Learning to Disagree Erasmus Project

Project Title

Learning to Disagree

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 school education

Project Call Year

This project’s Call Year is 2017

Project Topics

This project is related with these Project Topics: Pedagogy and didactics; New innovative curricula/educational methods/development of training courses; Key Competences (incl. mathematics and literacy) – basic skills

Project Summary

The Learning to Disagree project was initiated to address the needs of those teachers whose students are exposed to extremist ideologies, populism and ‘alternative’ facts on the internet, and whose classrooms (and national contexts) are becoming increasingly diverse and are teeming with opposing and diverging views on controversial and sensitive topics. In response to these societal developments, the Learning to Disagree project was designed to provide educators with the tools to help enable students acquire social and civic competences through debates, dialogue and discussion on contested issues as part of their formal education.

The project consortium was composed of: (1) EuroClio (NL), an International NGO which has 30 years of experience in project leadership and management, as well as a large network that includes relevant stakeholder and members of the target group of the project; (2) Georg Eckert Institute (DE) an internationally renowned textbook research institute, who authored the needs assessment (O1) and policy recommendations (O5); (3) Maynooth National University Ireland (IR), who developed the Teachers Guide on Assessing Social and Civic Competences (O4); (4) Mount School York (UK), who tested teaching strategies developed for this project (O3) in practice and oversaw the developing and editing the educational material (O2); (5) Education for the 21st Century (RS), an organisation experienced in developing educational resources, especially with regard to dialogue, debate and discussion. Additionally, a core team of 17 volunteer educators was formed to create 13 “variety of viewpoints” and 15 lesson plans as part of the Exemplar content for dialogue, debate, and discussion (O2).

During the reporting period there have been 5 transnational partner meetings. The first meeting (M1) served as an introduction to the project, and helped partners develop a common vision on all Intellectual Outputs, including the roles and responsibilities and the time path, and a common understanding of the specific terms and language used in the project. The purpose of the second meeting (M2) was to prepare future joint sessions, and in particular the programme for the first short term staff training (C1) . The third partner meeting (M3) focused on the analysis of the Exemplar Content developed by team members, in particular of the Lesson Plans developed to show how the content can be used in an educational context. The fourth partner meeting (M4) focused on preparing the Exemplar Content (referred to as “variety of viewpoints”) for finalisation. The fifth meeting (M5) was used to discuss how to proceed with the project during the COVID-19 pandemic.

There also have been 6 short term staff trainings (STST). Serbia in March of 2018 (C1) ; Germany in August of 2018 (C2); Ireland in January of 2019 (C3); The Netherlands in August of 2019 (C4); Germany in December of 2019 (C5); and lastly in November of 2020 (C6). The last meeting was held online to facilitate participation during the COVID-19 pandemic. Additional one-on-one meetings between partners and team members were held throughout the project.

Finally, despite the COVID-19 pandemic, which hit the project at the moment when national multiplier events (E1-E12) were set to begin, some of the core team members were able to host “Learning to Disagree” Professional Training and Development Courses in Bulgaria (E3), Italy (E7), Hungary (E5), and Slovakia (E9). These trainings were designed to support history educators to use the Exemplar Content (O2), Needs Assessment (O1), Teacher’s guide on dialogue, debate and discussion (O3), Training package on how to use the educational resources (O5), and Teachers guide on assessing social and civic competences (O4).

The project produced a variety of intellectual outputs: a Needs Assessment (O1), a Teachers’ Guide on Dialogue, Debate and Discussion (O3), a Teachers’ Guide on Assessing Social and Civic Competences (O4), Policy Recommendations (O6). Lastly, it produced Educational Resources (O2); 15 Lesson Plans, 13 Variety of Viewpoints, 3 Source Collections, all revolving around the 4 main topics (people on the move, borders, and surviving under pressure)that enable students and educators to dialogue, debate and discuss contested issues.

Project Website

http://www.euroclio.eu/project/learning-to-disagree/

EU Grant (Eur)

Funding of the project from EU: 342122,04 Eur

Project Coordinator

EUROCLIO-DE EUROPESE VERENIGING VOOR GESCHIEDENISONDERWIJSGEVENDEN & Country: NL

Project Partners

• GEORG ECKERT-INSTITUT – LEIBNIZ INSTITUT FUR INTERNATIONALE SCHULBUCHFORSCHUNG
• NATIONAL UNIVERSITY OF IRELAND MAYNOOTH
• The Mount School (York)
• Edukacija za 21. vek