Education for killing and the CEM : A comparative study of the methods used to educate the extermination personnel of Nazi Germany and the contemporary learning design Critical Events Model

Abstract

Includes bibliographical references.

The thesis compares the development of education for personnel performing mass murder during the Holocaust with Leonard Nadler's currently prominent learning program design model known as the Critical Events Model (CEM) in order to show that the results of adult educational experiences are evaluated relative to those who implement the learning experience. The document provides a brief history of anti- Semitism, information on the three different types of killing operations (Special Units, concentration camps, and extermination camps) and the personnel involved, a description of the CEM, and three iterations (plus one reiteration) of comparison. The treatment exhibits conditioning as a means of education, and raises issues within the field of adult education such as the acceptability of the use of propaganda, accountability for the assurance of non-harmful utility of learning programs, and the nature of the field itself. The reader is invited to draw his or her own insights.

M.S. Ed. (Master of Education)