Historical and Pedagogical Context
Teaching about genocide, the Holocaust, and other forms of mass atrocity requires more than good intentions. It requires pedagogical care, historical grounding, and shared professional norms about what responsible instruction looks like.
This section exists to ensure that educators and leaders are prepared before they act—whether they are planning instruction, supporting teachers, designing events, or responding to questions from students and families. It is designed to help adults move forward with confidence, caution, and clarity.
What This Section Does
- Establishes how this work should be done responsibly, across classrooms, schools, and districts
- Builds shared knowledge and instructional norms so educators and leaders are aligned
- Prevents common mistakes and unintended harm, even when intentions are good
Questions This Section Answers
- What do we need to understand before teaching or planning anything related to genocide or the Holocaust?
- How should genocide and Holocaust education be taught—and what approaches should be avoided?
- What is developmentally appropriate at different grade levels?
- What instructional practices can cause harm, even when they are well-intended?
- How do we prepare for difficult questions, emotions, or moments of tension in classrooms and schools?
What You’ll Find in This Section
- Foundational historical context and concept briefs that establish shared understanding and key concepts such as dehumanization, scapegoating, bystanders, resistance, and propaganda.
- Pedagogical guardrails that clarify what to avoid (e.g., simulations, role-play, competitive suffering) and how to explain why—along with safer, more effective alternatives.
- Humanization and peoplehood tools that support teaching people as whole human beings by centering daily life, relationships, culture, agency, and moral choice.
- Discussion and facilitation guidance to help adults lead difficult conversations, respond to misconceptions or harmful comments, and set norms for respectful dialogue.
- Trauma-informed teaching guidance to help educators recognize overwhelm, pace instruction, pause when needed, and support both students and staff.
This allows schools to use high-quality external materials thoughtfully and responsibly.
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Foundational historical context and concept briefs
Knowing Antisemitism Teacher Guide: A classroom guide that helps educators introduce students to historical and contemporary forms of antisemitism through structured inquiry, primary sources, and discussion prompts.
Brave Spaces: Confronting Hate and Antisemitism in the 21st Century: A mini-lesson that uses real-world examples of online hate speech and celebrity influence to help students identify and deconstruct contemporary antisemitic tropes and consider responsibilities for combating online hate. This lesson builds critical media literacy and hate recognition skills that support both safe engagement with sensitive content and proactive cultural competence.
Framework of Analysis for Atrocity Crimes: A Tool for Prevention: An overview of the three legally defined international crimes–genocide, crimes against humanity, and war crimes–known collectively as atrocity crimes. This resource also provides a framework of analysis for risk factors and prevention of atrocity crimes.
Stages of Genocide: A Toolkit for Educators: A toolkit created by The Genocide Education Project that offers an introduction to the “Ten Stages of Genocide” framework created by Dr. Gregory H. Stanton. This resource examines six cases studies of historical genocide–the Armenian Genocide, Cambodian Genocide, Guatemalan Genocide, Holocaust, Genocide(s) of Native Americans in the US, and Rwandan Genocide–and charts the path to violence.
Genocide Explainer: This Facing History & Ourselves explainer helps students understand the meaning, gravity, and history of the concept and crime of genocide.
Model Curriculum for Human Rights and Genocide (CDE): A longstanding state model curriculum that integrates human rights and genocide into history–social science instruction, offering curriculum strands and historical cases (including genocide and rights violations) to support educators in grounding teaching in ethical inquiry and historical context.
Cambodian American Studies Model Curriculum: Part of the “We Are California” Model Curriculum suite, this set of open-source lesson units helps educators explore Cambodian history and heritage, including long-term causes and consequences of the Cambodian genocide, the Cambodian diaspora, and community building, grounding genocidal study in cultural identity and resilience.
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Pedagogical guardrails
Guidelines for Teaching About the Holocaust:The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum offers evidence-based principles to help educators approach Holocaust history with accuracy, depth, and sensitivity, emphasizing clear definitions, contextualization, careful language, and humane framing of complex events. The guidelines encourage teachers to avoid oversimplification, balance perspectives, humanize statistical loss, and make responsible methodological choices that respect both historical truth and student well-being.
Teaching Genocide & the Holocaust Responsibly: Pedagogical Do / Avoid Chart: Drawing on guidance from Facing History & Ourselves, Echoes & Reflections, and the USC Shoah Foundation, this is a practical planning tool that outlines research-based best practices for teaching difficult histories safely, ethically, and effectively. It helps educators humanize historical actors, provide appropriate context, avoid shock or simulations, use testimony responsibly, and create emotionally supportive learning environments. Use this resource when designing lessons, units, commemorations, or professional learning to ensure instruction centers dignity, historical accuracy, and student well-being.
