is no reason to believe that Sweden is an exception to these interplays. Thus, it is relevant to note that a central part of public Swedish cultural construction of national identity is the concept of Sweden as a leading nation of democracy and human rights promotion (Harding, 2007).…”