AIMS:

We are working on a set of European/International Lesson Plans about the consequences of the totalitarianism in the XX Century, in the WWII and in the Spanish Civil War, with emphasis on the Human Rights like the concentration camps during the Holocaust (Shoah) and the current consequences of the Spanish Civil War (Law of Historical Memory), and the resistance movement of people who thought other world and reality was possible. It means our main purpose is to make our students aware of the importance of critical thinking and political and social activism in the construction of the EU through the European History and the development of Human Rights against intolerance and totalitarianism in order to create pedagogical tools to offer a new perspective on the extermination: from Collaboration, Indifference and Resistance in response to the new rise of radical-right parties in Europe.

Sunday, 27 September 2015

European Day of Languages

The celebration of the European Day of Languages has become a tradition in our school. This year we wanted all the students, and especially the new ones, to learn something about the partner countries of our project. Each class had to prepare a PowerPoint presentation about the chosen country and took part in a competition which tested their knowledge about culture, traditions, sport, literature etc. of all the partner countries. There were also a “false friends” and a tongue twisters competitions. We all had a wonderful time and students learned more about the project and partner countries.


Thursday, 24 September 2015

TEACHING TRAINING EVENT 14 -18 SEPTEMBER 2015 POLAND

Between 14 and 18 September the short term joint staff training event was held in Poland. 32 teachers from eight partner countries participated in lectures, workshops, meetings with survivors, gaining knowledge and skills necessary to fulfill a task that we have set ourselves at the beginning of the project – creating innovative lesson plans for teaching about the Holocaust and the II World War.

Participants of the meeting: 

Greece
Mrs Anna Doiranli
Mrs Despoina Demiri
Mr Anestis Chatziioakeimidis
Mr George Papageorgiou

Spain
Mr  Darío Martínez Montesinos
Mrs María Salud García Zamora
Mrs Ana María Ibañez Lopera
Mrs Carmen García Alarcón
Mrs María Belen Delgado Chaparro

Finland
Mrs Silja Kärjä
Mrs Mari Toivanen
Mr  Lauri Simpanen
Mr Petri Hokkanen

Slovakia
Mrs Sabína Blažová
Mrs Štefánia Nádaská
Mr Jozef Žilinek.
Mrs  Marta Fialková

Italy
Mrs Paola Perotto
Mrs Franca Ameli
Mr    Ilenio Celoria
Mrs Maria Laura Franchi
Mrs Laura Catalano

Poland
Mrs Joanna Janas-Sajdak
Mrs Joanna Hojda
Mrs Joanna Popławska-Kozłowska
Mrs Anna Badek

Lithuania
Mrs Teresa Segalienė
Mrs Jelizaveta Lichtinšain
Mrs Ela Pavinskienė
Ms Sofija Pavinskaitė

Turkey
Mrs Sibel Turk
Mrs Katarzyna Atmaca

14th September

We began our training in Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum in Oświęcim. Unfortunately, we weren’t able to meet prof. Długoborski as planned, for reasons we had no influence over. Instead, we were able to spend some time in the Reflection Room in the Block 27, where all participants could draw inspiration for further work listening to answers by famous people, survivors to such questions as: Where was God during the Holocaust? What happened to the notions of good and evil after the Holocaust? Can the same person be a victim, a perpetrator and a passive observer?   



After lunch we went on a study tour of KL Auschwitz, during which we could visit blocks that are not usually available for visisting. During this 4-hour tour two wonderful guides, Mrs Kasia and Mr Łukasz told us the story behind Auschwitz.



15th  September

We spent the second day of training in Oświęcim. First, we attended a lecture by dr. Piotr Trojański, the employee of the Pedagogical University in Kraków. The title of the lecture was: “Teaching about the Holocaust in Poland and other countries. Opportunities and obstacles”. We learned about the history of the museum, about international conflicts related to the place itself and about methodology of teaching about the Holocaust. Later, we participated in the multimedia presentation: “Memory and Identity. The meaning of Auschwitz in the historical education.”, which gave us cues concerning teaching about the Holocaust.



After lunch we set out on a study tour around KL Auschwitz II –Birkenau. Many of the participant of the meeting claimed it was one of the most important experiences of their lives.



16th September

On that day we moved to Kraków in order to visit Galicia Jewish Museum located in the former Jewish district – Kazimierz. We bagan training with an introductory lecture and a workshop: “Rescuers, passive observers, collaborators – the analysis of attitudes of Polish society towards the Extermination”. During the workshop, working in groups with biographies of people who experienced the war, we could find out that the distinction into victims, rescuers and collaborators is usually blurred, when we take into consideration the situational and historical context. Apart from that all participant gained interesting cues and materials for working in the classroom.



After the workshop we had an honour to meet Mrs Lidia Maksymowicz, rescued from the Birkenau camp. She told us the story of her difficult childhood in the camp. The meeting was a unique experience that we shall long remember.  



After lunch the management meeting was held.




17th September

Thursday was another hard-working day. By participating in a 3-hour workshop “Geography of extermination” we gained another innovative tool to teach about the Holocaust. We created maps of places related to the heritage and the Extermination of Jews in a chosen region, and then described the map using two types of narration. It is clearly visible in the photos that all participants were genuinely engaged in the activities: 



In the afternoon we took part in another workshop, during which we summed up the most important issues related to teaching about the Holocaust with the help of the museum education department employee. We have also learned how to use biographies properly and finally used all the knowledge we had gained to create innovative lesson plans based on the biographies of people who experienced the Holocaust.



18th September

On the last day of the training we returned to Auschwitz- Birkenau State Museum in order to participate in the workshops: “The fate of children and youngsters” and “The history of a single transport”.



We ended our training with the management meeting.