Summary
The past is full of warnings with all the atrocities that have happened which no one wants to see happen again. For Europe the Holocaust is certainly the worst memory of that kind. This course for pre-service and in-service teacher trainers will look at what can be done in education in a medium to long-term perspective to prevent such crimes from happening and to work for more sustainable and inclusive democratic societies. Radicalisation can be seen as one aspect that in the end can contribute to and/or lead to crimes against humanity.
This course will explore the mechanisms at work and focus on how every teacher can contribute to this prevention. In particular it will look at how to strengthen values education (notably the coherence between one’s values and one’s behaviour), how critical observation and critical thinking can help to resist group pressure and blind obedience to authority and how these and similar educational efforts can contribute to preventing radicalisation and crimes against humanity. The participants will develop and test teaching and training materials which will be published afterwards and shall serve as examples of practice to be disseminated and developed further.

Expected results
After the training course the participants will be in a better position to use diverse methods and approaches to contribute to education for the prevention of radicalisation and crimes against humanity; in particular they will be better equipped to:

  • raise awareness in teachers and learners, in their families and communities of the importance of education’s role in the prevention of radicalisation and crimes against humanity;
  • keep alive the memory of the Holocaust as one way to prevent radicalisation and future crimes against humanity;
  • integrate the development of the necessary attitudes, skills and knowledge in their teaching and training practice;
  • take action in their school and community to promote inclusiveness and democratic participation as well as to counter developments that may lead to radicalisation.

The participants will form a network of education professionals equipped to continue the training on the international, national, regional and local level with a shared view of the competences which need to be developed and of the appropriate methodology of training and teaching. A collection of tried and tested training resources will be available online to serve as pedagogical support in teacher training and as a stimulation to further develop resources along similar lines.


Module A - Strasbourg, France  22 to 25 November 2016

Module B -  Graz, Austria 13 to 15 September 2017