Since 2016, we have worked closely with schools to explore the impact of the Centre’s CPD programme on teaching and learning. This involves students completing surveys about their knowledge of the Holocaust and comparing their responses with the data collected from the Centre’s 2016 national survey where schools had not worked with the Centre or delivered the Centre’s educational programme.  The analysis shows a consistent trend, with students who have participated in the Centre’s programme demonstrating far more knowledge than was found in the national sample.

The percentage of students in schools using Centre for Holocaust Education lessons and resources who answered each question correctly after learning about Holocaust compared to Key Stage 3 students in the Centre’s national student study (where schools had not worked with the Centre)

• 21.4% of Key Stage 3 students in the national sample knew what the term antisemitism refers to, and this compares to 91% of students who have taken part in the Centre’s programme

• 47.2% of Key Stage 3 students in the national sample knew how many Jewish people were killed during the Holocaust, and this compares to 86% who have taken part in the Centre’s programme

 

Students the Centre worked with

were far more likely to identify the correct answers

 

We also explore students’ attitudes and experiences of learning about the Holocaust through open-ended survey questions and focus groups. Students who have participated in the Centre’s programme have told us:

“Learning about the Holocaust affects you personally, like my morals have changed I think. When you learn about the stories it affects you personally that I would never want to be that prejudiced against anyone in our community.”

 

“I liked that the lessons were in-depth and made me think, instead of just giving the answer. It also gave me a better understanding of the Holocaust.”

 

“I enjoyed the interactivity of the scheme of work, it was not just the teacher speaking from a PowerPoint we did most of the discoveries ourselves. I found the individual stories most interesting because it gave you a sense of what actually happened not just figures and statistics.”

Positively impacting on

around 800,000 students each year

 

We continue to explore how participating in the Centre’s programme is related to students’ knowledge. For more information about how your students can complete our short online knowledge survey and receive a free report of findings for your school produced by the Centre’s research team, please contact Dr Becky Hale: r.hale@ucl.ac.uk