Teaching Difficult Knowledge of Holocaust Education in Poland: A Look at The Impact of Narrative, Empathy, And Previous Knowledge on Memory.

Volume 8, Issue 4, August 2023     |     PP. 174-191      |     PDF (232 K)    |     Pub. Date: August 1, 2023
DOI: 10.54647/education880452    85 Downloads     160938 Views  

Author(s)

Maya Shalom, Department of Education, Mofet Institute, Tel Aviv, Israel
Efrat Luzzatto, Department of Education, Levinsky College, Tel Aviv, Israel
Zehavit Gross, School of Education, Bar Ilan University, Ramat Gan, Israel

Abstract
The Holocaust is regarded as the worst crime against humanity and violation of human rights in modern history. The need to pedagogically present and engage with the heritage of the Holocaust is a complex and emotionally charged challenge that many teachers have to face. It is often referred to as difficult knowledge. This study looks at how the narrative of film can be used in teaching about the Holocaust and the impact of narrative perspective on short- and long-term memory of the subject matter. Participants were shown two Holocaust testimonies: one in first-person narrative, the other in third-person narrative. Our aim was to provide novel insights on the effect of narrative on memory in teaching difficult knowledge. We believe that insights from this study may shed light on the astute use of film in the teaching of difficult knowledge.

Keywords
difficult knowledge, empathy, memory, first-person narrative, third-person narrative

Cite this paper
Maya Shalom, Efrat Luzzatto, Zehavit Gross, Teaching Difficult Knowledge of Holocaust Education in Poland: A Look at The Impact of Narrative, Empathy, And Previous Knowledge on Memory. , SCIREA Journal of Education. Volume 8, Issue 4, August 2023 | PP. 174-191. 10.54647/education880452

