Seminar on "The Legacy of World War II” The Nazi-Soviet Pact to the end of 1989: Europe after 1945. Romania, Bucharest, 31 May-1 June 2005, Romania, Sinaia, 2 – 3 June 2005. Seminar Report.

Description

The Council of Europe emphasizes the importance of history education and its role in promoting democratic citizenship. In 2005, they marked it as the European Year of Citizenship through Education to advance democratic values. The Council's Project on the European Dimension in History Teaching aims to emphasize contemporary history, analyze migration and minority issues, place European history in a global context, and promote education for democratic citizenship. The project encourages teachers and students to adopt a comparative perspective, develop historical understanding, and critical skills. It also seeks to help students understand the roots of recent historical events and develop skills in critically analyzing historical sources. The project focuses on key dates in 19th and 20th century European history, organizing symposia for each date. The final outcome will be a CD-ROM, a handbook for teachers, and a collection of important works from symposia and conferences. Dissemination of project information is a priority, and the Council of Europe has organized training seminars in various member states to facilitate the innovation in teaching history. These efforts involve collaboration with education authorities and organizations like EUROCLIO to enhance history education across Europe. The seminar in Romania, held in the wider context of the Council of Europe's efforts in history education, aimed to facilitate innovation in teaching history. It was organized as part of the Council's Project on the European Dimension in History Teaching, which emphasized contemporary history, analysis of migration and minority issues, and the promotion of democratic citizenship education. The seminar in Romania, specifically in Bucharest and Sinaia, gathered history teacher-trainers and early-career teachers from various countries, including Bulgaria, France, the Netherlands, Romania, and the United Kingdom. The goal was to exchange expertise and enhance history education methods while emphasizing the broader European and global context of historical events. This seminar contributed to the broader project's objective of improving students' critical thinking and historical understanding, ultimately aiming to develop their skills in analyzing and interpreting historical information from diverse sources. Its contents are summarised in this seminar report.

Keywords

Council of Europe

World War II

Second World War

The Netherlands

MATRA

Citizenship Education

Innovation

European dimension in history teaching

Europe

Nazi-Soviet Pact