Integrating the visual arts with history education can be a powerful approach for exploring the past and representing difficult historical narratives. This presentation shares findings from a case study of an arts-integrated Grade 11 history project focused on the Auschwitz concentration camp. Co-taught by a history teacher and an art education professor in an international school setting as part of a unit on Nazi Germany, the project invited students to research assigned sites within Auschwitz and represent their learning through a collaborative collagraph mural and an accompanying website that paired student-authored, historically grounded interpretive text with their artwork. Both the project and its empirical investigation were guided by a conceptual framework synthesizing arts integration scholarship with established models of historical thinking. Data were collected through artefact/document collection (research summaries, prints, written reflections) and post-project focus group interviews, and were subjected to qualitative content analysis to identify recurring themes across sources. Findings suggest that combining rigorous historical inquiry with collaborative artmaking supported students’ historical empathy, deepened attention to the material and spatial dimensions of genocide, and prompted reflective dialogue about representation and ethical responsibility. Taken together, the findings affirm the potential of arts-integrated approaches to illuminate the human impact of the Holocaust and provoke both deepened understandings and enhanced engagement in the history classroom.

Authors:
Agnieszka Chalas, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore
Michael Pitblado, Overseas Family School, Singapore

About the Presenter(s)
Dr. Agnieszka Chalas is an Assistant Professor of Art Education at the National Institute of Education, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore. Her research interests explore teaching and learning in both art and art museum education.

Michael Pitblado is currently a secondary history teacher at the Overseas Family School (OFS) in Singapore

Connect on Linkedin
https://www.linkedin.com/in/agnieszka-chalas-phd-98887a38/

Connect on ResearchGate
https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Agnieszka-Chalas-2

Additional website of interest
https://dr.ntu.edu.sg/entities/person/Agnieszka-Chalas

See this presentation on the full schedule – Saturday Schedule

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