References

[ 1 ] Allwork, L. (2019, November 19). Holocaust education and contemporary antisemitism. History and Policy. https://www.historyandpolicy.org/policy-papers/papers/holocaust-education-and-contemporary-anti-semitism
[ 2 ] Baron-Cohen, S., and Wheelwright, S. (2004). The empathy quotient: an investigation of adults with Asperger syndrome or high functioning autism, and normal sex differences. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 34, 163–175. doi: 10.1023/b: jadd.0000022607.19833.00
[ 3 ] Blasco, P. G., Garcia, D. S., de Benedetto, M. A. C., Moreto, G., Roncoletta, A. F., & Troll, T. (2010). Cinema for educating global doctors: from emotions to reflection, approaching the complexity of the Human Being. Primary Care, 10(3), 45-47.
[ 4 ] Boschki, R., Reichmann, B., & Schwendemann, W. (2015). Towards a New Theory of Holocaust Remembrance in Germany: Education, Preventing Antisemitism, and Advancing Human Rights. In Z. Gross & E. Stevick (Eds.), As the Witnesses Fall Silent: 21st Century Holocaust Education in Curriculum, Policy and Practice (pp. 469-488). Springer, Cham.‏ https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-15419-0_27
[ 5 ] Bell, S. (2022). Remembering the Holocaust and the Impact on Societies Today, Pen and Sword History.
[ 6 ] Britzman, D. P. (2000). If the Story Cannot End: Deferred Action, Ambivalence, and Difficult Knowledge. In R. Simon, S. Rosenberg, & C. Eppert (Eds.), Between Hope and Despair: Pedagogy and the Remembrance of Historical Trauma (pp.27-58). Rowan and Littlefield.
[ 7 ] Chia, P. S. (2022). What Does the Old Testament Say about Memory Retention: A Cognitive Psychology Approach. Journal of Research on Christian Education, 1-10. https://doi.org/10.1080/10656219.2022.2071513
[ 8 ] Davis, M.H. (1983). Measuring individual differences in empathy: evidence for a multidimensional approach. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 44(1), 113-136. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.44.1.113
[ 9 ] De Graaf, A., Hoeken, H., Sanders, J., & Beentjes, J. W. (2012). Identification as a mechanism of narrative persuasion. Communication Research, 39, 802–823. doi:10.1177/009365021 1408594
[ 10 ] Dror, Y. (2001). Holocaust curricula in Israeli secondary schools, 1960s-1990s: Historical evaluation from the moral education perspective. The Journal of Holocaust Education, 10(2), 29-39.‏ https://doi.org/10.1080/17504902.2001.11087129
[ 11 ] Friedman, Y., Grobgeld, E., Teichman-Weinberg, A. (2019). Imbuing education with brain research can improve teaching and enhance productive learning. Psychology, 10 (2). 10.4236/psych.2019.102010
[ 12 ] Gallese, V., & Guerra, M. (2019). The Empathic Screen: Cinema and Neuroscience. Oxford University Press
[ 13 ] Garrett, H. J. 2010. Difficult Knowledge and Social Studies (Teacher) Education. [Doctoral dissertation, Michigan State University]. ProQuest LLC. https://eric.ed.gov/?id=ED522389
[ 14 ] Golub, J., and Cohen. R. (1993). What Do Americans Know About the Holocaust? New York, NY: American Jewish Committee.
[ 15 ] Gross, Z. (2018). The Process of the Universalization of Holocaust Education: Problems and Challenges. Contemporary Jewry, 38(1), 5–20. http://www.jstor.org/stable/45209113‏
[ 16 ] Gross, Z. (2010). Holocaust education in Jewish schools in Israel: Goals, dilemmas, challenges. Prospects, 40(1), 93-113. doi: 10.1007/s11125-010-9142-x
[ 17 ] Gundare, I., & Batelaan P. (2003). Learning about and from the Holocaust: The development and implementation of a Complex Instruction Unit in Latvia. Intercultural Education, 14(2), 151-166. doi: 10.1080/14675980304569
[ 18 ] Hakemulder, F. (2000). The Moral Laboratory: Experiments Examining the Effects of Reading Literature on Social Perception and Moral Self-Concept. John Benjamins Publishing Company
[ 19 ] Hasson, U., Furman, O., Clark, D., Dudai, Y., Davachi, L. (2008). Enhanced intersubject correlations during movie viewing correlate with successful episodic encoding. Neuron 57, 452-462. doi: 10.1016/j.neuron.2007.12.009
[ 20 ] Hasson, U., Landesman, O., Knappmeyer, B., Vallines, I., Rubin, N., & Heeger, D. J. (2008). Neurocinematics: The neuroscience of film. Projections, 2(1), 1-26.‏ doi: 10:3167/proj.2008.020102
[ 21 ] Katz, D. A. (2018). A Case of Teaching and Learning the Holocaust in Secondary School History Class: An Exercise in Historical Thinking with Primary Sources. [Doctoral dissertation, The George Washington University].‏ ProQuest LLC. https://eric.ed.gov/?id=ED584955
