History is sometimes boring what do you think?
How to take possitive attitude to this school subject?
History lessons in Rosengårdskolen, Denmark
In Denmark children are taught history from 3rd Grade. It is often very popular, because children love to learn about the old days. In the younger classes we study the old time periods that exist in our country - Stone Age, Iron Age, Bronze Age, Viking Age etc. In our city we have two open-air museums - a small village from the Iron Age and a small village from the 19th Century - from the time where H.C. Andersen was alive. Fields trip to museums and open-air museums are something we try to do as much as possible, because History made alive is a lot more relevant and engaging.
In secondary school we spend a lot of our history lessons working with sources, as source criticism probably is the most important lesson of all! When we study history we also start working with thesis. History now demands much more work, as you have to find out about the subject on you own, finding relevant sources to describe the thesis an so on. A big hit among the older students is “Check Point One”, which is a programme, where the armed forces visit the school bringing some of their military hardware i.e. big guns with them. The military then teaches us about NATO, defence policies and about our international engagement around the world. (Michael Elholm, Denmark)
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History lessons in Germany, Oberschule Westercelle
Salim and Fredi go to the 8th grade of Oberschule Westercelle. The two are the best of their class at History. We interviewed them.
Question: Salim and Fredi, you two are really good in History, apparently the subject is a lot of fun to you. What do you like about History?
Fredi: You learn what happened before “our time” and how life was at that time, how people lived and which circumstances they had. I find that interesting!
Salim: I have always been interested in history. Whenever I am with my grandfather, we talk about these “old times”.
Question: Do you have a "favorite topic"?
Salim: I think everything is interesting. In this school year we talked a lot about imperialism and the First World War and for the first time there were films from these days, which made it even more interesting.
Fredi: Yes, the First World War, these pictures and films have already interested me. It's cruel what happened in those years. We have to be careful so it doesn’t happen again. But I'm really interested in all topics. Too bad that there is not more History over the week!
Question: Do you have a tip for good grades in History?
Fredi: Listen well, always take part and learn, and ask questions. If you did not understand something, you should say that. And do take part in lessons, better too much then too little.
Salim: You really have to want good grades and do something for it. But it makes things easier if you are generally interested in the subject.
WINDOW TO SCHOOL - OŠ STRAHONINEC
REMEMBRANCE DAY OF THE SACRIFICE OF VUKOVAR
Every year pupils and teachers of Primary School Strahoninec, as a part of the Remembrance Day of the Sacrifice of Vukovar (18th November), show that they did not forget the heroic defence and sad fall of this city on the river Danube. The fall of Vukovar marked the beginning of the Homeland War in Croatia.
One of Vukovar heroes was Ivan Hižman, a resident of Strahoninec, who died defending that city against the Serbian aggression in what is known as the biggest battle of the Homeland War. During that war and in the middle of the breakup of Yugoslavia, the free and independent Republic of Croatia was recognized. Last year, on 18th November our school held a special occasion on Remembrance Day with the members of the Hižman family, the representatives of Croatian war veterans from Strahoninec, the leaders of the Municipality of Strahoninec, and the inhabitants of Strahoninec. After the sermon and prayer for the deceased and all Croatian veterans in the parish church of St. Mary Helper, all the participants went to the monument of Ivan Hižman, where they laid wreaths and lit candles in his memory. Teacher Janko Kalšan pointed out the importance of the defence of Vukovar and the significance of the Homeland War. The pupils lit the candles respectfully and quietly in Čakovečka Street for all the deceased and veterans of 1991-1995 Homeland War.
CITY - HERO VUKOVAR
Eighth grade students, as part of a project organized by the Ministry of Science and Education, also visited the city-hero Vukovar on December 10 and 11, 2018. As part of an exceptionally well-organized two-day field course, students got familiar with the details of the Homeland War, the battle for Vukovar and the natural and cultural sights of the city itself. For the first day they listened to the lectures and visited the city center and the sights along the Danube river. The second day was devoted to memorable locations in the wider area of the town of Vukovar - the Homeland War Memorial, the Ovčara Memorial House, the Memorial Cemetery of Homeland War Victims, Vukovar hospital and mass grave - Ovčara. After the excursion students Leon Katanec and Petar Novak, as representatives of our School, participated in the Quiz of Peace and won the first place against 5 other schools from Croatia.
Janko Kalšan, Croatia
WINDOW TO ATHINA SCHOOL:
HISTORY LESSON
Currently our history lessons are not interactive enough,
at least compared with other lessons, such as science.
However, seeing historic maps that show how the world looked
like in a period of time, how nations were forged and where
battles took place is, in my oppinion, exciting.
Also the documentaries that we are shown are at the same time
informartive and interesting. Team projects are of course our
favourite part of the learning process, as we have the chance to
meet, discuss and cooperate with our fellow students about subjects
that we choose.
Text and pictures have been edited by the students Chris Trypas, Aggelos Fragiadoulakis and Fotis Georgakis
WINDOW TO SCHOOL (ESCOLA BARRUFET) SPAIN
In Barrufet School we understand that historical, geographical and social knowledge is necessary to create responsible, critical and participatory citizens.
The learning of history is carried out more widely in teh 3rd Cycle (5th and 6th grades) and learning is combined through the textbook with the use of new technologies to expand information, search for images or synthesize the ideas learnt (using diagrams, timelines...). We also think that school should provide experiences of direct knowledge of the reality, such the visit of museums, exhibitions or other places which help a better understanding of events and stages of historical evolution and its chronological time. During this school year our pupils have visited the Roman Baths of Sant Boi and the History Museum of Catalonia. Our pupils could "live" Catalonian history in an active way: observing, deducting,manipulating, reasoning and extracting conclusions in the rooms of the museum. They could follow a chronological line that structured the route and discover some interactive scenographies that transported them to other times . Finally they worked with special didactic materials designed for each activity.
You can see a small sample of our visit below.
Rosa María Vallo/Esther Rodríguez
https://agora.xtec.cat/ceip-barrufet-santboi/blog-primaria/blog-csuperior/mhcat-museu-historia-de-catalunya/