Teaching Hard History Amid Contemporary Challenges: Inquiry Pedagogies for Impactful Holocaust Education

Abstract

This article examines four secondary teachers’ experiences with inquiry-based approaches to teaching the “hard history” of the Holocaust after they participated in inquiry-based professional learning focused on Holocaust education. The teachers’ narratives highlight the affordances of inquiry-based pedagogy for overcoming curricular and time constraints, fostering critical thinking, and supporting student agency through studying hard history. The teachers’ narratives further suggest that inquiry-based pedagogies can deepen student perspective-taking, promote classroom discussions, and enhance teachers’ professional resilience. The article underscores the value of reflective, contextually driven, student-centered instruction, concluding with questions for inquiry that might support efforts to teach hard history in local contexts.