Teaching Dystopia: The Wave (1981)
Teaching Dystopia: The Wave (1981)

A Classroom Experiment

Summary/Abstract: This article investigates the 1981 film adaptation, The Wave, of a real-life classroom experiment, in which a history teacher and his pupils reenact a totalitarian society, on the model of Nazi Germany. Moreover, the article shows how dystopia can be linked to didactical experiments, while exploring current issues in education studies. In order to explain the manner in which the students and the teacher alike reacted to the newly created setting, I will first attempt to depict current debates on teaching about the Nazi past and explore their meanings. My analysis describes all the stages of the didactical experiment, as portrayed in the film, by using concepts found in social identity theory and education studies, in order to explain how strong situational events created in the classroom can lead to dystopia. Furthermore, in this particular case, education leads to dystopia, as it becomes an innate part of the individuals involved in this classroom experiment.

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