The second half of 2019 marked the start of a new and unique partnership between EuroClio and Dutch Public Broadcaster VPRO for the development of educational resources on modern European history. Inspired by the VPRO-television series In Europe – History Caught in the Act, presented by Dutch best-selling author Geert Mak, EuroClio, VPRO and a team of enthusiastic authors joined their forces for the making of In Europe Schools: An online exchange project for European schools, in which students research and film their own local histories and exchange their documentaries with peers from their partner school anywhere in Europe. The project offers Education Kits on four main themes of modern European history: Difficult History, Migration, Climate Change and Gender Equality.
But how to ‘catch history in the act’? Each Kit challenges students to critically think and reflect on complex historical events and their impact on our societies nowadays and even on our daily lives, while also encouraging the development of a variety of skills like conducting research and interviewing as well as skills and competencies related to documentary-making and overall media literacy. All topics are introduced through Starter Clips and students are guided by a central research question, for example, How should we deal with a difficult past? or How should we respond to gender inequality?
Once students have acquired an in-depth understanding of the topics, they are ready to dive into their local histories of Migration, into local Change Makers in the struggle against Climate Change or perhaps into their own experiences of gender inequality. Their findings, stories and research outcomes will then result in self-made documentaries to be exchanged and discussed with students across Europe to reflect on how similar topics and events are experienced from different perspectives, encouraging the approach of teaching and learning European history from a transnational perspective, strengthening multiperspectivity.
Each Education Kit consists of both ready-made teacher and student materials, accompanied by Tutorials on Research, Interviewing, Editing, Filming and Uploading, helping the students with the making of their documentaries. All Kits are comprised of four steps:
Step 1: Introducing the project and topic (50 minutes)
Step 2: Learning more about the context and topic (100 minutes)
Step 3: Research and creation of the documentary (200 minutes, mostly homework)
Step 4: Sharing the videos and reflection (90 minutes)
You can download the PDF of each Education Kit below or go directly to the teachers’ and student materials:
Difficult History – PDF Migration – PDF
Difficult History – Teachers & Students Migration – Teachers & Students
Difficult History – Starter Clip Migration – Starter Clip
Climate Change – PDF Gender Equality – PDF
Climate Change – Teachers & Students Gender Equality – Students & Teachers
Climate Change – Starter Clip Gender Equality – Starter Clip
You can download the Introduction Clip and all the Tutorials below:
Tutorial @Home (Lockdown Tutorial)
All the materials are also available on www.vprobroadcast.com/ineuropeschools and the In Europe Schools YouTube Channel. For the latest news and information on this project, have a look at the Project Page.
Project Leader: Odette Toeset (VPRO)
Authors: Harri Beobide, Daniel Bernsen, Marian Heesen, Steven Stegers and Odette Toeset
Project led and initiated by:
Funded by:
