Teaching against hate

Holocaust education has become more urgent since October 7, 2023, but the sector remains under-resourced for what it is expected to deliver, Melbourne Holocaust Museum CEO Dr Breann Fallon told the Royal Commission as hearing block 6 on guidance and training began on Tuesday.

Fallon, who is also a board member of the National Holocaust Memorial and Education Centre, gave evidence about the museum’s programs and the structural gap she said constrained them.

She said the museum’s “Space Between” social cohesion program, run in workplaces, was skills-based rather than content-based and had produced strong results, with 91 per cent of participants reporting a better understanding of antisemitism and 88 per cent indicating an intention to change their workplace behaviour.

For many years, she said, the impact of Holocaust education had rested on anecdotal evidence, but independent data now demonstrated it.

On teacher training, Fallon said equipping educators to handle difficult classroom discussions had become a key concern, with teachers approaching the museum more regularly since October 7 as students raised questions tied to the current geopolitical climate. The museum’s approach, she said, was about helping teachers build rapport and confidence and foster critical thinking in young learners.