The Future of History Erasmus Project

Project Title

The Future of History

Project Key Action

This project related with these key action: Cooperation for innovation and the exchange of good practices

Project Action Type

This project related with this action type : Strategic Partnerships for Schools Only

Project Call Year

This project’s Call Year is 2015

Project Topics

This project is related with these Project Topics: EU Citizenship, EU awareness and Democracy; ICT – new technologies – digital competences; Research and innovation

Project Summary

The project “The Future of History” was set up to encourage students to rediscover history by actively taking part in it. We have developed new didactics on teaching history by having the students write their own history based on proper research and veriied resources. We ‘ve worked together with third parties such as regional and national archives and tourist information centres. We have increased the students ability to do research and raised their interest in European History. We took effort in seeing historry from more than one perspective, to show the intertwining of our common history. We made a method that is digital and adjustable to different topics on which students from neighbouring or, at the time opposing, member states can work together to learn about the events and the consequences the historical events had for their own country.
We started with an event that took place in the premises of our school in the Netherlands and involved a lot of Polish citizens; the landings for Market Garden. The students made magazines with articles with information on a military and political level, but also on a personal level from more than one perspective. In the second year of the project the students will transfer their research to the new students who will look at the aftermath of WWII and the Cold War and why a lot of soldiers were not able to go home after the war in the time of Communism vs Capitalism. Year three focussed with the third group of students on the migration of people after the collapse of the Soviet Union. Examples of new didactics we developed are making magazines, making movies and documentaries, preparing and having debates, interviewing eye-witnesses
All these results mounted up to an overview in the form of digital magazines to be used by history teachers and pupils throughout Europe.
Within the project the students will not only learn to do research but will also learn to do so in multinational groups. Thereby not only studying the topic but also be able to contrast and compare the intercultural differences between the different countries. Since they have to pass on their research the students will feel responsable for their work and will learn to cooperate.
The project is set up between a Polish and a Dutch school but also involved virtual input by a Canadian school. The work aproach will lead to a copyable format for whomever might want to follow the example. It will most definetely lead to a new way of teaching at both schools involved.

EU Grant (Eur)

Funding of the project from EU: 54332,71 Eur

Project Coordinator

STICHTING OPENBAAR ONDERWIJS JAN VAN BRABANT & Country: NL

Project Partners

• Liceum Ogolnoksztalcace im. Piotra Skargi