[ 22 ] Kaufman, G. F. (2009). Down the rabbit hole: Exploring the antecedents and consequences of identification with fictional characters [Doctoral dissertation, Ohio State University]. OhioLINK ETD Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1259601597
[ 23 ] Kaufman, G. F., & Libby, L. K. (2012). Changing beliefs and behavior through experience-taking. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 103(1), 1–19. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0027525
[ 24 ] Maibom, H. L. (2017). Introduction to philosophy of empathy. In H. Maibom (Ed.). The Routledge Handbook of Philosophy of Empathy (pp. 1-9). Routledge.‏
[ 25 ] Mızrak, E., & Oberauer, K. (2021). What is time good for in working memory? Psychological Science, 32(8), 1325-1337.‏ https://doi.org/10.1177/0956797621996659
[ 26 ] Moreto, G., Blasco, P. G. , De Benedetto, M. A. C. , & Levites, M. R. (2022). Reflections in Medical Education: Empathy, Emotions, and Possible Pedagogical Resources for the Emotional Education of Medical Students. In M. S. Firstenberg, & S. P. Stawicki (Eds.), Medical Education for the 21st Century. IntechOpen. https://doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.101832
[ 27 ] Muller, E., & Kane, S. (2017). Using Film Study to Teach perspective-taking in High School Students with Autism and Other Social Cognition Challenges. Journal of Child & Adolescent Behavior 5(6). doi: 10.4172/2375-4494.1000364
[ 28 ] Perreault, K. (2017). Remembrance as Presence: Promoting Learning from Difficult Knowledge at the Canadian Museum for Human Rights. Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository. 4798. https://ir.lib.uwo.ca/etd/4798
[ 29 ] Nan, X., Dahlstrom, M. F., Richards, A., & Rangarajan, S. (2015). Influence of evidence type and narrative type on HPV risk perception and intention to obtain the HPV vaccine. Health Communication, 30, 301–308. doi:10.1080/10410236.2014.888629
[ 30 ] Pitt, A., & Britzman, D. (2003). Speculations on qualities of difficult knowledge in teaching and learning: An experiment in psychoanalytic research. Qualitative Studies in Education, 16(6), 755-776. https://doi.org/10.1080/09518390310001632135
[ 31 ] Ricker, T. J., Sandry, J., Vergauwe, E., Cowan, N. (2020). Do familiar memory items decay? Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 46(1), 60–76. https://doi.org/10.1037/xlm0000719
[ 32 ] Rutland, D.S (2010). Creating effective Holocaust education programmes for government schools with large Muslim populations in Sydney, Prospects, 40(1), 93-113.
[ 33 ] Shalom, M., & Gross, Z. (2022). The Link Between Memory, Narrative and Empathy in Teaching Difficult Knowledge in Holocaust Education. Frontiers in Education, 7, 254. https://doi.org/10.3389/feduc.2022.866457
[ 34 ] Sheppard, Maia & Levy, Sara. (2019). Emotions and teacher decision-making: An analysis of social studies teachers’ perspectives. Teaching and Teacher Education. 77. 193-203.
[ 35 ] Shimamura, A. P., Marian, D. E., & Haskins, A. L. (2013). Neural correlates of emotional regulation while viewing films. Brain Imaging and Behavior, 7(1), 77-84.‏ doi: 10.1093/scan/nsx005
[ 36 ] Short, G., & Reed, C. A. (2004). Issues in Holocaust Education. Routledge.
[ 37 ] Shulman, L. S. (1987). Knowledge and Teaching: Foundations of the New Reform. Harvard Educational Review, 57, 1-22. http://dx.doi.org/10.17763/haer.57.1.j463w79r56455411
[ 38 ] Stadler, J. (2017). Empathy in film. In H. Maibom (Ed.), The Routledge handbook of Philosophy of Empathy (pp. 317-326). Routledge.
[ 39 ] Stevick, E. D. & Michaels, D. L. (2013). Empirical and Normative Foundations of Holocaust education: Bringing research and advocacy into dialogue. Intercultural Education, 24(1-2), 1-18. https://doi.org/10.1080/14675986.2013.793025
[ 40 ] UNESCO and OSCE/ODIHR, “Addressing Anti-Semitism through Education: Guidelines for Policymakers”, 2018, https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000263702, accessed 23 October 2019.
[ 41 ] Wagner, U., Handke, L., and Walter, H. (2015). The relationship between trait empathy and memory formation for social vs. non-social information. BMC Psychology. 3:2. doi: 10.1186/s40359-015-0058-3
[ 42 ] Zhang, X., Li, Q., Wang, L., Liu, Z. J., & Zhong, Y. (2016). Cdc42-dependent forgetting regulates repetition effect in prolonging memory retention. Cell Reports, 16(3), 817-825. DOI: 10.1016/j.celrep.2016.06.041