This research report has been written under the auspices of the University College London (UCL) C... more This research report has been written under the auspices of the University College London (UCL) Centre for Holocaust Education. The Centre is part of the UCL Institute of Education – currently the world’s leading university for education – and is comprised of a team of researchers and educators from a variety of different disciplinary fields. The Centre works in partnership with the Pears Foundation who, together with the Department for Education, have co-funded its operation since it was first established in 2008. A centrally important principle of all activity based at the UCL Centre for Holocaust Education is that, wherever possible, classroom practice should be informed by academic scholarship and relevant empirical research. In 2009, Centre staff published an extensive national study of secondary school teachers’ experience of and attitudes towards teaching about the Holocaust (Pettigrew et al. 2009). This new report builds on that earlier work by critically examining English s...
This research was commissioned by The Pears Foundation and the Department for Children, Schools ... more This research was commissioned by The Pears Foundation and the Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF). The aims were to examine when, where, how and why the Holocaust is taught in state-maintained secondary schools in England, and to inform the design and delivery of a continuing professional development (CPD) programme for teachers who teach about the Holocaust. A two-phase mixed methodology was employed. This comprised an online survey which was completed by 2,108 respondents and follow-up interviews with 68 teachers in 24 different schools throughout England. The research reveals that teachers adopt a diverse set of approaches to this challenging and complex subject. In the report, teachers’ perceptions, perspectives and practice are presented and a range of challenges and issues encountered by teachers across the country are explicitly identified. The research shows that, although most teachers believe that it is important to teach about the Holocaust, v...
International Perspectives on Teaching Rival Histories, 2017
Situated within broader ideological and educational disputes over school history, Foster examines... more Situated within broader ideological and educational disputes over school history, Foster examines salient issues related to teaching and commemorating the First World War in England. Specifically, the chapter outlines how the government’s national flagship First World Centenary Battlefield Tours Programme was underpinned by three broad principles. First, it encouraged an inquiry-based approach to school history. Second, it invited students both to recognize and to critically appreciate different historical interpretations of the war. Third, it demanded that historical sites and associated representations were evaluated in critical and engaging ways. The chapter also explores how the program was developed to help teachers respond to postmodernist critiques and to ongoing tensions between those who advocate a fixed national narrative and those who view history as a disciplinary endeavor.
This research report has been written under the auspices of the University College London (UCL) C... more This research report has been written under the auspices of the University College London (UCL) Centre for Holocaust Education. The Centre is part of the UCL Institute of Education – currently the world’s leading university for education – and is comprised of a team of researchers and educators from a variety of different disciplinary fields. The Centre works in partnership with the Pears Foundation who, together with the Department for Education, have co-funded its operation since it was first established in 2008. A centrally important principle of all activity based at the UCL Centre for Holocaust Education is that, wherever possible, classroom practice should be informed by academic scholarship and relevant empirical research. In 2009, Centre staff published an extensive national study of secondary school teachers’ experience of and attitudes towards teaching about the Holocaust (Pettigrew et al. 2009). This new report builds on that earlier work by critically examining English s...
This research was commissioned by The Pears Foundation and the Department for Children, Schools ... more This research was commissioned by The Pears Foundation and the Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF). The aims were to examine when, where, how and why the Holocaust is taught in state-maintained secondary schools in England, and to inform the design and delivery of a continuing professional development (CPD) programme for teachers who teach about the Holocaust. A two-phase mixed methodology was employed. This comprised an online survey which was completed by 2,108 respondents and follow-up interviews with 68 teachers in 24 different schools throughout England. The research reveals that teachers adopt a diverse set of approaches to this challenging and complex subject. In the report, teachers’ perceptions, perspectives and practice are presented and a range of challenges and issues encountered by teachers across the country are explicitly identified. The research shows that, although most teachers believe that it is important to teach about the Holocaust, v...
International Perspectives on Teaching Rival Histories, 2017
Situated within broader ideological and educational disputes over school history, Foster examines... more Situated within broader ideological and educational disputes over school history, Foster examines salient issues related to teaching and commemorating the First World War in England. Specifically, the chapter outlines how the government’s national flagship First World Centenary Battlefield Tours Programme was underpinned by three broad principles. First, it encouraged an inquiry-based approach to school history. Second, it invited students both to recognize and to critically appreciate different historical interpretations of the war. Third, it demanded that historical sites and associated representations were evaluated in critical and engaging ways. The chapter also explores how the program was developed to help teachers respond to postmodernist critiques and to ongoing tensions between those who advocate a fixed national narrative and those who view history as a disciplinary endeavor.
Uploads
Papers by Stuart Foster