The project "Teaching European History in the 21st Century" (TEH21) brings together experts in the fields of European history, innovative didactic methods, and the development of innovative teaching materials from seven countries (Germany, Spain, Czech Republic, Hungary, the United Kingdom, France, and the Netherlands). The focus of the project is the collaborative development of English-language teaching material for courses in early modern, modern and contemporary European history that allows Higher Education Institutions to internationalise their curriculum. More specifically, TEH21 aims: (1) to promote internationalisation by producing innovative and accessible teaching material that facilitates student mobility, combats "brain drain" and strengthens democratic citizenship culture. The curricula at history departments will be made more diverse and more accessible, giving learners a more internationally oriented education, which not only addresses the demands of the internationally oriented labour market of the 21st century, but also contributes to the aim of a diverse, connected and inclusive Europe. (2) to address the challenges of higher education in the 21st century by producing innovative teaching material that follows the principles of blended learning: making use of digital technologies, the project brings together visual and textual sources and makes them accessible for innovative use in the classroom. (3) to promote the interaction with Europe's diverse cultural heritage by integrating historical primary sources and case studies into the teaching material, promoting innovative use in classroom situations and the wider knowledge of local, regional and European cultural heritage. TEH21 addresses three main target groups: (1) HE learners will be exposed to the pluriformity and multiperspectivity of European history. Students will benefit from a more internationally oriented history education, which will further their chances on the European labour market, promotes the competences for democratic culture (CDC) and contributes to the fostering of European citizenship. (2) HE teachers will broaden their understanding of European history through working with the multi-perspective teaching materials developed by this project. They will have new didactic tools at their disposal, which will upgrade their pedagogical skills by exchanging and sharing teaching methods, good practices and ideas that will enrich their professional expertise; thus participating in the lifelong learning process and fostering closer European links. They will increase their awareness of different educational systems and approaches to European history, which will enhance their mobility on the European HE labour market. (3) HE institutions and managers as carriers of internationalisation strategies and pedagogical innovation: the project and its outcomes give university managers the tools they need to internationalise their curriculum and equip their teams with materials and technology needed for the realisation of their internationalisation strategy. The teaching material will be based on textual, visual and audiovisual sources produced by international author teams. The following outputs will be included: (1) An open access textbook that reflects the multiperspectivity of European history, covering transnational developments and networks in early modern, modern and contemporary history. The chapters are written collaboratively by international teams of authors from at least four of the participating academic partner institutions to ensure a truly European perspective. (2) A collection of online lectures functioning as introduction to the chapters of the open access textbook. (3) An online collection of selected primary sources in the original language and English translations, clustered around important themes in European history. The primary sources mentioned and described in the textbook will be made available in the form of online source collections, in their original form and in English translation. (4) A best-practice guide to the use of the above-mentioned outputs in the international classroom. This digital volume will be based on the experiences of testing the outputs by international teacher teams in structured learning activities that form part of this project. The close integration of all outputs will create a blended learning environment giving teachers and learners an innovative and unique resource to create tailor-made lesson plans for internationalised curricula in European history. In addition to the project's direct impact on the participating organisations and stakeholders, TEH21 will also ensure a long-term impact on the target groups through the combined effort of two measures: the open availability of tried-and-tested educational resources, and a detailed dissemination strategy including a series of multiplier events.
TEH21 aimed to achieve the following: 1. To promote internationalisation through the production of innovative and accessible teaching materials to facilitate student mobility and to strengthen democratic citizenship culture. 1.a. To provide more internationally oriented education, 1.b. To facilitate a more inclusive, diverse and connected Europe, 1.c. To diversify curricula at HEIs. 2. To address challenges in Higher Education in the 21st century by creating teaching materials that follow principles of blended learning. 2.a. To make (teaching) materials more accessible, 2.b. To produce digital teaching materials. 2.c. To bring together visual and textual sources and making them accessible for innovative use in the classroom. 3. To stimulate and promote Europe’s diverse cultural heritage and the interaction with it. 3.a. To integrate historical primary sources and case studies into teaching materials, 3.b. To promote innovative classroom situations and the wider use of EU cultural heritage.
The project "Teaching European History in the 21st Century" (TEH2) addressed three broad needs: 1) the internationalisation of history education, 2) the innovation of didactic methods, and 3) the fostering of democratic citizenship. More particularly, the project responds to the needs of Higher Education Institutions (HEI’s) within Europe and around the world to internationalise their history curricula to boost student mobility and future employability, transferability of skills and knowledge, combat "brain drain", and strengthen democratic citizenship culture. In particular, it addresses the needs of HE teachers and students for a more diverse and methodologically innovative history education. These groups require open-access, digital teaching material that meet the needs of the 21st century, particularly in terms of distance learning, blended learning, and widening access to Higher Education, and that addresses the principles for “Quality History Education in the 21st Century” (Council of Europe, 2018). In doing so, this material promotes competences of democratic culture (CDC) and contributes to fostering EU citizenship among students and staff – something that is needed in a time of multiple challenges for liberal democracies.