Pedagogical Principles for Effective Holocaust Instruction: In order for students to understand the importance of the Holocaust as a historical event and as part of our shared human story, it is critical for teachers to have a sound pedagogy for instruction. Echoes & Reflections recommends guidelines for planning and implementing of a comprehensive Holocaust education program grounded in history and testimony.
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Humanization & peoplehood tools
Humanization tools in this toolkit intentionally draw from multiple historical and cultural contexts so that students understand both the specificity of each community’s experience and the shared patterns of dehumanization that precede violence.
Eugenics & Immigration in the United States: Case Studies of Jewish Immigrant Experiences: A lesson resource that examines how eugenic ideology shaped U.S. immigration policy, using Jewish immigrant experiences to help students analyze racism, xenophobia, and systemic discrimination in historical context. This resource supports critical thinking and historical understanding by connecting ideology, policy, and lived experience in developmentally appropriate ways.
Power of Testimony: Teacher Guide (Museum of Tolerance): This lesson guides students in exploring firsthand testimony from the Holocaust and the 1994 genocide against the Tutsi, using reflective writing and discussion to deepen historical and moral understanding.
Building Resistance Teacher Guide: A resource from the Jewish Partisan Educational Foundation that introduces students to the concept of resistance during the Holocaust, including study questions and historical context.
Aron’s Story: A Virtual Museum of the Holocaust in Eastern Europe: An interactive virtual museum and lesson series that follows the lived experience of a Jewish child in Eastern Europe, helping students explore Jewish life before the Holocaust, antisemitism, persecution, and survival through a human-centered lens. This resource supports responsible Holocaust instruction by grounding learning in narrative, historical context, and inquiry rather than shock or simulation.
Cambodian Genocide: Recipes for Survival: A classroom lesson plan in which students explore how food, memory, and cultural preservation intersect in the aftermath of genocide by engaging with excerpts and recipes from Slow Noodles: A Cambodian Memoir of Love, Loss and Family Recipes to reflect on cultural identity, resilience, and resistance.
Teaching the Human Story of the Guatemalan Genocide: A seven-lesson sequence that examines the Guatemalan Genocide and civil war through an integrated study of historical context, structural inequality, lived experience, and post-conflict justice.
Community Connections: Valuing Differences: In this Mindful Exploration, students reflect on the value of individuality within a community by engaging with testimonies from a Holocaust survivor, witness to contemporary antisemitism, and witness to the violence in the Central African Republic.
Universe of Obligation: In this Facing History & Ourselves lesson, students will learn a new concept, universe of obligation — the term sociologist Helen Fein coined to describe the circle of other individuals and groups within a society “toward whom obligations are owed, to whom rules apply, and whose injuries call for amends.” Understanding the concept of the universe of obligation provides important insights into the behavior of individuals, groups, and nations throughout history. It also helps students think more deeply about the benefits of being part of a society’s “in” group and the consequences of being part of an “out” group.
Mindful Explorations: Testimony of genocide survivors calls to our shared humanity. These life histories forge personal, relatable connections with students through stories of everyday experiences—attending school, encountering propaganda—as well as through more extreme narratives—being displaced, losing a loved one. USC Shoah Foundation’s Mindful Explorations on IWitness draw on the connective power of these stories to develop social-emotional aptitudes at a time when youth need it most.
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Discussion and Facilitation Guidance
Fostering Civil Discourse: Difficult Classroom Conversations in a Diverse Democracy: A practical educator guide from Facing History & Ourselves that provides classroom routines, reflection questions, and strategies for planning and facilitating meaningful, respectful discussions around emotionally charged, controversial, or contemporary issues to build critical thinking and civic engagement while maintaining a supportive learning environment.
Facing History Foundations: Moving Safely In and Safely Out of Difficult Histories: A professional learning workshop from Facing History & Ourselves that helps educators design and facilitate difficult historical learning experiences by preparing students and teachers to enter, engage with, and exit sensitive content safely and thoughtfully.
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Trauma-Informed Teaching Guidance
Using Content Warnings in Your Course: A Trauma-Informed Approach: A valuable resource from Ohio State University that offers guidance on how to safely introduce topics in the classroom that may trigger a trauma response from students.