https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4316-4083
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ABSTRACT
The primary objective of this comparitive case study was to explore how secondary teachers make decisions regarding teaching about the Holocaust using the art of Samuel Bak as text. The researchers analyzed self-created curriculum materials, responses to a questionnaire about teacher decision-making processes, and interviews with three secondary teachers whose students visited an exhibit of Bak’s art. The researchers find that teachers have agency to make decisions based on materials, standards and curriculum, and personal connections to the content while relying on a student-centered approach. Implications for further research include a deeper exploration of teachers’ awareness of their decision making.
Acknowledgements
The authors acknowledge the extraordinary life of Samuel Bak and the artist’s powerful impact on his audiences. The authors also express gratitude to all of the teachers and students who visited Witness: The Art of Samuel Bak, and we especially wish to thank the three teachers who participated in this study.
Declaration of interest
We have no relevant financial or non-financial competing interests to report. Dr. Connie Schaffer was appointed as the Bak Community Engagement Fellow after the completion of this research project.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).
Notes
1 Ellison, How They Teach, 2; Johnson and Pennington, Teaching Other Genocides, 228–9; and Ragland and Rosenstein, Holocaust Education Analysis, 176.
2 Ellison, How They Teach, 3.
3 Never Again Education Act of 2020, 20 U.S.C. 21 and 7801.
4 Pearce and Chapman, Holocaust Education 25 Years, 224; and Zembylas, Loukaidis, and Antoniou, Teachers’ Pedagogical Perspectives, 349.
5 Pearce, The Holocaust in the National Curriculum, 233.
6 Stake, Multiple Case Study Analysis, vi.
7 Donnelly, Educating Students about the Holocaust, 51.
8 Barkauskas, Common Purposes, 528.
9 Goodrich and Hackett, The Diary of Anne Frank.
10 Ellison, How They Teach, 5.
11 Wickam, Holocaust Curriculum Used, 69.
12 Donnelly, Educating Students about the Holocaust, 52; Ellison, How They Teach, 5; Johnson and Pennington, Teaching Other Genocides, 227, 229–30; Gudgel, Think Higher Feel Deeper, 80; Ragland and Rosenstein, Holocaust Education Analysis, 176.
13 Badger and Harker, The Impact of a Museum, 356–7; and Johnson and Pennington, Teaching Other Genocides, 223.
14 Burgard, Constructing Deeper Meaning, 58–9.
15 Badger and Harker, The Impact of a Museum, 371; Burgard, Constructing Deeper Meaning, 59.
16 Sayers, Investing the Impact of Contrasting Paradigms, 411.
17 Harker and Badger, Traveling Exhibitions as Sites, 275.
18 Donnelly, Educating Students about the Holocaust, 54.
19 Nowell and Poindexter, Holocaust Education as a Path, 286; and Ragland and Rosenstein, Holocaust Education Analysis, 178–9.
20 Borko and Shavelson, Teacher Decision Making, 318–22; and Kennedy, Parsing the Practice of Teaching, 10–13.
21 Cohen, Teacher Autonomy, 173, 183; Gudgel, Think Higher Feel Deeper, 16; Lindquist, Complicating Issues in Holocaust Education, 31–2; and Zembylas, Loukaidis, and Antoniou, Teachers’ Pedagogical Perspectives, 349.
22 Lindquist, Developing Holocaust Curricula, 27.
23 Cooke and Frieze, Imagination, Performance and Affect, 162–3.
24 Stake, Multiple Case Study Analysis, vi.
25 Miles, Huberman and Saldaña, Qualitative Data Analysis, 135.
26 Alhojailan, Thematic Analysis, 40–41; and Braun and Clarke, Using Thematic Analysis, 79–81.
27 Bak, Painted in Words.
28 Miles, Huberman and Saldaña, Qualitative Data Analysis, 33–4.
29 Ibid., 31.
30 Ibid., 95, 97; Braun and Clarke, Using Thematic Analysis, 84.
31 Smagorinsky, The Methods Section, 401–2.
32 Braun and Clarke, Using Thematic Analysis, 81; and Miles, Huberman and Saldaña, Qualitative Data Analysis, 33–4.
33 Braun and Clarke, Using Thematic Analysis, 83–4.
34 Miles, Huberman and Saldaña, Qualitative Data Analysis, 135.
35 Saldaña, The Coding Manual for Qualitative Researchers, 28.
36 Stake, Multiple Case Study Analysis, 37.
37 Braun and Clarke, Using Thematic Analysis, 91.
38 Spiegelman, Maus : A Survivor’s Tale.
39 Minsky Sender, The Cage: A Holocaust Memoir.
40 Wiesel, Night; Dawn; Day.
41 Wiesenthal, The Sunflower.
42 Minsky Sender, To Life.
43 Colon, Samuel Bak.
44 Statement about the painting with the boy is a reference to Bak’s 2007 painting, Targeted, and the statement about the painting with the family is a reference to Bak’s 2007 painting, For One King.
45 Badger and Harker, The Impact of a Museum, 371.
46 Burgard, Constructing Deeper Meaning, 60–62.
47 Ibid.
48 Frenzel et al., Emotion Transmission in the Classroom, 635; Keller et al., Feeling and Showing, 35; and Keller et al., Teacher Enthusiasm, 761–2.
49 Ragland and Rosenstein, Holocaust Education Analysis, 180–82.
50 Frenzel et al., Emotion Transmission in the Classroom, 635.
51 Badger and Harker, The Impact of a Museum, 362.
52 Burgard, Constructing Deeper Meaning, 61–2.
53 Ellison, How They Teach, 8.
54 Schweber, Holocaust Fatigue, 53.
55 Warren, Fletcher, and Sansalone, Pathways to Justice, 66.
56 Schneider, Representation of the Holocaust, 75.
57 Ibid., 77.
58 Ellison, How They Teach, 8.
59 Warren, Fletcher, and Sansalone, Pathways to Justice, 66.
60 Ibid., 66.
61 Borko and Shavelson, Teacher Decision Making, 313; and Kennedy, Parsing the Practice of Teaching, 9–10.
62 Cohen, Teacher Autonomy, 186.
63 Biesta and Tedder, Agency and Learning in the Lifecourse, 145.
64 Priestley, Biesta, and Robinson, Teachers as ‘Agents of Change’, 192.
Additional information
Notes on contributors
Julie Bell
Julie Bell, Ph.D., is an Assistant Professor of Teacher Education and Secondary Literacy. A former high school English, speech, and theatre teacher, Dr. Bell currently teaches undergraduate and graduate courses in literacy, English methods, and young adult literature. Her research interests include the mentoring of pre-service and in-service teachers and English education.
Connie Schaffer
Connie Schaffer, Ed.D., is an Associate Professor in the Teacher Education Department and has served as the Bak Community Engagement Fellow and currently serves as the Director for the Center for Faculty Excellence at the University of Nebraska at Omaha. Dr. Schaffer has taught a variety of classes and chaired the Secondary Education Graduate Committee. Her research areas include topics related to urban education.
Kimberly Gangwish
Kimberly Gangwish, Ed.D., is a Senior Community Services Associate and coordinates the IDEAS Room professional library and LiveText/Via assessment platforms for the college. Dr. Gangwish formerly taught high school English, speech, theater, communications, debate, and was also a school librarian. She currently teaches graduate courses in instructional technology leadership.