Establishment of a project group

A select project group, comprising eleven experts has been established.

The group members are :

  • a member of the Steering Committee for education (CD-ED),
  • historians with particular experience in the field, professionals involved in training history teachers and related disciplines,
  • representatives of bodies other than schools (eg museums, resource centres or media organisations),
  • a ministerial administrator with relevant experience and
  • representatives from the two main INGO’s active in this context (Euroclio and the European Teachers Association).
     

Other partners (other parts of the Organisation, International Organisations and International Non-Governmental Organisations) will also be invited to send a representative to meetings when issues to which they are related will be on the agenda.
 

Emphasis on practice

In each of the work areas suggested above, the CD-ED proposed that the issues should be addressed on the basis of examples of innovation or good practice. These examples would be identified not just in traditional teaching materials for use exclusively in the classroom but also in the full range of activities, projects and other initiatives, both in school and outside it, through which people learn about history.
 

Cross-disciplinary approach

As explained above, the project forms part of the Council of Europe’s overall effort to promote intercultural dialogue and will contribute to the drafting of the White Paper on the intercultural dialogue. Rather than simply being tacked on to other initiatives, however, it will be fully integrated, the various project activities being carried out in conjunction with activities under the headings of education for citizenship, culture and heritage, youth, social affairs or human rights, as appropriate.
 

Dissemination

By establishing at the outset a network of institutions that train history or related disciplines teachers, the project will have a means of accurately identifying demand (particularly for teaching materials). As the work progresses, the network could gradually begin to function as a professional distribution system for the publications produced.
 

Evaluation

Alongside internal evaluation procedures, detailed activity reports were submitted to the Steering Committee for education (CD-ED) so that it can carry out in-depth evaluation of the project’s progress each time it meets.