Hosted by OSOS , contributed by Teacher Pauline on 6 May 2019
In our school programs we let primary school kids interview elderly who lived in their neighbourhood during a historical period, and we train the pupils to retell their personal stories.
Through authentic, personal meetings in livingrooms of the elderly we create understanding and break prejudices between people from different generations and backgrounds. The children interview the elderly about difficult historical subjects: my neighbourhood during WW2 / migration to my neighbourhood / colonial traces in my neighbourhood. The personal history takes the polarisation out of the historical context: it is not about who was wrong or who is right. The small life story and life decisions of ‘the other’ that took place in your own neighbourhood, but in such different times, turn out to be recognizable and maybe even the same as yours.
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During hundreds of these personal meetings understanding was born, prejudices broken, ‘What do these foreign kids have to do with our history?’ And the past becomes a shared history from the neighbourhood we all live in: hearing the story from the appartment above the supermarket you go to everyday, or the playground around the corner. Over 2000 primary school pupils held interviews with elderly and followed our masterclasses program. And we train the children to become the new official storytellers at commemorations and in media. They share local stories of Migration, WW2 and Colonial History. 120 official young Heritage Holders of Amsterdam vowed to take the story they heard with them into their lives. |
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CONTACT PEOPLE:
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Osjetiti
During hundreds of these personal meetings understanding was born, prejudices broken, ‘What do these foreign kids have to do with our history?’ And thepast becomes a shared history fromthe neighborhood we all live in: hearing the story from the apartment above the supermarket you go to everyday, or the playground around the corner.
Zamisliti
Through authentic, personal meetings in living rooms of the elderly we create understanding and break prejudices between people from different generations and backgrounds. The children interview the elderly about difficult historical subjects: my neighborhood during WW2 / migration to my neighborhood / colonial traces in my neighborhood. The personal history takes the polarization out of the historical context: it is not about who was wrong or who is right.
Kreiraj
Over 2000 primary school pupils held interviews with elderly and followed our masterclasses program. And we train the children to become the new official storytellers at commemorations and in media. They share local stories of Migration, WW2 and Colonial History.
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# Session |
Duration |
Description |
Resources needed |
Location |
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1 |
60m |
Present: Elderly in the classroom
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In the classroom |
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2 |
60m |
Connect: Local history
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In the classroom |
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3 |
60m |
Elaborate: Right and wrong
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In the classroom |
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4 |
60m |
Practice: Journalism
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In the classroom |
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5 |
120m |
Meet Students are taken in groups of three to meet the elderly in their own home and do the interview. |
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In the living room of the elderly |
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6 |
8 x 45m |
Process and make own Students get speech coaching within their group of three on how they can tell the story and what they took out of it in front of an audience. |
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In the classroom |
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7 |
60m |
End Meeting Students tell the stories back to the elderly in a ceremony in their school. The elderly, parents and teachers are present. The students vow to take responsibility for the story they heard. |
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In school or in local appropriate space. |
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8 |
Variable |
Take the stage Students are asked to tell the story on remembrance days, in newspapers, in committees. |
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Different places |