Blog #445: Teaching About World War II to Special Education Students
- Jeffrey Snyder
- Jun 11, 2024
- 5 min read
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With the 80th Anniversary of the Normandy Invasion happening not too long ago, it got me thinking about something that is important for students of all grade levels to embrace, especially now in the era of all this unnecessary cancel culture which is doing more harm than good in our educational system.
World War II is perhaps the most important type of History that today’s generation needs to learn more than anything else, right up there with the history of the American Revolution and the founding of the United States. The problem is that while this is a very important topic, not everyone agrees with the whole history being taught on account of how sensitive or of cultural significance it is. There are some people out there that say something like the Holocaust never happened and that is wrong. The fact is, it did happen, but those who say these false facts are in denial about it.
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Others may view studying something about World War II as uninteresting with a belief that there are better things to focus on such as in the here and now. Neurodivergent and Special Education students often have a hard time accepting new topics to learn or study about and special education teachers often struggle to find ways to get them engaged and willing to learn about the Second World War.
Being the grandson and step-grandson of World War II veterans, I feel it’s important to learn about World War II and how it’s impact made the world what it is today. But, there are some schools who will want the students to learn as they see fit. However, some of the material are very confusing to special education students and their learning differences will often justify that decision.
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Nowadays, Special Education and Microschool students have the advantage of studying something that most Public Schools won’t touch with a ten-foot pole because it’s too juvenile for students. However, in this case, there are some types of media that students can learn about World War II from and on their own time.
During the Second World War, there were plenty of entertaining short films and cartoons that sent a message about the war while also continuing to provide the necessary entertainment that they are known for. We’re going to look at these types individually and it’s for you to decide whether any of these characters are the best fit for your special education or microschool students.
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#1. Disney
It’s obvious that we have to start with the greatest form of family entertainment on the planet. During World War II, Walt Disney and his studio were struggling to turn a profit following box office failures of “Pinocchio” and “Fantasia,” thus they needed to find a way to make some kind of profit. While “Dumbo” was a success upon it’s release in 1941, it did some profit, but not enough.
Following the attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941, the US Army took over the Disney Studio lot and Walt and his artists were focusing on training and propaganda films. Many of these films were not only entertaining or parodying the enemies of the war, but also educating the public about the importance of food’s involvement in winning the war, why we need to pay taxes on time during the war and also why we needed to save kitchen fats and grease. To give you a visual representation, I will place the shorts here for you:
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It’s important to also remember that there will be some material from Disney that might be upsetting, yet informative to students. Case in point is “Education for Death: The Making of a Nazi” (1943) which has one of the most depressing endings in a Disney product. The message that this particular film gets across is how at a young age, we are fed with false ideologies and we let those ideologies brainwash us as we get older.
As hard as it is, “Education for Death” can give the student an idea of what life was like in Germany during the time of Adolf Hitler and make them have a appreciation of the freedoms that we have today.
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#2: Looney Tunes
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If you want something a little lighthearted, yet informative, I also recommend some of the Looney Tunes World War II Cartoons that were produced by Warner Bros. While I haven’t personally gotten invested in these cartoons as say Disney, the Looney Tunes do help get a message across the same way as Disney does or even as the Warner Brothers themselves did.
Two of the cartoons that I find fascinating from the Looney Tunes are “Daffy the Commando” (1943) and “Bugs Bunny Nips the Nips” (1944). Although, I would caution that “Daffy the Commando” might be the better fit for your students as “Bugs Bunny Nips the Nips” throws some derogatory insults at the Japanese such as the scene where Bugs hands out Ice Cream that is really covering hand grenades. My one gripe with this short is that if the student sees “Bugs Bunny Nips the Nips,” then they might pick up on the insults that Bugs Bunny airs in the short.
“Daffy the Commando” also has a rotoscoped Hitler that teachers can use to demonstrate how Hitler is made to appear all big and mighty, but that he isn’t invincible when Daffy bonks him on the head at the end.
Furthermore, Warner Bros. also threw in some World War II references in their cartoons during the war and some examples include in “Fresh Hare” (1942) where a wanted picture of Bugs Bunny shows him with a Hitler hairdo and mustache. Another reference is in the short “Who’s Who in the Zoo?” (1942) where a black panther throws his aluminum dish into a pile reminding the viewer to save their aluminum for national defense.
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#3: The Three Stooges
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Of course, no study of World War II for special education and microschool students wouldn’t be complete without the Three Stooges. During the War, these three comedians showed that they were not afraid to mock the Axis powers through their short films over at Columbia Pictures. Some of the films they produced targeting Hitler included “You Natzy Spy!” (1940) and “I’ll Never Heil Again!” (1941) which was a parody of Charlie Chaplin’s “The Great Dictator” (1940). Students can study these two films and get an idea of what Hitler and his associates were like, how they succeeded in conquering various countries throughout Europe.
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Also, if you want to do something more lighthearted yet informative for your students that will help students get an idea, there are “Back from the Front” (1943) and “No Dough Boys” (1944) that features the Stooges literally both mocking and fighting against Germany and Japan.
Also much like the Looney Tunes and Warner Bros. cartoons at that time, they also throw in some World War II references in shorts like “Booby Dupes” (1945), where an American fighter jet mistakes the Stooges for Japanese sailors while they are out on a boat or in “Gents Without Cents” (1944) where they mock Japan, Italy and Germany during a musical audition, much to the delight of the agent.
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In conclusion, these films can not only enlighten special education and microschool students, but they can also help the students learn and be engaged about various important historical topics through a medium that they are more familiar with. Most of the DVD and Blu Ray’s containing these films can be found on either Amazon or eBay and of course, you can find them on YouTube as well.
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Catch you all later!!
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