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Wall Street Journal, NY
May 26 2014
Turning Holocaust Denial Into Homework
Another dubious lesson in 'critical thinking': Pretend you're a Nazi,
explain why Jews are evil.
Reuven H. Taff
May 26, 2014 7:20 p.m. ET
It happened in April 2013 in my hometown of Albany, N.Y., and it
happened again this year in Southern California. While the assignments
given to Albany High School English classes and to 2,000
eighth-graders at five middle schools in the Rialto Unified School
District east of Los Angeles were different, both projects crossed the
same dangerous line.
A veteran Albany High School teacher gave students an essay to write
with the goal of convincing the reader that the writer is a loyal Nazi
who hates Jews. "You must argue that Jews are evil, and use solid
rationale from government propaganda to convince me of your loyalty to
the Third Reich!" In five paragraphs, students were required to prove
that Jews were the source of Germany's problems. Those who defended
the assignment--during the public outcry after the story went
national--said that it was to teach students how to formulate a
persuasive argument.
This spring we learned that middle-school teachers in California had
given their students a three-day assignment to compose an essay on
whether or not they believe the Holocaust was "an actual event in
history, or merely a political scheme." As part of the homework,
educators gave students resources including a website that denies the
Holocaust.
Earlier this month Rialto officials said they regret the assignment
and promised to revise what they said began as an effort to satisfy
the Common Core standards. But the acknowledgment of an error in
judgment was a long time coming and does not erase the damage.
In early May, after the Rialto assignment became public, Deborah
Lipstadt, a professor at Emory University and expert on the Holocaust,
said that, "At best, the teachers and so-called educators who took
part in writing this question have been duped into thinking that there
is a legitimate debate about whether the Holocaust happened. At worst,
they knew better and looked the other way." Also in early May, a
school-board member emailed the San Bernardino Sun, defending the
assignment because: "One of the most important responsibilities for
educators is to develop critical thinking skills in students."
Critical thinking and formulating persuasive arguments are essential
skills for children to develop. But these projects aren't appropriate
for either goal. When educators encourage students to question the
historical fact of the Holocaust or ask them to write an essay
suggesting that Jews were the source of Germany's problems, they are
essentially fomenting a subtle form of anti-Semitism. It may not be
their intention, but it is certainly the result.
And what can explain the lack of common sense, sensitivity and
knowledge when educational professionals conceive such assignments?
Why couldn't those teachers choose topics such as the death penalty,
health care, immigration, nuclear proliferation, capitalism,
socialism, globalization, fossil fuels, alternative energy, tax
policy, drone technology, privacy, civil rights, gun control or money
in politics, to name a few? Those issues have two sides and can help
students develop critical thinking and formulate persuasive arguments
based on research and facts.
If there is a silver lining to these incidents, it is that some of the
Albany High School students refused to do the assignment. In
California, among the most eloquent of the students who spoke out at
an emergency meeting of the Rialto school board was Oyuky Barragan,
who insisted that the school district apologize because of "the idea
they planted in kids' minds."
It is clear from these events that teachers and administrators need
more sensitivity training and guidance. To that end, school districts
in the U.S. could consider a program like the one an organization in
Sacramento created. One of my congregants, Liz Igra, a Holocaust
survivor and retired public-school teacher, began the Central Valley
Holocaust Educators Network. This nonprofit organization of educators
is dedicated to supporting public and private schoolteachers in
implementing a Holocaust and genocide curriculum to help their
students understand the roots and ramifications of prejudice and the
dangers of apathy.
With these kinds of resources available, there is a chance that the
teaching incidents in New York and California will be remembered as a
blip on the screen and that these harmful decisions shall be turned
into lessons learned.
Rabbi Taff, a former president of the Greater Sacramento Board of
Rabbis, is the rabbi and spiritual leader of Mosaic Law Congregation
in Sacramento.
http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702303701304579550262302288806?mg=ren o64-wsj&url=http%3A%2F%2Fonline.wsj.com%2Farticle%2FSB 10001424052702303701304579550262302288806.html
From: A. Papazian
May 26 2014
Turning Holocaust Denial Into Homework
Another dubious lesson in 'critical thinking': Pretend you're a Nazi,
explain why Jews are evil.
