History in Dialogue – an Israeli-German educational exchange

In the “History in Dialogue” project, the Centre for Humanistic Education in Akko, Israel, the Flossenbürg Concentration Camp Memorial and the Max Mannheimer Study Centre are jointly developing methodological building blocks for an open, communicative and diverse approach to teaching history. The cooperation began with a two-part exchange of experts in Dachau/Flossenbürg and Akko/Israel in 2014/2015, during which educational staff from the three institutions were able to discuss their educational approaches, methods and challenges in their daily work. The discussions, which were very interesting for all participants, led to the development of a project that aimed to jointly develop methodological building blocks for dialogue-based educational work on the history of the Dachau and Flossenbürg concentration camps at the two memorial sites.
The existing approaches were critically examined in terms of their objectives and their potential for opening up spaces for discussion against the backdrop of the complex diversity of the groups that take advantage of the educational opportunities. The aim was to further develop the methods through intensive examination of specific teaching situations. In a next step (end of 2017/2018), freelance staff will now be involved, who can contribute their expertise from everyday practice with groups to the process. They will have the opportunity to reflect on their work and try out new forms of moderating communication processes that open up spaces for participants in tours and seminars to develop their own questions and positions on the history of National Socialism and its aftermath. The project is funded by the Federal Agency for Civic Education.