The project Local Event – European Impact: Local History in European Context consists of schools realizing secondary education. The participants of the project met on e-Twinning, Facebook and during the international Sound in the Silence project focused on teaching History through art in Warsaw in 2018.
The main focus of the project is to promote the fact that seemingly different fate of European countries through their historical experience is linked in common European context. There are five project participants (Slovakia as the coordinator, Romania, Spain, Italy and Finland) and each participant will be engaged in researching the chosen event which is important for the national history of given country and has a significant European impact as well. Our schools come from various cultural and historical as well as geographic backgrounds which will be explored and we believe that this diversity will emphasis the principle of «united in diversity».
By the means of this project, we would like to promote and strengthen European values, make our students understand the importance of freedoms the European Union preserves, foster their civic engagement and improve the critical thinking as well as media literacy. We believe that being aware of various cultures and historical backgrounds linked to our of national identity and create one «Europe story» will enhance our students’ will to promote democratic principles in their lives, ergo societies where they live. We would also like to create a collection of materials, proposed by teachers collaborating with students, on the topics that are not prominently covered in our national curricula and despite the fact, they deserve to be carried out properly. Besides this, we also aim to develop students’ English speaking skills, as they will be immersed in the English languages through bilingual teaching and constant contact with partner students via internet and regular multilateral visits, using a variety of web tools such as e-Twinning, Google Docs or YouTube as well as social media Facebook or Instagram.
In the course of the two-year project, our students will be engaged in the interactive, non-formal lessons focused on the chosen topics, they will have to carry out their own research through conducting interviews with professionals or eye witnesses and they will also work as modern journalists in their school news rooms which will help them understand the importance of this job, particularly during important events (as they will have to cover the situation they research). Besides that, they will also learn how to discuss and provide relevant argument to improve their critical thinking through various panel discussions being held during their project lessons as well as multilateral meeting with their project partners.
This project will undoubtedly have an enormous impact on many of our students’ lives. Many of them come from economically disadvantaged backgrounds and this project will give them the rare opportunity to visit and learn about other countries, spend time in foreign families and make friends from other countries. They will also see the importance of studying English, since they will need to practice it in many new situations they have not before. Moreover, we hope that this project will raise the awareness of each school and students in it to face and understand the importance of preserving democratic principles and historical heritage in their lives and countries as well as being aware of European context with respect to the common European values. By the means of that, they will understand the impact this have had in their personal lives and make them actively participate in their own societies to maintain these principles and overcome indifference of the young today and thus this project and its idea will have a great impact on the way European citizens lead their lives – with respect to differences, since they all are part of our own European heritage.