International Erasmus+ Contact Seminar
October 28th-30th 2024 at Common house of the Nordic embassies, Rauchstrasse 1, Berlin. With participation from international schools and Danish independent schools.
Working with hope, meaning, and belief in the future in times of crisis
Children today are growing up in a world largely marked by crises. Wars in Europe and the climate crisis dominate the media agenda. One of the most important tasks as a teacher is to inspire students the belief that they can actually change the world for the better.
How do we work with hope, meaning, and belief in the future in times of crisis?
This contact seminar and conference in Berlin aim to provide participants with new perspectives on teaching and tools for working with hope during a crisis. There will be a special focus on peace education, sustainable development, and concrete initiatives that can create connections among students in Europe.
OBJECTIVES
- Focus on schools' teaching in the tension between hope and crises.
- Foster connections between Danish independent schools and international schools.
- Highlight schools' work with democracy and linguistic and cultural identity.
- Provide schools with tools for cross-country projects in Europe.
- Involve students from schools before and after the seminar.
CONTENT
The contact seminar will include presentations, workshops, and networking activities. The themes for presentations/workshops will be:
- Peace education.
- Cultural identity – language and communities.
- Locally rooted democratic communities as a resource in sustainable development.
- Diversity - peaceful coexistence despite differences.
PROGRAMME
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Monday, October 28th, 2024: Conference on peace education and sustainability
09:00 Welcome
10:00 A digital approach to peace education
A workshop with input combing theory and practice and an interactive part on trauma- and nervous-system informed peace education with concrete methods to be explored by you as a
participating teacher.
The methods are available in English and you can take them along to use them in your contexts and with your target groups. This workshop addresses questions such as “how do stress and trauma impact my capacities to handle conflicts?”, “how can I defuse my thinking-feeling-acting patterns that are decisive for how I interact with my peers?”
By Dagmar Nolden, the Programme Global Learning for Conflict Transformation at Berghof Foundation (DE).12:00 Lunch
13:00 The representation of war and violence on TikTok
How does war and violence on TikTok impact youth? Cora Bieß from The Berghof Foundation has worked on the representation of war and violence on TikTok. In her work Cora has focused on the impact on youth as well as Artificial Intelligence and child rights. Cora gives an interactive input to her work and findings.
By Cora Bieß, the Programme Global Learning for Conflict Transformation at Berghof Foundation (DE).14:30 Break
15:00 Workshop: Meet potential Erasmus+ partners
16:00 End of today's programme
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Tuesday, October 29th, 2024: Contact seminar – find your future Erasmus+ partners
09:00 Official welcome - introduction of participants and specific interests
09:30 Keynote: Floods, droughts, heatwaves - conversations with hope
Crises line up when it comes to climate talk. But if we only focus on what isn’t working, we leave people feeling depressed, apathetic, and scared. Especially children and young people find the climate crisis both frightening and one of the most important issues of our time.
Through a lecture and a subsequent workshop, author and specialist in constructive and engaging climate debate, Gerd Maria May, will demonstrate how to create a collective conversation that equips participants with knowledge and instills hope and action. Through a series of concrete examples, she will show how she systematically equips children and young people with knowledge in a way that enables them to act on the problems rather than becoming paralyzed and fearful.
Gerd Maria May, founder of Rooms of solutions (DK)10:15 Break
11:00 Workshop: How to create a collective conversation with children and young people
Learn how to create a collective conversation that equips participants with knowledge and instills hope and action. Facilitated by Gerd Maria May.12:00 Lunch
13:00 Workshop: Best practices of class exchanges and pupil mobility
Get to know your new potential Erasmus+ partners and ’match making’.13:40 Workshop: Best practices of job-shadowing
Share your best experiences and open up for new possibilities of job-shadowing.14:00 Break
14:30 Workshop: eTwinning and best practices of online cooperation
Get acqainted with the platform for teachers and pupils across Europe and share your best practices of online cooperation.15:00 Workshop in smaller groups
Share your wishes and best practices for Erasmus+ pupil mobilities, job-shadowing opportunities and online cooperation.15:45 End of todays programme and what’s on tomorrow
16:00 Hand out of seminar certificates and end of seminar
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Wednesday, October 30th, 2024 – Workshops
09:30 The use of historical/cultural/political events in your teaching (workshop)
On two guided tours under the Berlin Wall, you will learn the stories of the city’s escape tunnels, the Berlin ghost stations and means used against so-called border violators. The tours serve as a mean to discuss, in smaller groups, how you can incorporate historical/cultural or political events in your peace education and teaching back home.13:00 Lunch
14.00 Using the Arts to discuss difficult topics in the classroom (workshop)
This walk ‘n talk along the East Side Gallery will give new perspectives on how to incorporate art in your own teaching. The 1,3 km long open air gallery shows 118 artists from 21 countries comments on the political changes in 1989-90.15:30 Time to head home
Programme may be subject to change.
For more on keynote speakers:
PRACTICAL INFORMATION
When: Autumn 2024 – October 28th-30th.
Where: Held at the Common house of the Nordic embassies, Rauchstrasse 1, Berlin.
Participants: 12 Danish independent schools (2 participants per school) and 12-20 international schools. 50 in total. Participants arrange their own accommodation.
The Common house of the Nordic embassies Berlin
