Since the beginning of the refugee crisis in 2015, hardly a day has passed without us dealing with this topic. There are points of contact in politics, the news, in the social media but also in school life. Nearly 50 children and adolescents of our school community have a migrant background, currently 10 of them are refugees. "School without Racism - School with Courage" is a permanent commitment for me. It is our job to take a stand for those who need our help. That is why I am pleased that our teachers have been involved in dealing with historical and current migration issues across borders in this new project and are working together actively with our students. '- said Jürgen Jacoby, Deputy Head of the IGS Stromberg. The current state of the refugees and migrants in Stromberg and all around the world, their living conditions and isolation from society, the prevailing prejudices and incomprehension have moved us to start our project "Traces of Migration and Flight in Turkey and Germany: Similarities and differences - a comparison in the past, present and future ". In addition, the currently difficult diplomatic relationship between Germany and Turkey has stimulated us not to let our cooperation at the civil society level, our communication and our solidarity – that has existed for many years – be disrupted. Our schoolwork has the mission to go beyond the borders and to reduce prejudices against other cultures, religions and people. We not only want to create tolerance, acceptance and understanding for the people seeking refuge, but also to motivate our students to help such fellow human beings to integrate into society. By researching our own history from antiquity to today, we want to make the students aware that escape and its consequences is an intergenerational problem you find across time. We work interdisciplinary in our project. The subjects involved in the project are: Latin, Ethics, Religion, Communication and Media, Art, Performing Arts (Theater) and Social Studies (History, Geography and Social Studies). Thirteen teachers in years 8 to 12 work on our project. In addition, there are refugee youths and adults from the area with whom we have regular exchanges. There is a variety of results in work or planning: • Establishment of a working group for cultural exchange • Create a travel app for students • Create a heritage app • Plays/Drama • Create a website • Collage on the subject of flight / migration • Theme-specific handicrafts • Opening of a student company as a “travel agency" Since our partner school in Turkey is geographically located in the Troy area, which as a cultural heritage in terms of migration and escape offers much in history, we have deliberately chosen this school. Thus, our project will present educational content relevant to both European and Turkish cultural heritage. As we work across disciplines in our submitted project, our goals are in line with the priorities we have selected. OUR PRIORITIES are: * Social inclusion * The social and educational value of European cultural heritage * Strengthening the school community Through our common short-term teacher training, we will achieve the following overall goals: * Promoting lifelong learning in the European area * Dealing with diversity - Inclusion (integration of migrant and refugee children into school and social life) * Development of learning modules (working materials) * Promote media literacy of teachers and integrate new working methods into the classroom * Strengthening the evaluation steps based on the established criteria for monitoring and evaluation Through short-term exchanges of student groups, the following overall objectives of our project are achieved: * Develop curiosity and interest in other cultures, languages, and history * Promote critical treatment of the media's information about other cultures * Develop tolerance towards other cultures * Promote analytical thinking and communication skills * Perceive stereotypes / prejudices and develop sensitivity for them * Raise awareness of the causes of migration and the consequences of persecution * Promoting self-esteem on the part of the students * Promoting the key competences and skills of adolescents
"Migration and flight" are real life circumstances that have always accompanied humanity from ancient times until today. Since 2015, the number of refugees in Europe has increased. Our project connects Turkey and Germany, which both have been affected by the present refugee situation and the migration of their residential population since the 1960s. That’s why our project aimed to sensitize all participants for the historical and global dimensions of migration and flight. During their research, the students recognized not only the problems, but also the opportunities of migration and flight. Therefore, they developed their own awareness of Europe through direct comparison. Our school’s guiding idea "School without racism - school with courage"- also supports our project’s context. We saw it as our mission, also through our project, to promote political education and common values of freedom, tolerance and non-discrimination among young people. Furthermore, our project aspired to support disadvantaged young people in their education through intercultural dialogue. As a result, the students were particularly encouraged by the "migration stories" in their families and participated more actively in school life. Consequently, this project encouraged and supported refugee students and their parents, who mostly did not traditionally play an active role in the school community. They were successfully integrated into school and social life. The interviews with students and teachers always showed similar reasons for their flights. The realization of the educational power, motivated some students to become politically for a future-oriented education. In our interdisciplinary project we worked with different grades (5-13). All participating students have achieved a wealth of interesting and varied results. Through interaction with the partner school, the students have effectively improved their English language skills. While researching the migration stories, the students wrote texts and took photos of the ancient migration in Troy and Bergama in Turkey, which they successfully presented. In this context, they transferred and compared the information they gained to the present situation. By using oral history methods, they interviewed contemporary witnesses in the "Stumbling Stones" subproject. Their results were demonstrated with photos and statistically recorded data. These data were presented in a memorial hour concerning the victims seeking refuge at the school and in the church. In addition, the students in Stromberg laid stumbling blocks as a memory of the victims of escape and made the public aware of their results. Apart from analytical research, there was an artistic approach which led to measurable and visible results. This included an exhibition that clarified the life circumstances of the refugees. Students made videos about guest workers in the 1960s and presented and demonstrated the scenes on an Erasmus screen. They have also drawn paintings and produced clay figures. They published their migration stories on a large self-made world map in the school foyer. Sophisticated teaching modules about "Migration and Integration" were created for the senior school students, which can also be used for the middle school students in the future. A daily life dictionary of 8 languages for refugees was developed by the students. The results were provided in an e-book. In ethics and religion, the flight of the forefathers was investigated, and the results also were provided in an e-book. The fifth graders participated musically in the project. They practiced international songs in different languages, and therefore made sound recordings. All schools, communities, agencies, companies and school authorities involved in the project attached great importance to productive cooperation. In addition, experts from a wide range of fields were involved in the project, including photographers, historians, acting teachers, the press and IT specialists. This in turn not only increased the students’ key competences, but also raised awareness in the wider community. Although our project is finished, the work will continue to accompany us in the long term. The next generations in our school will benefit from the gained experiences in a future-oriented way. In order to open up a broad future horizon for our students, we intend to expand our project and to innovatively shape the course of education with other countries worldwide. The project results have been published.