Teachers’ pedagogical perspectives of the Holocaust in a conflict-affected society: the appropriation of Holocaust Education in Greek-Cypriot secondary schools

Abstract

ABSTRACT The present paper aims to examine teachers’ conceptualizations of Holocaust Education within the context of a conflict-affected society: ethnically-divided Cyprus. This exploration is conducted through a qualitative study of secondary school teachers’ understandings of the Holocaust and Holocaust Education in Greek-Cypriot schools, focusing on how educators situate their conceptualizations within the social, historical and political context of Cyprus. The paper examines the extent to which Holocaust Education is appropriated by the political situation in conflict-affected Cyprus and discusses the pedagogical implications of this appropriation. The analysis of the findings leads us to argue that it is unhelpful to reduce our conception of the connections between the teaching of the local history and the Holocaust as a matter of either/or, because the evidence from teachers’ pedagogical perspectives shows that there is often an interchange between foregrounding and backgrounding of these events. The paper concludes with a discussion of some recommendations for teacher education and future research, especially in conflict-affected countries that have been less affected by the Holocaust.