report conference

Peace Education Projects / Stichting Vredeseducatie 1 February 2016

Clarifying values in civic education is like building a cathedral By Jan Durk Tuinier and Geu Visser initiators of Peace Education Projects and Fortress of Democracy About 55 representatives of museums, schools and educational organizations took part in the 2

nd International

Seminar on Social Literacy in the ProDemos building in The Hague. The central issue of the day: What can digital and interactive methodologies and assignments mean in the process of value clarification in schools and museums? The issue is addressed by some experts who presented their experiences from museums in the Netherlands and abroad. The outcome could have some implications for Civic Education. The seminar was sponsored by the EU Erasmus+ program and part of the Project Technology Enhanced Learning for Social Literacy, in which the Luso-Illyrian Institute for Human Development in Mafra Portugal (ILIDH) is the lead partner.

It was an intensive program with two key note speakers (Tom Kroon, pedagogue and Lourenço Xavier de Carvalho, director of the Universal Values Museum in Mafra), four good practices (Critical Mass, ProDemos, both from the Netherlands, BELvue Museum Brussels and the Science Museum Jerusalem) were presented. The director of the Univerals Values Museum opened the seminar with a keynote address about the development of the museum and some inivative assignments in which biometrical data of visitors are recorded and interpreted. Philosophical and historical pedagogue Tom Kroon introduced the theme of aquirement and clarification of values by children and Young people. He also gave a review of the DemocracyLAB, which is permanently exhibit in the building of ProDemos in The Hague and developed in cooperation with Peace Education Projects. His conclusions are part of the report.

The participants of the seminar were highly involved in the presentation and discussions and appreciated this highly, according the short written evaluation and the end. We all experienced that easy answers to the issue of the day are difficult to make. There was general feeling that the attempt for find an answer to the issue of the day made sense and was significant for the participants. Clarifying values in education is like building a cathedral. For generations of brick layers, crafts men, stone masons, plumbers and artists give the best, although they did not celebrate the inauguration of the building. The art in education is to use the moment in which knowledge about values is presented and related to emotions and social actions.

R E P O R T a n d E V A L U A T I O N International seminar – January 22nd The Hague, Netherlands

“Experience and exercise Universal Values with digital and interactive

methodologies in museums and schools” 2

nd International Seminar on Social Literacy


Learning in het Universal Values Museum in Mafra Portugal By Lourenço Xavier de Carvalho, initiator of the Luso-Illyrian Institute for Human Development and director “The idea of establishing a Universal Values Museum in Mafra has an historical background. This town has been founded by the Portuguese King to build a centre of wisdom where many different cultures could interact and meet each other values”, explains Lourenço de Carvalho. Together with Eva Nidro he introduced a successful value project in schools, in which more than 4.000 teachers in Portugal participated took part.

This program acts on the idea that Human qualities bring

together harmony and sustainability. These are considered

as universal values which make us distinctively human

regardless our cultural or religious differences. These values

are rooted in our spiritual DNA. So these values are there

and we need to re-discover them going beyond cultural,

religious and ideological boundaries erected in this labyrinth

of values.

The methodological approach of the museum is based on

educating youngsters with universal values by re-vitalizing

the tacit knowledge of these values, which subconsciously

lives in the minds and hearts of people. This is

methodologically different from the schooling system which

pays major attention to explicit knowledge.


Youngsters learn by collaborating in pairs in a system which

combines socialization, externalization, internationalization

with a friendly environment for pedagogical purposes.

The tools which are used for education are based on the

cultural and learning model approach. In addition a universal

values model is delivered through an ICT Architecture. The

latter approach has the advantage of changing constantly

content and interface to match the needs of the youngsters

(based on their age, education, cultural background, etc).

The main questions related to this presentation:

1.

Can we learn values through this learning approach (playing

and learning) or we do need to have a more stable solid

education system and then exploit these opportunities as a

rehearsal activity.

We should do both because, values are a lifelong enterprise. We

need a solid value curriculum in schools and teachers who are

capable to organize lessons and project in which children and

young people can clarify values. But a visit to a museum will work

as a catalyst and bring subconscious knowledge to the surface and

challenge young people to investigate and perform these values.

