Holocaust Lesson?

[bmsteacher]

Hey all,

I currently work at a Middle School and one of my areas of study in University was genocides and crimes against humanity. After having a conversation with my students I was surprised that none of them knew what the Holocaust was. I know when I was 12 we did a whole segment in school on it, thereby opening our minds to problems outside of our own country. As you may have guess, I am passionate that everyone should have at least a base understanding of human rights and the horrors that come with genocide.

The question I pose is, how would you teach about the Holocaust (I want to talk about Rwanda and Cambodia as well, if possible) to students who English is not their first language?

This topic, and others covering genocide and crimes against humanity, is covered in the public school curriculum, which is taught by professional, accredited, teachers governed by school policy.  Perhaps it best to let the Korean education system tackle this subject.  I'm sure your lesson will be very professional and serious; however, if it doesn't go over so well, you might regret having taken this on.  Still though, if you are passionate about this, I wish you luck!   

[daejeondarryn]

Respectfully I plan on scaling back the rhetoric and making sure the subject matter is age appropriate. I may not talk directly about the topic but include it on a larger lesson on authority.

I'm also glad I figured out another topic that I can do a lesson on... English teachers in Korea. How the drive for native speakers can lead to the hiring of some of the most vile little people whose only joy in life is in relishing, or creating, destruction and cruelty. On second thought... maybe I can work that into my lesson plan on authority...

This thread is about to get locked down so I'm just going to stick my oar in one more time. Can't you think of a more interesting topic than "authority"? Honestly, I think they will find Austrian business cycle theory more interesting. At least it has graphs and charts.

I like the idea of using Korean subject matter, thanks marescja.

As for changing the subject I'm trying to decide whether or not it should be on human rights or multiculturalism. I will admit, however, teaching purely on the holocaust at this level is probably not appropriate due to numerous reasons. It will, however, be touched upon in whatever I decide to do.

[tardigrade]

Can't believe some of the stuff I am reading.

Hitler wasn't all bad!!!..... Yes he F****** was. If you think not, you are a nazi or deluded or trying to be too bloody politcally correct.

He responsible for the deaths of over 20,000,000 people. He was responsible for the deaths of over 20,000,000 people. Got it.  He deluded a whole nation (and others) into thinking they were a master race. He brought prosperity to some at the cost of slavery, theft, persecusion death and torture to others. Some F*cking leader!
And so what if he made nice roads. So he could move his murdering fanatics around the country quicker
And if some so called Korean university profs see him differently, they are ignorant and don't deserve to hold the title they do.

You may as well say Jeffry Dahmer was actually not too bad cause he make nice toast

[bern]

Respectfully I plan on scaling back the rhetoric and making sure the subject matter is age appropriate. I may not talk directly about the topic but include it on a larger lesson on authority.

I'm also glad I figured out another topic that I can do a lesson on... English teachers in Korea. How the drive for native speakers can lead to the hiring of some of the most vile little people whose only joy in life is in relishing, or creating, destruction and cruelty. On second thought... maybe I can work that into my lesson plan on authority...

If this was aimed at me, I'm sorry you've taken it so personally. You asked your peers and colleagues for advice on how to teach a difficult subject and a number of them advised against it, admittedly some of them expressed disdain and sarcasm which may have been a little rude.

Your obvious conviction in the idea suggests you don't actually need advice, you are already teaching English and you have a degree in the subject matter so you are the perfect person to plan and deliver this lesson.

I hope it is a success and look forward to reading the plan and materials if you post them in the future.

[daejeondarryn]

Respectfully I plan on scaling back the rhetoric and making sure the subject matter is age appropriate. I may not talk directly about the topic but include it on a larger lesson on authority.

I'm also glad I figured out another topic that I can do a lesson on... English teachers in Korea. How the drive for native speakers can lead to the hiring of some of the most vile little people whose only joy in life is in relishing, or creating, destruction and cruelty. On second thought... maybe I can work that into my lesson plan on authority...

If this was aimed at me, I'm sorry you've taken it so personally. You asked your peers and colleagues for advice on how to teach a difficult subject and a number of them advised against it, admittedly some of them expressed disdain and sarcasm which may have been a little rude.

Your obvious conviction in the idea suggests you don't actually need advice, you are already teaching English and you have a degree in the subject matter so you are the perfect person to plan and deliver this lesson.

I hope it is a success and look forward to reading the plan and materials if you post them in the future.

Don't take it personally, I wasn't aiming that at you in particular and I apologize if you took it that way.

