How we try to grasp genocide: emotions in Holocaust education

What role emotions should play in the history classroom is a contested question. Some scholars advise against planning for the emotional engagement of students, while others see it as a central part of our cultural engagement with the past. When teaching a topic burdened by moral and cultural baggage, such as the Holocaust in Europe, this question becomes even more prominent. In the study of Holocaust education, there is a strong tradition for arguing against overtly emotional ways of teaching the topic. By taking a sociocultural perspective on history education, we argue for a more nuanced discussion on the role of emotions in the classroom, even when teaching topics such as this. We argue that some forms of emotional engagement in the classroom are more useful in teaching than others. Based on interviews with Norwegian history teachers on how they plan for teaching the Holocaust, we describe three ideal tasks that emotions can have in lesson planning: (1) emotions as an entrance point for learning; (2) emotions as a tool in teaching; and (3) emotions as an educational goal. The different tasks have different opportunities and challenges for students’ history learning.