Holocaust and Genocide

Education in Michigan High

Schools





Holocaust and Genocide Education in Michigan High Schools
1
Objectives and Methodology
The objective of the research is to understand current teaching of the Holocaust and other
Genocides in Michigan high schools.
We conducted a quantitative study. Educators were given the option of completing the
questionnaire online or by telephone. We interviewed 99 educators, each from a different
school district, with knowledge or expertise in curriculum.
Only school districts with a high school qualified for the study of the 844 districts a
maximum of 673 have a high school. At 99, a high participation rate was achieved. For a
sample of this size the margin of error is 9.1 at the 95% confidence level.
Field work was completed in May and June 2014.
Holocaust and Genocide Education in Michigan High Schools
2
Conclusions
The Holocaust is almost universally taught (99%), and is most frequently taught in history
courses and also in English. About 1/2 of districts offer 2 courses in high school that teach
the Holocaust and 1/4 offer one, and a further quarter offer 3 or more.
While the Holocaust is taught to almost all, most will receive under 10 hours of Holocaust
education throughout high school.
Other Genocides are taught but less frequently with 8 in 10 offering Genocide education. In
one quarter of districts, every student will study other Genocides. Genocide is also taught
in history and English but also in current events courses. 6 in 10 districts offer one course
that covers Genocide and a further 3 in 10 offer 2.
And, when other Genocides are taught, less time is spent on this topic than on the
Holocaust.
9 in 10 curriculum experts support teaching the Holocaust and Genocide as a required part
of the curriculum.
Young adults who have been taught Holocaust and Genocide in school know more. While
the Holocaust is generally taught at least somewhat, teaching of other Genocides happens
less frequently. Helping educators teach this topic thoroughly will be beneficial, and should
be supported by educators.
Holocaust and Genocide Education in Michigan High Schools
3
The Holocaust is taught in almost all districts










Question: Thinking about the Holocaust, is it taught at all in high school in your district?
Base: 99



99
1
Holocaust taught in
District
Yes
No
Holocaust and Genocide Education in Michigan High Schools
4
In 87% of districts, every student will study the Holocaust at some point
In 13% of districts, it depends on the courses the student chooses. However, most of these
students will take a course that covers the Holocaust during their high school education.










Question: Would Holocaust education be part of every students high school education or
would it depend on the courses they take? About what percentage of students take one ore
more of these courses? Base 98



87
13
Who studies the Holocaust?
Every Student
Depends on
Course
Among students with
choice, in three quarters
of these districts, over
80% will choose to take
a course that includes
the Holocaust.
Holocaust and Genocide Education in Michigan High Schools
5
The Holocaust is most frequently taught in a history course
World history and American history both cover this topic. English is also a good fit for
Holocaust education, 45% saying it is taught in an English course.
In almost half of districts (45%), the Holocaust is taught in 2 courses.









Question: In which courses would the Holocaust be taught? Base: 71
28
45
28
Number of courses
Holocaust is taught in
1
2
3 or more
Courses Holocaust is
Taught in
History 68
American History 28
World History 41
Other History 7
English 45
Other 13
Holocaust and Genocide Education in Michigan High Schools
6
On average, in a course that covers the Holocaust, it is taught for 7.7 hours
In 47% of courses, 5 or fewer hours are spent on the Holocaust. As many students will
only take one or two courses that mention the Holocaust during their high school education,
this portion are getting 5 10 hours of this education in total.










Question: And for ____ how many hours are spent on the Holocaust? Base: 98
14 15 18 10 18 3 20
0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%
1 to 2
3 to 4
5 to 6
7 to 8
9 to 10
11 to 14
15+
Mean: 7.7
Holocaust and Genocide Education in Michigan High Schools
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Other Genocides are taught less frequently 83% do so at all












Question: And similarly thinking about Genocides other than the Holocaust, is Genocide
education taught at all in high school in your district? Base: 99



83
17
Genocide taught in
District
Yes
No
Holocaust and Genocide Education in Michigan High Schools
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In one quarter of districts, every student studies other Genocides. This
is 87% for the Holocaust
While Genocide education is offered in a further 62% of districts, many choose not to take a
course that teaches other Genocides and will be not be exposed to this topic in high school.
This is consistent with the young adult study where 28% say they were taught nothing about
other Genocides and a further 39% say they were taught only a little.









Question: Would Genocide education be part of every students high school education or would
it depend on the courses they take? About what percentage of students take one or more of
these courses? Base: 99



24
62
17
Who studies Genocide?
Every Student
Depends on Course
Not taught in District
Among students with
choice, in half of these
districts, fewer than half
will choose to take a
course that includes
Genocide education. In
20% of districts with
choice, 60-80% will
choose a course that
teaches Genocide and
in 40% of these districts
over 80% will choose to
study Genocide.
Holocaust and Genocide Education in Michigan High Schools
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Genocide is most often taught in history, especially world history courses
It may also be taught in English courses (about half as frequently as the Holocaust is) or
current event courses.
6 in 10 districts say they offer Genocide education in one course only.










Question: In which courses would Genocides other than the Holocaust be taught? Base : 81

59
31
10
Number of courses
Genocide is taught in
1
2
3 or more
Courses Genocide is
Taught in
History 79
American History 27
World History 67
Other History 5
English 21
Current Events 20
Other 6
Holocaust and Genocide Education in Michigan High Schools
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And, when Genocide is taught it is done so for less time: mean 5.7
One third of courses cover Genocide for only one or two hours. For many of those who
receive any Genocide education, this will be the total amount they receive.










Question: And for ___ how many hours are spent on Genocide? Base: 81
31 22 20 3 10 1 14
0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%
1 to 2
3 to 4
5 to 6
7 to 8
9 to 10
11 to 14
15+
Mean: 5.7
Holocaust and Genocide Education in Michigan High Schools
11
9 in 10 support a requirement to teach Holocaust and Genocide.












Question: How supportive would you be if teaching the Holocaust and Genocide were a
required part of the curriculum? Base: 99
Support for teaching Holocaust and Genocide
0
1
10
19
70
Very Unsupportive
Somehat Unsupportive
Neutral
Somewhat Supportive
Very Supportive
0 20 40 60 80
Support for Teaching
Holocaust and Genocide
Support

I feel there are crimes against humanity that need to be
brought to the students' attention... It will help students
understand the modern world.

The only way to stop history from repeating itself is to
educate.

It teaches kids about the mistakes of the past and the need
to stand up for your rights... There is a great need,
especially with social media, to confront kids with the truth
as opposed to what people want you to believe.


Concerns

Well the problem we have is that you have to come up with
creative elimination. I would rather give my teachers more
time to teach what they already have to better. There's not
enough time to go into the depth they need.

" We are asked to do more with less, I dont know how we
could fit anymore in

Holocaust and Genocide Education in Michigan High Schools
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All respondents were experts in curriculum or relevant curriculum. Respondents represent school
districts across the state.
Demographics
29
46
24
Job title
Teacher
School
Admin
District
Admin
23
10
20
26
10
10
Western
UP
Southeast
Nortehrn LP
Flint Tri-Cities
Central
0 10 20 30
Michigan Region
Base: 99