A critical analysis of a decade of school based Holocaust education in Scotland : 2002-2012

• Main Author: Cowan, Paula
• Published: University of the West of Scotland 2014
• Subjects: 940.5318071
• Online Access: http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.627911

This thesis is a critical analysis of the candidate’s research into school based Holocaust education in Scotland between 2002-2012. In this thesis, Holocaust education comprises learning about the Holocaust and learning from the Holocaust which leads to its justification in history and citizenship programmes. ‘Citizenship’ permeates each chapter of this thesis because the candidate considers that the Holocaust has an important role in developing young people’s understanding of aspects of citizenship such as individual responsibility, racism, antisemitism, human rights and genocides. The critical review of literature in this thesis begins in the wider Holocaust educational context, discussing the developments and challenges to Holocaust education, and adopted theoretical perspectives. This leads into the Scottish context which focuses on local policy issues. The methodology section explains the candidate’s constructionist and interpretivist positions and critically reflects on her adopted approaches at every stage of the research process. The section on the candidate’s publications provides an overview and critical discussion of these publications and shows that the candidate’s learning over the course of this research included specific ways of developing communicating with external funders, meeting ethical requirements, and designing questionnaires. The candidate’s case studies’ findings have contributed to scholarship in Holocaust education by demonstrating the impact of the introduction of Holocaust Memorial Day in one authority, suggesting that learning about the Holocaust in the primary school can have an immediate and longer lasting impact on pupils’ values, and providing insight into student and teacher participants’ views of the Lesson From Auschwitz Project. The candidate’s publications in the primary context have also demonstrated that the Holocaust can be taught appropriately to primary pupils, contributing to the debate on this issue. In addition, the candidate’s publications have raised the international profile of Holocaust education in Scotland.