(2019). The Sensitive Scars of the Second World War in Teaching European History. Pedagogy, Culture and Society, v27 n1 p87-110. In this paper, we analyse the Second World War (WW2) and the Holocaust as genocide during WW2 as sensitive topics in history teaching as perceived by 719 teachers from Austria, Belarus, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Israel, Italy, Serbia and the Netherlands. Using the thematic content analysis of open answers to an online questionnaire we explore the reasons for the sensitivity of these topics. The reasons for sensitivity were found to lie in cognitive and emotional barriers to treating the atrocities, violence and discrepancies between different perspectives on WW2 of social memory groups. A relatively new dimension, confirmed by the research, is the problem of the aestheticisation of the violent past. This can lead to banalisation and even legitimisation of the violence and aspects of the violence that pupils perceive to be fascinating. The results are discussed in the framework of multi-layered collective memory…. [Direct]
(2019). The Honor List of 2018 Prize-Winning Young Adult Books: Following Your Heart and Speaking Your Truth. English Journal, v109 n1 p97-102. The 2018 "English Journal" young adult honor list selections are an amazing mix of truth and fiction, fact and fantasy. The protagonists, five females and one male, all demonstrate what it means to follow your heart and speak your truth. Consideration of young adult books for inclusion in the 2018 Honor List begins in January and February of 2019 as the awards for the 2018 publications are announced. Ultimately, the list is winnowed to six books that represent the "best of the best." Each books, described by the author, offers opportunities for teachers to explore a multitude of topics with their students: culture, religion, sexuality, sexism, gender roles, racism, persecution, prejudice, genocide, dysfunctional families, rape culture, and teen violence are all prominently featured in the selections. Although complex and sometimes difficult, these topics become much more adolescent friendly when viewed through the lens of young adult literature…. [Direct]
(2013). "Never Again"? Helping Year 9 Think about What Happened after the Holocaust and Learning Lessons from Genocides. Teaching History, n153 p38-44 Dec. "Never again" is the clarion call of much Holocaust and genocide education. There is a danger, however, that it can become an empty, if pious, wish. How can we help pupils reflect seriously on genocide prevention? Elisabeth Kellaway, Thomas Spillane and Terry Haydn report teaching strategies that focused students' attention on what came after the Holocaust, on events in Rwanda, on warning signs and steps to genocide and on the nature of genocidal language. They encouraged students to apply their learning about the past to the present–in Chechnya–with beneficial effects on student engagement and understanding…. [Direct]
(2014). "We Are Dumbledore's Army:" Forging the Foundation for Future Upstanders. Journal of International Social Studies, v4 n2 p57-72. The profusion of human rights atrocities and purported incidents of genocide across the globe in recent decades has increasingly forced multiple and complicated issues associated with combating these violations onto the political agendas of world leaders and institutions. Scholars are united in recognizing the growing importance and need for critical instruction on the complex issues related to human rights and genocide studies to inspire high school students toward a global, democratic citizenship for the 21st century. Therefore, how do educators and student programs prepare students to critically examine these complex questions in a way that encourages global citizenship? This study, conducted during a two-week intensive summer institute on human rights and genocide studies in western New York state, assessed the ability of a human rights and genocide educational institute to foster higher levels of self-efficacy among the participating students and their ability to be… [PDF]
(2024). In My Softest & Most Liberatory Dreams: Reflections on Holding Complexity & Decentering Whiteness. ProQuest LLC, Ph.D. Dissertation, City University of New York. As the world contends with a global pandemic, climate catastrophes, white supremacy, coloniality, and concurrent genocides my attention splinters. In an act of futurity, or future making, I ask myself: "What is needed to move from this place toward softer, more liberatory futures?" This body of work finds its answer in exploring two interrelated concepts: "Decentering Whiteness" and "Holding Complexity. Decentering Whiteness" is the process of working toward a future where all the personal, spiritual, educational, epistemological, social, structural, psychological, financial, and systemic ties to white supremacy are unraveled. "Holding Complexity" weaves together knowledges of care, accountability, intersectionality, and assemblage. It illuminates a potential path toward that imagined future of "Decentering Whiteness." It is defined here as the practice of continuously working to challenge and expand one's knowledge, language, and… [Direct]
