These educational resources present the outcomes of EuroClio’s initiative to support the local adaptation of the Monument(al) Challenges project’s toolkit. The original project aimed to support educators in teaching sensitive historical topics, such as colonialism and slavery, through inclusive and well-informed approaches. Building on it, this initiative invited six educators across Europe to adapt the project’s lesson plans and methodology to their own national and local contexts.

The original Monument(al) Challenges Toolkit comprises lesson plans, teaching strategies, learning activities, and curated source collections, each designed to equip educators with practical, classroom-ready resources for addressing contested history. Building on this foundation, six educators were invited to develop local adaptations centred on one locally contested monument. To ensure relevance and coherence, authors were asked to select a contested monument connected to their national curriculum while maintaining a clear link to the original project’s objectives and content.

On this page, you have access to the six resulting resources in English and in the local language, each tailored to a specific educational setting:

The Leopold II Statue in Arlo, Belgium

by Sylvie Huysmans

The Srebrenica Memorial Centre in Potočari, Bosnia and Herzegovina

by Lejla Čaušević

The Warrior on a Horse Statue in Skopje, North Macedonia

by Olivera Gichencko

The Soviet Soldier in Ploiești, Romania

by Ioana Ionescu

The Columbus Monument in Barcelona, Spain

by Elna Duran Vidal

The Robert Clive Statue in London, England (United Kingdom)

by Paul Salmons

 

Funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are, however, those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or the European Education and Culture Executive Agency (EACEA). Neither the European Union nor EACEA can be held responsible for them.

  • Find out what New Students Bring to the Classroom

    As a response to an increase in new students in the Swedish educational system, the Swedish Board of Education tasked a group of schools and universities to find a way to assess what newly arrived students know in order to provide the best possible education for each student, as well as focusing on their strengths rather than their weaknesses. This resulted in the formation of materials for conducting discourse around history for the purpose of assessing the historical competencies of newly arrived students. This is done in the form of a 70-minute conversation between a teacher and a student. The assessment is meant to provide valuable insight into what the students are already familiar with, so that teachers can take this into account when creating lesson plans.