Background

The goal of this project is to create teaching module kits on the history of the state socialism period in Central Eastern Europe. This is a topic, which on a detailed level is little covered in most countries’ history lessons. Even in the countries in question, teachers often struggle with how to teach this period and when they do, the experiences of their neighbouring countries are rarely covered.

To rectify this, we gather together history educators, historians and educational researchers to create tailord educational material covering this past. Though recent, the socialist period serves as a valuable contrast to our own time, helping students build up their historical consciousness and showing them how democracy is valuable, but also vulnerable. Through this, this project will create and promote the means to strengthen youth support for democracy through history education.

About the Project

The overall goal of the project is to increase in history educators the skills, knowledge, access to resources and confidence needed to teach about
the events of the state socialist past of Central-Eastern Europe, and its experience of totalitarianism, using the latest innovative teaching approaches.

The project will deliver:

  1. A set of 8 READY-TO-USE TEACHING MODULE KITS on the experience of totalitarianism and state socialism in Central and Eastern Europe. The module kits will consist of a customisable pool of activities that teachers can adapt to their own needs and will be developed with an emphasis on teaching in such a way that students develop the ability to think critically, evaluate sources, weigh evidence, arrive at their own opinions and argue them effectively, and maintain a respect and openness to other viewpoints and values, thus developing democratic competences.
  2. A set of 8 RECORDED LECTURES AND INFORMATION PACKAGES about the experience of totalitarianism and state socialims in Central and Eastern Europe to serve as an information base for the teachers intending to use the teaching kit. They will be developed by historians in consultation with teaching methodology experts and the teaching module kit authors and will be available on the EuroClio Youtube channel.
  3. 1 TRAIN THE TRAINER EVENT and 12 NATIONAL TRAINING AND DISSEMINATION EVENTS arranged by the tool-kit authors in order to ensure that the module kits reaches as many teachers as possible.
  4. An annual AUTUMN SCHOOL with workshops, keynote lecturs and networking sessions in order to facilitate the building of a professional network among the participants in the project and users of the module kits.
  5. A BI-ANNUAL NEWSLETTER.

Team Members

Project Team

  • Juraj Varga, Centre for Education and Innovations
  • Andreas Holtberget, EuroClio
  • Richárd Fodor, Hungarian Historical Society Teachers’ Division
  • Klara Hoskova, German School in Prague
  • Jan Kratochvíl, German School in Prague
  • Wojciech Bednarski, University of Wroclaw

EuroClio Support Team

  • Andreas Haraldstad
  • Nadia Rezmires
  • Carolina Santillano

Acknowledgement


Project Partners