Film Education -

Teaching Guidelines

There is a general consensus amongst Holocaust education providers as to what constitutes good practice at secondary level in this area.  These are available in full from the Holocaust education providers outlined in the useful links page but some key points include:

• Avoid the use of graphic images as they dehumanise the victims
• Ensure activities are meaningful and purposeful and do not trivialise the subject (no word searches etc).
• Do not attempt role-play activities.  No one can imagine what it was like to live through these atrocities and to try to do so over-simplifies and trivialises the experiences of those who did.
• Focus on stories of individuals.  Personalise the lessons with stories from those who experienced the Holocaust first hand.
• Contextualise events historically and avoid romanticising the past.
• Do not make over-simplified parallels with other genocides. Each event is unique with its own history.
• Avoid comparisons of pain.  There is no hierarchy of oppression.
• Avoid decontextualised images of Nazi flags and emblems or anything which might glamorise the Nazis. Ensure that any images are used in the context of highlighting the consequences of Nazi policy.
• Teach about perpetrators, victims, survivors, rescuers, bystanders and all the groups persecuted by the Nazis.
• Teach about the history of antisemitism.
• Consider the lessons for today.