(2023). When the Project Is Not Understanding: Music Education for the Incomprehensible. Studies in Philosophy and Education, v42 n3 p261-282 May. In this paper, I consider pedagogical moments when the project of pedagogy is to "not understand," as understanding would entail complicity with dehumanization. I explore the slipperiness of understanding and parse when understanding is helpful and when it reinscribes structures of dehumanization. I examine when it might be important in music education pedagogy to foster a refusal to understand, specifically in cases of extreme suffering that might occur in projects of dehumanization, atrocity, and genocide. Then, I explore the ethics embedded in different forms of understanding and consider why not understanding is sometimes the ethical path and tease out the complexities of such refusals to understand. Subsequently, I focus on what music might contribute to this pedagogical approach. I then explore and critique empathy and the project of empathy in education. Ultimately, I consider the role of discomfort in music education to facilitate these kinds of refusals. I center… [Direct]
(2022). History Education for Nation-Building in Ethiopia, Germany, Rwanda, South Africa, Switzerland, and USA: A Comparative Analysis. Cogent Education, v9 n1 Article 2113210. This study examined the role of history education for nation building in Ethiopia, Germany Rwanda, South Africa, Switzerland, and USA using a comparative research method. Student textbooks and syllabi were the main data sources. Document review was the principal data-gathering tool and the data was analysed qualitatively. Findings revealed that there are some aim and learning objectives embedded in the textbooks and syllabi to cultivate unity and patriotism, and promote democratic values that facilitate nation building. Except in the context of Rwanda and USA, in all countries national history textbooks gave more emphasis to regional and global topics than national topics. In Rwanda, South Africa, and Ethiopia centrally prescribed one-size-fits-all contents focused on national narratives that appear to intentionally overlook ethnic-narratives. After the historic genocide in Rwanda and apartheid in South Africa, history textbooks focused on peace and reconciliation, and settlement of… [Direct]
(2019). A Modified and Enriched Theory of Language Policy (and Management). Language Policy, v18 n3 p323-338 Aug. Earlier, I proposed that language policy could usefully be analyzed as consisting of three independent but interconnected components, language practices, language beliefs or ideologies, and language management. It was also argued that failure to recognize that language policy can exist in other domains and at other levels than the nation-state, ranging from the family to international organizations was one of the reasons for the ineffectiveness of state planning efforts. From looking at a number of cases, some modifications are now suggested. First, within management, is to note the distinction between advocates (without power) and managers. Second, is to add the level of the individual, noting the importance of self-management, attempts to expand personal repertoires to enhance communication and employability. Finally, it is pointed out that even when this leads to a workable language policy, it may be blocked or hampered by non-linguistic forces such as genocide, conquest,… [Direct]
(2021). Think Higher Feel Deeper: Holocaust Education in the Secondary Classroom. Teachers College Press Approaching the Holocaust in your classroom can be a difficult, often daunting task. This practical guide for English and social studies teachers features lessons learned from the author's 17 years of experience teaching the subject in public schools, as well as his work with the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. Using anecdotes and empirical data, Gudgel offers advice for teaching the Holocaust in a way that is nuanced, socially responsible, and historically accurate. He provides guidance on common challenges and questions teachers will encounter, such as correcting misconceptions, using films, and discussing genocide with secondary students. While World War II grows ever more distant in the past, the lessons of the Holocaust are perhaps more relevant today than ever before. It may never be easy to teach about the Holocaust, but it can be done in ways that make it edifying and empowering, rather than causing despair. This approach is as important for educators as it is for… [Direct]
(2020). Fighting Intellectual Marginalisation through Critical Thinking: A Glimpse at Mature Women's Tertiary Education in Rwanda. Research in Post-Compulsory Education, v25 n1 p68-90. This paper studies the motivations of 130 women who returned to education after the genocide against Tutsi. After 1994, Rwandan mature women embraced university education in greater numbers due to marginalisation at work, inhabiting a subaltern position as a consequence of their gender and secondary level of education. One way of overcoming work marginalisation was to enrol in an undergraduate programme that coincided with their current job or their prospective career. This article explores how attending university increased female students' critical thinking skills. It will examine the impact of the university on their social and professional lives. By using a range of qualitative and quantitative research methods, this paper will explore the motivation of mature female students from four private and public universities in Rwanda. This paper, which draws upon a constructivist approach, argues that the female mature students who participated in this study became critical thinkers… [Direct]
