Listen Stories engaged in the Past – the Second World War Erasmus Project
General information for the Listen Stories engaged in the Past – the Second World War Erasmus Project
Project Title
Listen Stories engaged in the Past – the Second World War
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 2015
Project Topics
This project is related with these Project Topics: Key Competences (incl. mathematics and literacy) – basic skills; EU Citizenship, EU awareness and Democracy; Intercultural/intergenerational education and (lifelong)learning
Project Summary
By developing the project ‘Listen Stories engaged in the Past – WW II’ we aimed at approaching a more complex topic, and yet extremely rich in meaning – the Second World War and its consequences, a major event that influenced the history and configuration of Europe. The partnership united 5 European schools from the same number of respective states, bringing forth their own past and their own gathered experience during WW II. Thus, it helped the young to tightly connect with history and its deeper meanings by using an open, correct and balanced approach.
The objectives of our project (developing active citizenship, basic and transversal skills, promoting innovative methods in education, developing international partnerships) resulted from the needs identified in the five partner institutions.
Thus, the theme of our project offered the students and teachers directly involved and the communities of the partner schools valuable support in developing observable relevant competencies such as: communicating in English, IT skills or development of international partnership, but also civic competencies. Ensuring the equality of chances and eliminating any type of discrimination were observed through the development of teamwork skills at a national and international level. All the above contributed to developing active citizenship among young people.
The target group was formed of high-school students (15-18) and teachers of different specialization (History, Social studies, Religion, Literature, etc.). In order to counter-balance the difficulties raised by the complexity of the topic we proposed a different approach through non-formal educational activities, such as the Living Library and the Forum Theatre, in which over 500 students and 50 teachers from each partner institution were involved.
In the case of the Living Library method innovatively adapted to our project, the students discussed with survivors of WW II or witnesses of its effects and, functioning afterwards as resource people (Living Books) for their classmates who wished to find out more about the WW II realities and the impact on people. The Forum Theatre, in which students from the 5 partner schools were directly involved after research (books, films, interviews, study visits, etc.), consisted in dramatizing different relevant situations and then participating to the debate of the matters in question.
Another major activity was the founding and functioning of the Club for Peace and Conflict Mediation in each of the partner school, aiming to reduce violence and discrimination in schools and in the community, thus promoting and developing competencies such as: tolerance, multiculturalism, openness towards understanding others and towards ethnical religious social diversity, etc.
The teachers devised and hold several open lessons with interdisciplinary approaches to WW II.
The project had numerous results with relevant benefits for students, teachers and their respective communities, the 2 Intellectual Outputs (the book ‘Listen Past – True Stories from WW II’ and the methodological brochure ‘Non-formal Activities in Education: Applications on World War II’ contributing to their maximisation.
Through direct involvement in the project activities, the students and teachers improved specific competencies regarding the topics at hand during the activities and reflected and discussed upon the way in which a major conflict can affect the lives of all those involved and the evolution of the society they are party of.
At the level of the whole partnership a good practice transfer took place, including between the management teams of the project, a transfer which enriched the professional experience of those involved and created the premises for successful and long-term partnership in the future.
By developing large scale project activities, we widened the project impact, involving hundreds of students in each partner school from the first stage alone, and, indirectly, the entire community which they are part of. The gained experience was shared with other students, teachers, parents, representatives of the local communities, improving the school’s image and its relationship with relevant stakeholders, by means of promotion and dissemination of the project.
We strongly believe that through the obtained results within the project we supported students in becoming global learners on the long term, endowed with: ways of thinking (creativity and innovation, critical thinking, learning skills), ways of working (communication and collaboration), tools for working (information literacy, media literacy, ICT literacy), skills for living properly in the world (citizenship, personal and social responsibility). Furthermore, the impact upon the teachers is also highly important, as they were sustained in becoming creative professionals, demonstrating academic performance and development of attributes (confidence, responsibility, reflectivity, innovation and engagement.
EU Grant (Eur)
Funding of the project from EU: 163145 Eur
Project Coordinator
Liceul Tehnologic Economic “Virgil Madgearu” Iasi & Country: RO
Project Partners
- Galatasaray Lisesi
- Erich-Gutenberg-Berufskolleg des Kreises Herford in Bünde Wirtschaft und Verwaltung
- Tile Cross Academy
- Gimnazija Jurja Barakovica