Are changing practices of Holocaust teaching good for citizenship education?

More than ten years the researchers conducted research into the practice of teaching the Holocaust in primary schools (Cowan and Maitles, 2002). This research highlighted best practice in a small authority in Scotland that had demonstrated a commitment to teaching the Holocaust in their schools. The current research, which analyses empirical data that was collected in 2013, aims to investigate the current practices of Holocaust teaching, highlight contrasts with the earlier study and reflect on the extent to which current trends in teaching the Holocaust are beneficial to citizenship education. This research updates and extends previous studies on teaching the Holocaust in primary schools (Cowan and Maitles, 2005); and research on the contribution of Holocaust education and Holocaust Memorial Day to citizenship education (Brown and Davies, 1998; Short, 2000; Burtonwood, 2002; Cowan and Maitles, 2010). It also provides information on how Holocaust education is being integrated into Scotland’s ‘new’ curriculum, Curriculum for Excellence, in which responsible citizenship is a key component. An online questionnaire was sent to every primary school in Glasgow City Council in 2013, to ascertain the resources and teaching approaches that are currently being used to teach the Holocaust, and the extent to which Holocaust education is providing a context for developing skills, attributes and knowledge that will create active global citizens. Like the authority in the earlier study, this authority had demonstrated a commitment to Holocaust education by hosting the national Holocaust Remembrance event that year. In addition to being of relevance to the Scottish teaching context, this research is of particular interest to educators in countries, such as France and the Netherlands, where the Holocaust is mandatory in the primary curriculum and to policy makers and practitioners committed to developing global citizenship programmes.