ABSTRACT
When children arrive in the classroom they come with a whole range of ideas about life and how the world works. Rather than being empty vessels waiting to be filled with knowledge, their experiences, observations and encounters with people, places and the things around them have shaped the way that they approach their learning. When it comes to a subject like the Holocaust, students will have a wide range of preconceptions – and misconceptions – about the Jews, the Nazis, Hitler, concentration camps and the gas chambers. Only by discovering what students understand by terms such as these, can a teacher ensure that their students are learning what they intend them to learn. After all, if two adolescents have very different conceptions of Jews and Nazis, a simple statement such as ‘The Nazis tried to murder all the Jews of Europe’ will have two distinct meanings. Consequently it is vital that teachers take the time to explore what ideas and understandings their students have brought with them before they begin to teach the Holocaust.