2.

Which is the difference between empathy and compassion

and how can these be transmitted to youngsters?

Empathy is the capability to understand the feelings of another

human being. We try to image what a refugee would feel and

experience to empathize the idea to leave our house and country.

Compassion is different, it is an act of solidarity to help someone

that needs help. It can possibly come out of empathy, but not

automatically. Scientist think that we are born with the universal

values, but we need a climate and environment to foster them,

develop them. So we can say that civic education is an application

of value development.

3.

Is there any legal counter-indication for measuring

youngsters’ brain activity, while going through learning

exercises?

In the Universal Values Museum we collect all kind of data of

children and young people. We measure biometrical information

and give it a feed back to the visitors. This can be confronting, but

within the educational context it is legal we think. All data are

collected anonymously and used for scientific research.

4.

How do you deal with the data collected from different forms

of observations you have put into place while youngsters are

experiencing these learning activities?

The Museum had a strong ICT basis and all data are collected in

the system. In some assignments children will get feedback

immediately and in other assignments the general feedback will be

give after the visit. Like the certificate which visitors of the Fortress

of Democracy and the DemocracyLAB receive after their visit. This

can be part of the follow up activities in school or youth work.

(Thanks to Gert Guri, who made notes of the discussion.)

Part of the Universal Museum is a thematically garden based on all kind of

values from various philosophies and religions all over the world.


Value Clarification and the DemocracyLAB exhibition By Tom Kroon, pedagogue and author of ‘The moral intuition of children’. The issue of today for me was to reviews the interactive exhibition DemocracyLAB of ProDemos which was developed with Peace Education Project. The DemocracyLAB as a mean to clarify democratic values. Both parts of this request, namely ‘clarify’ and ‘democratic values’ call attention.

Democratic values

This term ‘democratic values’ refers to political values in a

constitutional state - a state with self-government formed

by the citizens with equal rights and responsibilities, and

subject to self-made laws. The exhibition here shows that

freedom of speech is an important value and not only

means that you can freely express your ideas and feelings

in speech, but also that you have the freedom to write

down your thoughts and opinions and to draw what you

want and the freedom to display what you wish without

being restricted or controlled by the government.

The value Liberty encompasses more forms of freedom.

For example freedom of religion, freedom of assembly,

freedom to demonstrate, freedom to present petitions and,

in the Netherlands, freedom of education as well.

Pursue of happiness

All these different forms of freedom imply having rights and

thanks to all these rights we can arrange our personal lives

and pursue our own form of happiness. These different

forms of freedom, and therefore rights, constitute the

liberal democratic state we live in.

What about solidarity

Other core political values of a liberal democracy are

Equality, Tolerance and, often forgotten, Solidarity. I will

not take a closer look at these values. With one exception,

namely Solidarity. Solidarity motivates to smooth out the

inequalities, brought about by birth or disease, by

establishing different forms of public and special education,

organisations of public health such as hospitals and

ambulance services, care for the elderly and so on.

Solidarity also motivates to be responsible for a safe living

environment, such as the care for an excellent

maintenance of our infrastructure (dunes, dykes and

roads). To uphold the value Solidarity everyone pays taxes

according to one’s financial resources. I think, this value is

not a right, nor tolerance, but leads to a duty, namely a

duty to pay taxes.

So now I ask you: is a person who knows what these

values mean, or who knows the definition of these values

able to be a good citizen? I do not think so. But why?

The role of laws and institutions.

To implement the liberal democratic values and

procedures, laws and institutions are necessary. The most

important laws are written up in a constitution. Other laws

in civil and criminal codes. They regulate or control

people’s behaviour in public. They make it possible to live

together with many others in a state.

Democracies have elections also and a Parliament with

more than one party. The idea of vesting the executive,

legislative and judicial powers of a government in separate

divisions is called the principle of the Trias Politica. The

exhibition mentions this concept too.

Without some knowledge of these institutions, procedures

and some political concepts there is not enough

understanding of politics.