Reuven H. Taff
May 26, 2014 7:20 p.m. ET
It happened in April 2013 in my hometown of Albany, N.Y., and it
happened again this year in Southern California. While the assignments
given to Albany High School English classes and to 2,000
eighth-graders at five middle schools in the Rialto Unified School
District east of Los Angeles were different, both projects crossed the
same dangerous line.
A veteran Albany High School teacher gave students an essay to write
with the goal of convincing the reader that the writer is a loyal Nazi
who hates Jews. "You must argue that Jews are evil, and use solid
rationale from government propaganda to convince me of your loyalty to
the Third Reich!" In five paragraphs, students were required to prove
that Jews were the source of Germany's problems. Those who defended
the assignment--during the public outcry after the story went
national--said that it was to teach students how to formulate a
persuasive argument.
This spring we learned that middle-school teachers in California had
given their students a three-day assignment to compose an essay on
whether or not they believe the Holocaust was "an actual event in
history, or merely a political scheme." As part of the homework,
educators gave students resources including a website that denies the
Holocaust.
Earlier this month Rialto officials said they regret the assignment
and promised to revise what they said began as an effort to satisfy
the Common Core standards. But the acknowledgment of an error in
judgment was a long time coming and does not erase the damage.
In early May, after the Rialto assignment became public, Deborah
Lipstadt, a professor at Emory University and expert on the Holocaust,
said that, "At best, the teachers and so-called educators who took
part in writing this question have been duped into thinking that there
is a legitimate debate about whether the Holocaust happened. At worst,
they knew better and looked the other way." Also in early May, a
school-board member emailed the San Bernardino Sun, defending the
assignment because: "One of the most important responsibilities for
educators is to develop critical thinking skills in students."
Critical thinking and formulating persuasive arguments are essential
skills for children to develop. But these projects aren't appropriate
for either goal. When educators encourage students to question the
historical fact of the Holocaust or ask them to write an essay
suggesting that Jews were the source of Germany's problems, they are
essentially fomenting a subtle form of anti-Semitism. It may not be
their intention, but it is certainly the result.
And what can explain the lack of common sense, sensitivity and
knowledge when educational professionals conceive such assignments?
Why couldn't those teachers choose topics such as the death penalty,
health care, immigration, nuclear proliferation, capitalism,
socialism, globalization, fossil fuels, alternative energy, tax
policy, drone technology, privacy, civil rights, gun control or money
in politics, to name a few? Those issues have two sides and can help
students develop critical thinking and formulate persuasive arguments
based on research and facts.
If there is a silver lining to these incidents, it is that some of the
Albany High School students refused to do the assignment. In
California, among the most eloquent of the students who spoke out at
an emergency meeting of the Rialto school board was Oyuky Barragan,
who insisted that the school district apologize because of "the idea
they planted in kids' minds."
It is clear from these events that teachers and administrators need
more sensitivity training and guidance. To that end, school districts
in the U.S. could consider a program like the one an organization in
Sacramento created. One of my congregants, Liz Igra, a Holocaust
survivor and retired public-school teacher, began the Central Valley
Holocaust Educators Network. This nonprofit organization of educators
is dedicated to supporting public and private schoolteachers in
implementing a Holocaust and genocide curriculum to help their
students understand the roots and ramifications of prejudice and the
dangers of apathy.
With these kinds of resources available, there is a chance that the
teaching incidents in New York and California will be remembered as a
blip on the screen and that these harmful decisions shall be turned
into lessons learned.
Rabbi Taff, a former president of the Greater Sacramento Board of
Rabbis, is the rabbi and spiritual leader of Mosaic Law Congregation
in Sacramento.
http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702303701304579550262302288806?mg=ren o64-wsj&url=http%3A%2F%2Fonline.wsj.com%2Farticle%2FSB 10001424052702303701304579550262302288806.html
From: A. Papazian