(2020). We Are All Haunted: Cultural Understanding and the Paradox of Trauma. Philosophy of Music Education Review, v28 n2 p4-23 Spr. In this paper, I explore the question: What would it mean for history to be understood as the history of trauma? First implied by Sigmund Freud (2003/1920) in "Beyond the Pleasure Principle," and later taken up the Cathy Caruth (1991, 1993, 1996), the question has broad implications for music education. The nature of trauma as an enigma, as something experienced but not fully grasped in consciousness that returns to "haunt" its survivors through repetitive phenomena such as flashbacks, nightmares, and unexplainable reactions to sights, sounds, smells, and other stimuli, has been documented to affect not only individuals who have experienced violent events but entire cultures that have experienced trauma such as war, natural disaster, genocide, colonialism, racism, and other forms of trauma that are passed down through generations. Trauma as an enigma raises a variety of paradoxes emerging from its relationship to history and to pedagogy, including the relationship… [Direct]
(2019). Seismic Aftershocks and Language Policy in Oaxaca, Mexico: A Collaborative Account of Resolve and Resistance in Teachers' Defense and Use of Original Languages. FIRE: Forum for International Research in Education, v5 n3 p129-151. Since 2013, Oaxacan Indigenous educators have experienced "seismic aftershocks" from three tumultuous developments: the massive 8.2 earthquake in September 2017 along Oaxaca ¥s Pacific coast, immediately followed by other earthquakes and continuing tremors; homogenizing federal education reforms imposed since 2013, including the projected closure of 100,000 rural schools and elimination of pedagogical preparation for teAmerican achers; and the surprise election of Andr√©s Manuel L√≥pez Obrador, called the first leftist Mexican president in decades. In this article, Indigenous teachers and their U.S. colleague collaboratively narrate and analyze two case studies of efforts in specific Oaxacan schools to defend and promote original language use and Indigenous pride, despite earthquake damage to school structures and repression and political abandonment by federal and state governments. A final reflection by a Native American educator places the Oaxacan findings into the wider… [PDF]
(2013). Connecting the Dots: Helping Year 9 to Debate the Purposes of Holocaust and Genocide Education. Teaching History, n153 p4-10 Dec. Why do we teach about the Holocaust and about other genocides? The Holocaust has been a compulsory part of the English National Curriculum since 1991; however, curriculum documents say little about why pupils should learn about the Holocaust or about what they should learn. Tamsin Leyman and Richard Harris decided to use the opportunity presented by the recent National Curriculum review to explore these issues with pupils, some of whom had studied other genocides and some of whom had not. Their article reports how students responded to the challenge in the context of learning about the Holocaust and the Rwandan genocide and argues that asking students to think about why and how they are learning about these topics has beneficial effects, not least on students' thinking about the significance of the Holocaust…. [Direct]
(2020). The Impact of Home-Based Educational Multi-Correlates on Academic Achievement: An Analysis of Gender Discrepancies in Rwanda. International Journal of Inclusive Education, v24 n5 p561-577. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of home-based 'educational multi-correlates', an inter-related group of factors relating to a child's home environment, on academic achievement in a primary school in Rwanda. The specific educational multi-correlates considered in this study were parental education level, parental involvement in the child's education, and family socio-economic status. The students enrolled in the study were 334 children — 167 boys and 167 girls — at a private primary school in post-genocide Rwanda. The primary instrument used to gather data was a Likert scale survey. This, along with the students' academic records and test scores, was used to answer the following research question: To what extent do specific home-based educational multi-correlates impact academic achievement based on gender within a Rwandan primary school context? The relationships between the independent home-based variables and the dependent variable of academic achievement… [Direct]
(2014). Cultural Genocide through Mainstream Media: A Brief Critical Analysis. Journal of Latinos and Education, v13 n4 p309-316. While the U.S. mainstream media continues to exercise its right of way in the American landscape, the predominant culture faces a population and popularity decrease. Diversity is slowly finding a perennial nest for growth, although minorities are still being shelled by mainstream media that consciously and unconsciously make the attack a priority in their news and entertainment properties. This article provides an overview of the cultural genocide caused by mainstream media, considering it is in the hand of the hegemonic group that finds it necessary to condemn anything that is different in a society that is pluralistic by nature…. [Direct]