The purpose of this exploratory, descriptive study was to understand what and how students learn about the Holocaust in private Christian/Catholic middle and high schools. Christian schools have been criticized for putting more emphasis on teaching religion than on providing a quality education. A convenience sample of middle and secondary English…

Although, traditionally, the purpose of the social studies class in secondary schools is to teach content knowledge, this article argues that historical learning can be a powerful vehicle for English language development for late-arrival English learners (ELs) in middle and high schools. ELs bring a wealth of life experiences, diverse…

In this paper I explore the connection between narrative ethics and the increasing emphasis on historical consciousness as a way to cultivate moral responsibility in history education. I use Timothy Findley's World War I novel, "The Wars," as an example of how teachers might help students to see history neither simply as a…

In 1924 the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace published a volume investigating the teaching of school history in former belligerent states in Europe. The project sought to reconcile former enemies through mutual understanding and educational exchange and reflected a widely held belief that although the military conflict had finished, its…

Howard Zinn's "A People's History" of the United States has few peers among contemporary historical works. With more than 2 million copies in print, "A People's History" is more than a book. It is a cultural icon. While most historians aim to examine the full historical record, Zinn picks and chooses from it. Writing persuasively, he hides the…

This lesson prompts students to explore the ways that individuals, groups, communities, and nations define who belongs and who does not. The outlined activities examine what it means to belong by introducing the idea of a "universe of obligation," the term sociologist Helen Fein coined to describe the circle of individuals and groups…

Back in 1993 and 2000, Lang and LeCocq, respectively, in their reactions against reductive and de-contextualised forms of "source work", pointed out that all sources do hold value in some way, even, and often especially, in those aspects that might be deemed "biased". The author's Year 10s' difficulty in shaking off a certain…

When Michael Fordham was introduced to Dr Seuss's "Butter Battle Book" he immediately recognised its potential value in the classroom as a popular interpretation of the Cold War. Wanting his Year 9 pupils to explain how and why the past has been interpreted in different ways he shows the potential pitfalls inherent in asking pupils to…

Visual History Archive, or VHA, is the world's largest database of videotaped and digitized Holocaust video testimony. The VHA originated with filmmaker Steven Spielberg, who consulted camp survivors when making his blockbuster film "Schindler's List" in 1993. Inspired by this collaboration, Spielberg went on to establish the Survivors…

Though Holocaust education is of critical importance in the world of Jewish Day Schools, little research has been conducted about it. The purpose of this paper is to answer some critical questions about how they teach the Holocaust in Jewish Day Schools--the who, what, when, where, how, and why questions. Additionally, comparisons are made between…

Japan's "historical amnesia", represented by conservatives' denial of the Nanjing massacre, sanitization of history textbooks, and Japanese politicians' visits to the controversial Yasukuni Shrine continues to generate tensions between China and Japan. This study aims to understand the degree to which "historical amnesia" is…

There are few topics more engaging, polarizing, controversial, and relevant than the issue of race relations in the United States. As race and racism are enduring issues of importance and popularity, it seems fitting to explore the topic through one of the more engaging and divisive eras in U.S. history; the Civil War. National and state standards…

A textbook author reflects on the ethical and ideological choices she made in her quest to create a history book that would be relevant to demographically diverse high school students.

This article focuses on how civic agency is taught or not taught by a social studies teacher to the children of soldiers in a largely conservative community and, as a result, how it was learned or not learned. Taken from a larger study investigating individual teacher curricular and pedagogic choice around teaching war near a military base, this…

From handwritten letters of the American Revolution to typed emails from Iraq and Afghanistan, correspondence from U.S. troops offers students deep insight into the specific conflicts and experiences of soldiers. Over 100,000 correspondences have been donated to the Legacy Project, a national initiative launched in 1998 to preserve war letters by…