Decipher Totalitarianism / Empower Democracy Erasmus Project

Project Title

Decipher Totalitarianism / Empower Democracy

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 : School Exchange Partnerships

Project Call Year

This project’s Call Year is 2019

Project Topics

This project is related with these Project Topics: EU Citizenship, EU awareness and Democracy; Intercultural/intergenerational education and (lifelong)learning; Civic engagement / responsible citizenship

Project Summary

The Erasmus+ project with the title “Decipher Totalitarianism and Empower Democracy“ is a multilateral partnership, involving four countries: Greece, Romania, Spain and Germany. This is a common project, which will be run as a cross curricular project, though, with a specific focus on historical contents.

The students involved in the project are mainly aged from 15 to 17 years. Other students (who are not involved in the very project) from the participating schools will get access to the materials and results of the project.

The project focuses on working on totalitarian regimes and their politics in different countries. Here, the students will try to identify totalitarian groups and how you may show resistance to such politics, what is especially important in our 21st century Europe.

Main objectives of the project:

– The students are to acquire knowledge and strategies which enable them to act appropriately as democratic citizens in Europe, which is heavily influenced by the history of totalitarian regimes.

-Our students, in particular, work on Oral History and, here, they interview persons who lived during the time of a totalitarian regime. Due to the personal contact with witnesses, the students create podcasts and also other students from the participating schools get access to these personal reports about the time.

-Further, they visit places in the countries where totalitarian power was demonstrated. The students create a report about these places and these “place report cards” will be part of a box, which will be available at the end of the project for other generations of students.

-Media skills will be achieved because the students work on their own platform and publish their findings on their own blog (e-Twining).

Encounters:

-During the first meeting in Madrid a bunker of the Franco time will be visited, and the group will work on the politics during the Franco era. Thus, the pupils will gather information on how totalitarian regimes operated and maintained their power.

-At the second meeting in Bucharest our students will visit the “Casa Ceaucescu” and other related national institutes. Here, characteristics of totalitarianism will be researched, too.

-The third meeting in Thessaloniki will focus on how we as a society remember these events and how we empower our future generations. A culture of remembrance in Saloniki functions as a fitting example.

-During the fourth meeting (Hürth) a political debate will take place, where the pupils will discuss in a political debate the current state in Europe and how we as a society can support younger generations.

eTwinning and an own blog will also serve as a medium of communication between the schools during and in the aftermath of the project.

In each school community the project is incorporated into the schools’ program and potentially the year 9 curriculum. Here, the group creates a box with sources and material which will be used in classes. These materials might be the starting point for further projects where also other countries might be examined.

EU Grant (Eur)

Funding of the project from EU: 16598 Eur

Project Coordinator

Albert-Schweitzer-Gymnasium Hürth & Country: DE

Project Partners

• Deutsche Schule Thessaloniki
• Asociatia pentru infiintarea si sprijinirea Scolii Germane din Bucuresti
• I.E.S. PEDRO SALINAS