Preparing Students for Sensitive Topics on School Trips: Visiting the Holocaust Museum and Beyond

School trips provide students with rich learning experiences, and — especially when it comes to places that explore sensitive and challenging historical events — they are even more so. The experience of walking through a holocaust museum in Washington, D.C., for instance, can be such a powerful, moving experience that it evokes powerful feelings in students. Teachers need to prepare them in advance and guide them during and after a visit to help them appreciate intellectually comprehend and process feelings healthily.

– Provide Historical Context

Students first need to have the background to understand what they are visiting when going to the Holocaust Museum. That can include:

• A discussion of timeline of the World War II and The Holocaust
• Importance of personal experiences and testimonies
• Of course, the reason for mentioning it—essentially global history and the history of human rights.

Setting Expectations for the Trip

On this trip, students should know, they will not be going on the traditional tour of a museum. Some of the exhibits will show photographs, victim’s personal effects, and emotionally difficult information. 

Teachers can:

• Tell them that they will be seeing difficult stories and images, but that they are intended to honor and remember history.
• Promote a manner that is not only decorous for example, silent and in thought
• How an empathic and open mind is key to working with this material

Establish Emotional Readiness

For many students, it would be their first encounter with a museum about trauma and genocide. 

To prepare them:

• Ask students to bring up any concerns in advance.
• Tell them that sadness, discomfort, or confusion is okay.
• Share with them coping mechanisms like deep breathing, walking away for a moment, or writing down their feelings.
• The process: What to do when students are experiencing feelings

The visitation of a Holocaust Museum is a personal experience. 

Ask students to:

• Spend time reading survivor accounts and listening in on exhibits
• Use reflection spaces provided when they know they need a break to process emotions.
• Take others’ feedback with a grain of salt; everyone goes through their process differently and grieves differently.

Allow for Moments of Quiet

Others who wash up on the shore of the new school system will be so inundated with information that they won’t necessarily want to talk at first. 

Provide an opportunity for:

• In narrowly focused programs, silent observation
• Write or draw to process your deepest thoughts behind closed doors
• Small group discussion for students who can confidently respond with a reaction

Providing Empathy for Feelings

Teachers and chaperones must supervise to:

• Reach out to students who seem upset.
• Provide reassurance and validation of feelings
• Reassure them that it is okay to step back when it is necessary.
• After the trip: Our processing of and discussion about the trip
• Provide space for a thoughtful conversation

Students may have lasting feelings and concerns after leaving the museum. A debriefing session on the schedule can help them process:

• What moment moved them most?
• What does one learn from such an incident?
• What kind of lessons can be learned and applied to our work in preventing hatred and discrimination in our times?

Encourage Personal Reflection

Others will not want to discuss in a group but will prefer the private space of answering.

• Allowing an emotional diary entry to feel their power
• Ask students to write a letter to a Holocaust survivor or museum docent about what they learned.
• Encouraging students to report with their family

Provide Additional Support

If this is not the first time students have been impacted, supportive adults and counselors being available to discuss this further can be beneficial.

• Let students understand that feelings sometimes come up days later, and that’s OK — it’s not wrong to be in your feelings.
• Provide books, films, and internet sources for further reading and background

It is imperative to prepare students for experiences of this nature, such as school trips, especially for a trip to a Holocaust Museum, as this is the only way to offer students a meaningful and educational trip. Through background, preparation for emotion, and follow-up care, teachers can give students the space to process emotion, context to develop sympathy, and a greater level of awareness about the past. When guided by such experiences, students grow into sensitive, enlightened, and engaged citizens whose learnings are bound in history and who will shed sweat, blood, and tears to achieve a more just society.

The right school travel partner can make all the difference between an ordinary trip and a truly memorable experience. At Student Adventures, our expertise, innovation, and dedication set us apart. With professional in-house consultants, innovative tools like TripApp, and the comprehensive TripWheel, we make every stage of your trip simple, easy, and effortless.

We hope this guide has given you valuable insight into why we are the best partner for your next school trip. Ready to get started? Call Student Adventures at 1-877-873-7550