In this activity, participants make a timeline to highlight prominent and significant events that have happened over the last 600 years.

“History-making” and teaching history are always prone to ethnocentrism, nationalism, and sometimes xenophobia.
 

Issues addressed

• Different readings from history, and different interpretations of historical events
• Ethnocentrism and nationalism
• Empathy and promoting a broader vision of the world

Aims

• To explore different perceptions of history and history teaching
• To look for similarities in our education systems
• To raise curiosity about, and empathy with, other peoples' cultures and histories and to generate a critical approach to our own history

Preparation / Materials

• A4 paper, masking (painters’) tape, large-sized sticky notes, marker pen, pens
• Take 6 pieces of blank A4 paper and join them together to make a strip 180cms long. Tape it to a wall and draw a line to represent the years from 1500 to the present day. Mark the years 1500, 1550, 1600, and so on, through to the present.

Instructions

1. Give 5 sticky notes and a pen to each participant, and invite them to think of five events that have happened since 1500 and which are important for their country or culture, and to note them down clearly using big letters, using one sticky note for each event .
2. Ask participants to stick their notes onto the history line at the appropriate date, or to guess the date if they don’t know.
3. Give everyone time to read the notes.
4. Point to the events in turn, and ask the writer to say why that date is important, briefly what happened and why they chose it. If they only guessed the date, check with the other participants that they got it correct.

Debriefing and evaluation

Start by making sure everyone is now familiar with all the events. Then go on to explore the details and finally to reflect on what they learned.

• How easy was it to choose the five events?
• What sorts of events are they? Inventions, the start or end of a war, the birth of a national hero, a pandemic, and so on?
• Is there any sort of pattern to the events?
• How and why do we learn about certain events in our history and not about others?
• Who writes the history books? Can there be such a thing as objective history?
• What street names, monuments, plaques, and so on are there where you live that honour past events or people? What sorts of events or people?
• Who decides what statues to erect or what names to give buildings and streets?
• Are there events or people who you think should be remembered, but who are not?
• Should civic monuments to events that honour past evils be removed?
• How should our history be recorded so that we can study and learn from it?
• Should present generations atone for past injustices? Why? Why not? If they should, then how?
• Within the last hundred years there have been genocides in Europe and many other regions of the world. What would you say to people who deny these happened?
• Current events will be history in the future. How do you keep yourself informed about current events? Which sources do you trust and why?
• Think about a current event. How will it be viewed from a historical perspective in 25, 50 or 100 years’ time?
• If your country was once a colonial power, what is the legacy for your country as a whole, regionally and for (certain) individuals? Consider the cultural, economic and political implications.
• What can we do to change attitudes towards colonisation and the impact that these have in your home country and in previously colonised countries?

Tips for the facilitators

This exercise is particularly suited for international or multicultural groups, although it can also work well with monocultural ones.

The starting point of the year 1500 is suggested for practical reasons. Be aware that there may be events before this date that the participants wish to remark on.

Instead of asking participants to choose five events individually, you may like to ask them to work in small groups. It then becomes interesting to compare the choices between the different groups and the reasons for the differences. In this case, it may be interesting to reflect on why we remember some events and not others, and why this should be.

When working with an international group, or a group you don’t know well, be aware that you may have to contend with participants who have strong and opposing opinions, especially if they come from societies with current or recent religious or nationalistic conflicts. You may have to start with a discussion about how history-making and teaching is always prone to ethnocentrism, nationalism and sometimes xenophobia, and how it plays an important role in people's socialisation and identity. Because of the way it is taught, history often reinforces prejudices and stereotypes about other peoples or countries. However, by listening to, or reading about the history of others, we can gain a different perspective and a better understanding of our own past.

Variations

The activity can be adapted and used with a one-year calendar. Ask participants to mark on the most important holidays celebrated by different countries, cultures, religions, and so on.

Suggestions for follow-up

Take action: Explore your locality for monuments and street names that honour events or people that you think should be removed. Are there people or events who you think should be remembered, but that are not? Contribute to a local debate by writing a letter to your local newspaper or posting a comment on the online version. Canvas local representatives on your local council and ask for changes to be made. You may like to see if you could collaborate with your local museum.

Move on to another activity: We learn attitudes towards others not only from what we are taught formally, for example in history lessons, but also informally by picking up bits of information from what people do and say, and especially from the jokes they tell. If you are interested in looking at the ethnocentrism perpetuated in jokes and humour, take a look at the activity ‘Eurojoke Contest’.