In-Class Discussion on February 19, 2004

In class, my group quickly came up with responses concerning the questions that were given on the board. One question in particular stumped our group and we were not real sure on how to handle the situation. During the same class period we watched, Inner City Debate Team. The video answered the question that we were looking for.

Holocaust never existed?

Let the students have a debate about the question. Have the students researched both sides and then put them into two different teams. The students could debate. By doing this a teacher can avoid conflict and remain focused. The debate would give the students an opportunity to see both sides as to why someone would believe that the Holocaust never existed.

well... if a kid came up to me and told me that the holocaust didn't exsist then i'd ask what happen to those six million jews? did they just disappear? also i'd show the footage from the concentration camps, which were filmed by the germans.

both of you have excellent points. I think Brandon's is a little harsh and the student may just toss it up as "Oh.. that is just a movie anyone could have done that have you ever seen Braveheart?" I think the debate would definently cover the material and it would cause the student to search for evidence to support that there was a holocaust which may make him/her to change there on mind on what really happened. Good thinking Jill.

If a kid came to me and said that the holocaust never existed, i would let him do research about it, and prove to me how it didnt exist. Or i would try and find a surivor who would feel comfortable and sit down and tell him how life was back then and not the gross details but how they were treated and what they went through. It's not that i would try to prove him wrong, but i would try and get him to open his eyes and view things from another persons perspective and then make the judgement for himself.

To me, it would be the same if a child said, “I don’t think that Alexander the Great was realâ€

I think Jill has a good idea. Create a debate for you students to take sides and see what happens. Make sure they collect references that actually are legitimate.

I think that it is as simple as telling the student that while that may be their belief, for our purposes and for the purposes of exams, they should understand that it is common practice to know about the holocaust. The same kind of thing happened in the debate over evolution vs creation. Teaches teach evolution while not stating that creation is correct. You can, without putting down the beliefs of our students, tell them that for our purposes the holocaust did exist. On a test I may have an open ended question, and ask them to support thei beliefs with facts, thereby challenging the student and hearing their point of view on the mater. They would still be able to get credit for their opinion if they can back it up with evidence. Someone once told me that you sould write down important messags so that the person recieving the message does not have the opportunity to interupt and the entire argument can be made. I think that if a student tuly believes that the holocaust did not exist, it is not correct for us to just say "No, you're wrong". We have to challenge them, and challenge ourselves as teachers to be open minded.