Young people often know some general facts about politics in the EU and about European history, but next to nothing about their neighbours Poland or Germany respectively. Their relation is distanced at times, which is due to difficult historical connection and current political differences, and can be seen in a plethora of prejudices. In the course of the European Year of Cultural Heritage 2018 we aim to overcome prejudice by enabling personal contact in our project “Seeking Traces – A fresh view towards German-Polish relations”. In the course of the project, participants will develop awareness of difference and learn to accept it, so that prejudice can be overcome. In addition, they will be faced with their own past, culture and identity by tracking down historical traces of their home town and their ancestors. By this intensive quest of own and foreign identity, German-Polish friendship and European identity may develop. Apart from looking back, students will also consider their individual path in life, their possible career and the future of Europe. They will recognize opportunities, develop ideas for a common future in Europe and – figuratively – leave their own marks and footprints. This will enhance their personal and social development. The project is a cooperation of two schools: Robert-Schuman-Berufskolleg, Dortmund, and Technikum Transportowe, Gdynia. Both schools will send a group of 18 students aged 16 to 19 to participate in the project, i.e. to actively deal with German-Polish relations in a working team. The protagonists will create a website where they will present activities and results. On a broader level, the project will in some phases address those peers from the home schools who do not actively participate, widening the perspective to further European states. The project will contain four elements: 1. “Typical German – typical Polish: Dealing with stereotypes” Initially, students will deal with stereotypes and prior knowledge of both countries. Participants will scrutinize stereotypes by using interviews and statistical facts. They will write articles for publication about their findings. Additionally they will develop a city tour for a visit by their partner school. 2. “Seeking traces: How migration and shifting borders show in language and literature, architecture and culture” Due to past and present migration, cultures mutually influence each other. Students will study this influence closely by finding traces in language and architecture and by explaining them in an historical context. They will interview witnesses of the time-period for publication. In addition, literary texts will be studied that exemplify German-Polish relations (e.g. G. Grass) and public readings by contemporary authors will be organized. 3. “Young people in Gdynia and Dortmund today” In this topic, students focus on the present day: Students will compare and contrast how young people – with or without a migrant background – live in Dortmund and Gdynia. They will interview young people, visit churches and look into the lives of children who grow up as quasi-orphans as their parents work abroad. 4. “Our future in Europe” This last topic is devoted to the future of Europe or the EU, with a special focus on education and social security. Students will discuss with each other and with company representatives to what extent Europe is “future-proof” and if possible future harmonizations should be seen as an opportunity or a threat. In addition to the project activities, the participants will meet up three times: once in Gdynia (topic 1 and 2), once in Weimar (topic 2) and once in Dortmund (topic 4) for getting to know each other, for experiencing German-Polish friendship and for collaborating on the topics. Apart from the individual results there will be a common product: From beginning to end, the project will be photographed and filmed in order to make a documentary on the project, which shall be presented to a broader public and will be kept at the schools’ future disposal. Methodology and thematic focus of this project are transferable to other countries and can be put to further use. Contact to the partner school will be upheld after the end of the project (e-mail, website, private contacts and – if possible – exchange programs).
Young people often know general things about the political system in the EU and about European history, but little about the neighboring country Poland or Germany, whose partly distanced relationship is based on the difficult history and current political differences and manifests itself in prejudices. As part of the European Year of Cultural Heritage 2018, the students were to overcome prejudices through our project "In search of traces - The young look at the German-Polish relationship", especially by creating personal points of contact. During the project, participants were confronted with their stereotypical prejudices or clichés, for example. Furthermore, the participants encountered their own past, culture and identity by going in search of historical traces of their city and their ancestors. Through this intensive search for traces of their own and the "foreign", not only did the German-Polish friendship grow among the young people, but also and the European awareness of all participants. Two schools were involved in the project: Robert-Schuman-Berufskolleg in Dortmund (Germany) and Technikum Transportowe in Gdynia (Poland). For each school, 18 students aged 16-19 were actively involved in the project, i.e. they dealt with the German-Polish relationship as a project group. Those directly involved in the project jointly designed a Twinspace page and posted their pictures and reports there. In addition to the project groups, the respective classes or courses of education from which the students came were involved in the development of the topics in teaching sequences, whereby the focus here was on both, other European countries, but also on non-European countries of origin of our students. In this way, the personal and social development of the students was promoted. The project was divided into four main topics: 1. Typical German - typical Polish: dealing with stereotypes". First, the students examined some stereotypes and their knowledge about their own and the other country. The participants tested certain stereotypes for accuracy with the help of statistics and interviews. 2 "In search of traces: influences of border shifts and migration on language, literature, architecture and culture". Due to migration in the past and present, it happens that cultures influence each other. The students dealt with this by finding these traces in language, architecture and culture and explaining them in a historical context. 3.“ Youth in Gdynia and Dortmund today". This topic focused on the present: the students compared how young people (with and without a migration background) live in Dortmund and Gdynia. During the mobility in Weimar, the young people from both countries spent a lot of time together. Among other things, they expressed their impressions after their visit of the concentration camp Buchenwald and had an intensive exchange about the political situation today. Among other things, they recognized a clear shift to the extreme right within Europe and discussed possible causes and consequences, but also how to act against it. This discussion seemed to be particularly inspiring for all participants. 4 "Our Future in Europe“ The last thematic block was dedicated to the future of Europe or the EU, in particular the education and social system. The topic of Euro orphans was also worked on. In addition to the project activities, all project participants met once each in Gdynia (topic 1 and 2) and in Weimar (topic 2, topic3) to get to know each other, to experience the German-Polish friendship and to work together on the topics. The meeting in Dortmund, which was supposed to be about the 4th topic and where various internships at Dortmund companies were planned, unfortunately had to be cancelled due to the pandemic. At the end of the project, a joint product was to be created: All meetings and mobilities were documented in the form of photos, reports, minutes, etc. All this was published on the respective homepages of both schools as well as on Twinspace. In addition, reports and photos appeared regularly in the school newspaper of the Robert-Schuman-Berufskolleg (RobbieNews). For the last topic, a short documentary film was planned, which was to include interviews with Euro orphans and their parents. Unfortunately, this part also could not take place because of the pandemic. The contact to the participants will be continued after the end of the project (e-mail, website, private contacts and possibly student exchanges). Furthermore, we are planning a permanent school partnership. As soon as this becomes official, the Robert-Schuman-Berufskolleg Dortmund wants to put up the "city mascot", the Winged Rhino, in the schoolyard.