Centre for Holocaust Education, Institute of Education, University College London
Abstract
This research report has been written under the auspices
of the University College London (UCL) Centre for
Holocaust Education. The Centre is part of the UCL
Institute of Education – currently the world’s leading
university for education – and is comprised of a team
of researchers and educators from a variety of different
disciplinary fields. The Centre works in partnership with
the Pears Foundation who, together with the Department
for Education, have co-funded its operation since it was
first established in 2008.
A centrally important principle of all activity based at
the UCL Centre for Holocaust Education is that, wherever
possible, classroom practice should be informed by
academic scholarship and relevant empirical research.
In 2009, Centre staff published an extensive national
study of secondary school teachers’ experience of
and attitudes towards teaching about the Holocaust
(Pettigrew et al. 2009). This new report builds on that
earlier work by critically examining English school
students’ knowledge and understanding of this history.
In both cases, research findings have been – and will
continue to be – used to develop an innovative and
ground-breaking programme of continuing professional
development (CPD) for teachers and educational
resources that are uniquely responsive to clearly identified
classroom needs. The UCL Centre for Holocaust
Education is the only institution of its kind, both within
the United Kingdom and internationally, where pioneering
empirical research is placed at the heart of work to
support teachers and their students encountering this
profoundly important yet complex and challenging
subject in schools.
The Centre offers a wide-ranging educational
programme appropriate to teachers at all stages of their
careers through a carefully constructed ‘pathway of
professional development’. This provides opportunities
for individuals to progressively deepen their knowledge
and improve their practice. It offers a national programme
of Initial Teacher Education in Holocaust education and a
variety of in-depth and subject-specific CPD. In addition,
the Centre also offers online distance learning facilities,
including a fully accredited taught Masters-level module
The Holocaust in the Curriculum. Through its Beacon
School programme, Centre staff work intensively
with up to 20 schools across England each year in order
to recognise and further develop exemplary
whole-school approaches and effective pedagogy.
All of the courses and classroom materials developed
by the UCL Centre for Holocaust Education are available
free of charge to teachers working in England’s statefunded
secondary schools. Further information can be
found at www.ioe.ac.uk/holocaust
