Holocaust Education in Worcester Schools: An Evaluation

This project sought to assess the state of Holocaust education in Worcester public secondary schools. The project was based on interviews conducted with roughly 30 students from two Worcester high schools as well as two of their teachers. In these interviews students were asked a series of questions to determine both their knowledge and understanding about the Holocaust, as well as their reactions to learning about it. The interviews with the teachers sought to uncover how the Holocaust was taught to students and with what goals in mind. Students overwhelmingly demonstrated levels of knowledge about the Holocaust below what could be expected of them following learning about the subject for any length of time at the secondary level. However, both the students and their teachers demonstrated positive attitudes towards the subject of the Holocaust, which indicates that, given the proper support, a more effective curriculum could be implemented. Given that this is the first research ever conducted into Holocaust education in Worcester schools, there is significant room for further work in the subject