Sunday, 30 October 2011
Teaching Holocaust History
It's Sunday morning, and we're starting our practicums tomorrow. I'm teaching at Jesse Ketchum. I'm sitting at my computer right now trying to pop out 4 lessons plans on Holocaust history for Holocaust Awareness week. So I've drafted some notes. And now I'm having a moral breakdown. I how do I teach the Holocaust to students without scarring them. My intention as a teacher is to be a person who is life affirming, some who brings the students joy, someone who models connection with oneself and how to live in a state of joy. And yet, I mulling over notes of Dr. Mengele -who conducted medical experiments in Auschiwitz-Birkanau and medically stitched twins together to make Siamese babies - back to their original state! The teaching of this history seems counter to everything that I stand for as a person and as a teacher in my present life. I don't know how to reconcile these two conflicting energies. I am questioning whether I want to teach history at all. In history, we spend lots of time studying pain, wars, genocides, assimilation policies - there is nothing here that teaches students to be life affirming individuals. And the crazy thing is that my background is Jewish, and I have a history degree. This should be cake. The thing is when I was a kid and learning about the Holocaust, I was living disconnected from my body and my heart. I was checked out as a human being. I didn't feel. The information of the Holocaust washed over my head as if it were simply an intellectual discourse. But now that I have returned to my body, this energy just feels deadening. I do want to teach the children critical thinking skills and to sharpen their minds - but I am not sure that dwelling on death energy is the way to do so. I have this memory of an ex-boyfriend telling me that learning of the Holocaust was one of the biggest heartbreaks in his life. It was in line with his first girlfriend. He was in grade 2 at the time. Granted, I will be teaching grade 7s and 8s - a five year age gap. But I don't know how to teach this, while still giving them kindness. Help please.
Thursday, 27 October 2011
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