[bern]

I'm cool, just trying to keep things civilized. Peace.

[greyskymornings]

Well, I thought that I would throw my two cents in here before this thread is locked. (Come on guys, stay civil, huh?)

I actually did a lesson that discussed the Holocaust as a subset of the lesson content. I should mention that I work at a public middle school and that the head of my English department told me specifically that because I see my third graders twice a week, it was fine to do one lesson per week on whatever subject I choose. So, earlier this week we had the grammar point "I hope..." and I built on that today by using the phrase "I have a dream..."

We discussed who Martin Luther King Jr. was and a little bit about civil rights in America. I showed some video from the "I have a dream..." speech and then we started talking about the movie Freedom Writers (with Hilary Swank from 2007). I discussed with them how Erin Gruwell related the Nazi Holocaust to the gang and race problems her students were facing in California. We also watch the "Dream" video by Common and Will.I.Am.

I think that Americans and Europeans have a unique perspective on this time in history, and it is not improper to offer a lesson on it, particularly when my school asks for lessons specifically pertaining to American culture and history. I did not show any gruesome pictures or anything, but in the video there were some sketch depictions of different things: the gates at Auschwitz, for example.

Neither my head English teacher (who was present in the class that day) nor my co-teacher said anything negative about the lesson afterwards. When we were finished with the videos, we had the kids write about their dreams, relating to themselves and/or problems in Korea. (Example: I have a dream that North and South Korea will reunite.)

There is a way to do this content appropriately and a way to do it that would be absolutely inappropriate. But it's not all black and white.

[adamwatch]

There was talk on the Korean news  this week y about the Jeju massacre being put into the history books for Korean students. The Koreans are worried about how little history their students know.

As for the Holocaust, too heavy, I would say leave it to the history teacher as others have said. Out of interest Mao may have killed almost as many people as Hitler and the Chinese are taught he did mostly good for China in their history books


Adam



Adam

[pizza hamburger]

If it's something you're interested in and you think you can share your enthusiasm from Holocaust history with the kids, and if you can keep it appropriate for school, and if you can make an English lesson of it, then you should go for it in my opinion.

If you feel some kind of moral obligation to educate the kids on the Holocaust, or you can't keep it appropriate, or it's going to be less about English and more a history lesson, I'd say it's better you don't do a lesson on Holocaust history in my opinion, for what it's worth.

Keep in mind some students won't know what a Jew is.

[LemonWater]

Those involved in the holocaust spoke German, French, Polish, Yiddish, Hebrew, Romanian, etc.  . .  very few English speakers. This lesson is not teaching "English" culture or history.

Many consider the slaughter of Native Americans at the hands English speakers to be a genocide. Perhaps this would be a more relevant topic?

[greyskymornings]

@LemonWater: I would argue that the thousands of American servicemen and women involved in the liberation of concentration camps as well as the English-speaking U.S. citizens that are sons and daughters of post-WWII European immigrants would disagree with you.

As an English-speaking American with East-European roots and Jewish family members, I very much feel like it's a part of my history. "English" isn't one culture.

Additionally, I certainly wouldn't hesitate to discuss the profane mistreatment of Native Americans at the hands of early-American white settlers, but this particular lesson did not relate to that time period.

[adamwatch]

"Those involved in the holocaust spoke German, French, Polish, Yiddish, Hebrew, Romanian, etc.  . .  very few English speakers. This lesson is not teaching "English" culture or history."

*** The Holocaust is certainly of profound significance in the culture of Western countries. The Holocaust led to the state of Israel and US support of the Jews, which alienated the Muslims which led to Aghanistan and Iraq and Sep 11th. Simplistic I know but a lot of truth in this.

Adam

[JuliusCaesar108]

I have noticed some comments becoming off-topic and out-of-hand.
Please focus on the topic and keep replies civil or the thread will be locked. First of three warnings.

[conorsean]

The Nazi almost beat the Jew to death for not sewing the buttons quickly enough.

In what tense is the above sentence?

Who is the subject and who is the object?

What synonyms can you think of for the word 'death'?

Can you spot the adverb?

I don't like this. I find it rude and insensitive. I get that you're trying to make a point and maybe  humour was intended in this (it appears) but it isn't funny because things like this happened.

You get the point, see the humour, and still find it rude and insensitive? I was trying to draw attention to how unfit the subject matter is for an English language lesson. But hey, you don't like it. I'll try and run everything I post in front of you next time to check if it passes your offendometer.