Migration and flight at the beginning of our 21st century are a phenomenon that affects all European cities and towns. It obviously alarms European citizens of all countries alike which becomes evident in the success of right-wing populist parties. The four countries involved are bound to each other through migratory movements of then and now: Turkish Dutch and Polish ‘Gastarbeiter’ (guest/foreign workers) who came to Nordhorn in the 20th century, Polish workers seeking employment in Germany and the Netherlands in the 21st century and last but not least Turkish migrants returning to Turkeye from Germany and the Netherlands.Our project links four towns which have known migration ever since the last century and afore. They are affected by the present refugee situation and/or migration of their resident population. Our project therefore aims at raising awareness of the historical and global dimensions of migration amongst the participating students and also the wider (school) communities in Nordhorn, Malbork, Gouda and Izmir. They will concern themselves with migratory movements in their hometowns and compare these to those in their partnered places. The students will come to know and realize not only the problems but also the chances migration and flight can hold and, what’s more, develop their own awareness of Europe through direct comparison.Our project ist connected with the Paris declaration of 2015 which will fostering the education of disadvantaged children and young people and wants to promote intercultural dialogue. Therefore particular encouragement will be offered to students with a history of migration in their families as these have not always been able to achieve their full potential in school. Therefore this project will challenge and support disadvantaged pupils and their parents who traditionally may not play an active part in the school community. The planned interviews with migrants of different countries and generations as well as the drama play will represent the different experiences of frequently fringe groups of our populations and will give them the necessary esteem. So we support integrating education, intended by the Paris Declaration of 2015.In contrast to previous Comenius projects with an emphasis on junior pupils we are now planning to include senior school students and therefore expect commitment and results at a high level (a travelling exhibition, a digital booklet and a theatre play). Furthermore the students’ advanced knowledge of English will aid independent and successful work in cooperation among the four schools involved. This time not only a few students of one school year will be involved but all of these pupils can take part of the new project. The students will examine the history of their hometowns, epecially the polulation change. They will study photographs representing the migration of the last century and they themselves will take photographs of the actually migrants and their living conditions. With oral history methods they will ask contemporary witnesses, examine documents like photoalbums or blogs and use the data with statistic programs. Besides that they will bring their results to public attention and translate them into a creative play.Apart from the analytical research there will also be a more artistic approach resulting in measurable and visible outcomes. This will include a travelling exhibition of migrants’ biographies, a digital booklet and also a theatre play on the theme based on the four towns. All participating schools will put much emphasis on cooperation with agencies from within the wider communities such as libraries, museums and neighbouring universities. Additionally experts from a wide field of expertise will be involved such as photographers, historians, drama teachers and IT-specialists. This in turn will not only advance the students’ proficiency but also raise awareness in the wider community. The results of the project will influence the school curriculums, especially of art, lenguages and the social sciences. The project will intensify the cooperation with the local partners of the four schools.
Migration and flight at the beginning of our 21st century are a phenomenon that affects all European cities and towns. It obviously alarms European citizens of all countries alike which becomes evident in the success of right-wing populist parties. The four countries involved are bound to each other through migratory movements of then and now: Turkish Dutch and Polish ‘Gastarbeiter' (guest/foreign workers) who came to Nordhorn in the 20th century, Polish workers seeking employment in Germany and the Netherlands in the 21st century and last but not least Turkish migrants returning to Turkey from Germany and the Netherlands. Our project links four towns which have known migration ever since the last century and afore. They are affected by the present refugee situation and/or migration of their resident population. Our project therefore aimed at raising awareness of the historical and global dimensions of migration amongst the participating students and also the wider (school) communities in Nordhorn, Malbork, Gouda and Izmir. They concerned themselves with migratory movements in their hometowns and compared these to those in their partnered places. The students knew and realized not only the problems but also the chances migration and flight can hold and, what's more, developed their own awareness of Europe through direct comparison. Our project was connected with the Paris declaration of 2015 which will foster the education of disadvantaged children and young people and wants to promote intercultural dialogue. Therefore particular encouragement was offered to students with a history of migration in their families as these have not always been able to achieve their full potential in school. Therefore this project challenged and supported disadvantaged pupils and their parents who traditionally may not play an active part in the school community. The realized interviews with migrants of different countries and generations as well as the performance represented the different experiences of frequently fringe groups of our populations and gave them the necessary esteem. So we supported integrating education, intended by the Paris Declaration of 2015. In contrast to previous Comenius projects with an emphasis on junior pupils, we included senior school students and therefore expected commitment and results at a high level. Furthermore the students' advanced knowledge of English aided independent and successful work in cooperation among the four, later three schools involved. This time not only a few students of one school year was involved but 54 pupils took part in the project.The students examined the history of their hometowns, especially the population change. They took photographs representing the migration of the last century and of the actual migrants and their living conditions. With oral history methods, they asked contemporary witnesses, examined documents like photos and used partially the data with statistic programs. Besides that, they brought their results to public attention and translated them into a creative play. Apart from the analytical research, there was a more artistic approach resulting in measurable and visible outcomes. This included an exhibition of migrants' credentials and a performance. All participating schools put much emphasis on cooperation with agencies from within the wider communities such as libraries, museums, and neighboring universities. Additionally, experts from a wide field of expertise were involved such as photographers, historians, drama teachers, and IT-specialists. This in turn not only advanced the students' proficiency but also raised awareness in the wider community. The results of the project are published and the project intensified the cooperation with the local partners of the schools involved.