[LM_NET] TAR MS/HS: Holocaust

[Jeffrey Eargle <jeffreyeargle@NEWBERRY.K12.SC.US>]

I am a social studies teacher.  A friend of mine who is a librarian suggested I use 
LM_NET to get some feedback on a tough issue I am facing.

This year, I have the honor of teaching a course called The Holocaust & Intolerance 
Studies that is new to our school and district.  The class consists of 
college-bound, highly motivated sophomores, juniors, and seniors.  My goal is to 
teach a quality Holocaust education program.  

In teaching a year-long course on the Holocaust, I would like to utilize various 
books, documentaries and movies that depict the Holocaust in its grim reality.  My 
reasoning for this is three-fold.  First, it gives visual learners an opportunity 
to better understand.  Second, our textbook does not contain a historical narrative 
so I must come up with various ways to do so.  Third, I firmly believe that to 
eliminate this material is akin to eliminating content vital to a proper 
understanding of the Holocaust.  However, some of resources I want to use contain 
images of non-sexual nudity.  While the parents are completely supportive of my 
using this material, the administration at my school is not. 

I have two questions I hope some of you will answer:

1)  Based on your knowledge and experience, how are quality books and documentaries 
that contain non-sexual nudity used in classrooms to teach the Holocaust?  My aim 
is not to be voyeuristic.  But good documentaries contain glimpses of such images.

2)  Based on your knowledge and experience, how is the film Schindler’s List used 
as a teaching tool in high school (or middles school) classrooms?  How do teachers 
get permission to use it?  What reactions do students have to it? 

Feel free to expand on these issues as you answer the questions.  Basically, I want 
to be to prove to both parents and administrators that these films are essential to 
a complete telling of the Holocaust and that are valuable educational tools.  

Thank you,
Jeff Eargle
Social Studies Department
Mid-Carolina High School
Prosperity, South Carolina
Email: JeffreyEargle@Newberry.k12.sc.us 

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