More open to diversity? The longer term citizenship impact of learning about the Holocaust

This is the third stage of a longitudinal study that investigates the learning of the Holocaust on pupils' citizenship values. We firstly compared primary pupils' values before and after their learning of the Holocaust; and secondly tracked these pupils into secondary to compare their attitudes with their peers who had not studied the Holocaust in primary school. It involves 200 pupils from a predominantly white rural community in the West of Scotland with very few ethnic minority pupils. The core group are now aged 15-16 years and this study continues to investigate their citizenship values using a values survey. This study is of interest to those involved in citizenship education, Holocaust education, antiracist and values education

'Why are we learning this?' Does studying the Holocaust encourage better citizenship values? Preliminary findings from Scotland

The relationship between learning about the Holocaust and the development of positive values may seem common sense but in reality there is a complex level of development and understanding. This research (which was sponsored by the Scottish Government) was designed to ascertain whether learning about the Holocaust impacts on young people's general citizenship values and attitudes; does learning about the Holocaust allow them to extrapolate from the events of the Holocaust to present day issues, such as racism and discrimination. The research followed a cohort of approximately 100 pupils (aged 11-12) who had studied the Holocaust and compared their values one year later both in comparison to their earlier attitudes and compared to their peers who had not studied the Holocaust. This paper reports the findings. As we might expect, the results were not always as predicted, particularly when it came to the pupils understanding of anti-Semitism or genocide; in general though, our core group had maintained more positive values than they had before their lessons on the Holocaust and were more positive than their peers

Seeing the world today from a different viewpoint: the impact of the lessons from Auschwitz project on schools in Scotland

Auschwitz remains the epitome of inhumanity and barbarism. In 2007, the Holocaust Educational Trust organised the first Lessons from Auschwitz (LFA) project for Scottish schools. Its participants were two plane-loads of Scottish pupils and teachers from 31 local authorities - typically two pupils from a school accompanied by a teacher. This research, funded by the Holocaust Educational Trust and the Pears Foundation, involved these participants being invited to complete an online questionnaire with selected follow-up interviews. The aims were to evaluate the LFA project and provide insight into the impact this project had on individuals, schools and communities. This paper will report on: Student evaluation of the LFA project; The impact of the LFA project on individuals, schools and local communities; Conclusions as to the value of the LFA project in Scotland

Does size matter? Experiences and perspectives of BIM implementation from large and SME construction contractors

This paper presents the findings of a qualitative study into the experiences and perspectives of large and SME construction contractors towards the implementation of Building Information Modelling (BIM) within their organisations. Results of the survey were statistically analysed to test for similarity and significant variations between the two groups. The results confirmed that both groups were equally aware of the perceived benefits of BIM, but found that the largest barriers to implementation were the costs associated with the technology and training requirements. Significant differences between the groups included plans to implement BIM and concerns with legal and commercial barriers

[Review of] Rebels and Victims by Evelyn Gross Avery

Rebels and Victims is a useful contribution to the comparative analysis of ethnic literature. This balanced, thorough presentation on the fiction of Wright and Malamud examines their ethnic literary works. Avery touches on many interdisciplinary factors which make the book of some interest to those discussing Afro-American and Jewish-American ethnic groups functioning in society