This exhibition not only pays attention to the liberal

democratic core values but also appeals to the knowledge

of the organization of the state. Without some knowledge

of this all, a person is not a good citizen.

But even if he has some political knowledge, he is still not

yet a good citizen. Is this person namely willing to put the

political values into practice?

To answer these question we must look at value- or moral

education.

Developing values in children’s lives

Political values are moral values. And moral education is

far more complicated than what visitors are doing in this

exhibition. The goal of moral education is more than

adopting values in your mind. A moral well educated

person not only knows what decency, honesty and justice

The complete text of this Keynote address is published on: www.vredeseducatie.nl

http://www.vredeseducatie.nl/


are, but he (she) also shows these values in his (her)

behaviour.

To get children to practise values is a more complex

process than for example teaching children the capitals of

the European countries. More must be done than

memorizing words. I will tell you why.

The concept ‘value’ has three components (Vos, H.M., 1989):

A cognitive component. You imagine something, a

situation or an activity when the concept tolerance or

honesty is used. In a sentence as “That girl is honest” you

know, you ‘see’ what honesty means.

Moral values have an emotional component too. It feels

good when you experience decency or solidarity.

Moral values have also a third component. It’s the

component of urgency. If, for example, you hear that Bill

was honest and you approve Bill’s behavior, you not only

applaud his behaviour but you want everyone in that same

situation to be honest.

So, when using moral and political value words in our

everyday language we not only say what it is, but the

appropriate behaviour is also recommended and expected

to be done. “Practise what you preach”, we say

Living according to values requires knowledge of these

values, the appropriate emotions, and knowing they are

meant for everyone and not just for the acting person.

A one hour visit to an exhibition with 42 devices is not

enough to become a person living according to values. It’s

more than a dessert, but not a meal.

The good citizen

I hope you will agree with me when I’m saying: a citizen

who can live according to democratic values (a good

citizen) not only knows what these political values mean,

but he / she also has the appropriate skills and he / she

has the appropriate emotions. To rephrase that: these

values are not only fixed in his / her mind but are

integrated in his / her whole being. Put it simply: he / she

disposes of virtues, she shows moral goodness, she is a

virtuous citizen.

Personal virtues

Carefulness, honesty, patience, self-discipline, respect.

Political virtues are: the willingness to compromise, respect

for the law, self-restraint, sense of duty, the ability to work

together, the courage to take initiative and stand up for

your own opinion.

Intellectual virtues

One additional and important point should bear in mind is:

good citizenship also requires some non-moral, so-called

intellectual virtues (Steutel, J. & Spiecker, B., 2001).

Because a living democracy requires exchange of ideas,

interaction and deliberation. Intellectual virtues are:

knowing what you are talking about, aversion to woolly or

obscure language, the need to express your thoughts as

clearly as possible, respect for evidence-based

information, the willingness to exchange arguments and let

go of any prejudice. Also moderation in showing emotion

and, not unimportantly, being able to deal with

disappointment.

What do we need to encourage children fully adopt

political and other moral values?

* Training, exercising, schooling, getting engaged in daily

life with competent moral adults.

* People giving good examples of virtues as courage,

justice, tolerance etc.

* Gradually increasing opportunities to participate in any

aspiring democracy where ideas and convictions can be

exchanged.

* Experiencing moral dilemmas and questions of

conscience.

* Accepting advice and corrections in an environment

where it is allowed to make mistakes. Educating children is

doing things together!

At schools: well-organized learning processes in the

vicinity of competent and well-qualified teachers; in other

words: experts in steering discussions in the right direction

and having detailed knowledge of democratic institutions

(Kroon, 2014. In particular chapters 6 and 7).

Clarifying values

In this exhibition, a lot of attention is given to the process of

exploring values. Visitors are confronted with controversial

issues and are challenged to think about them and take a


stand. Visitors work in pairs. This gives them the chance to

deliberate. With the help of the interactive method visitors

play an active role in this process.

With the pedagogic necessities in mind, mentioned above,

we can establish that during a visit to the exhibition the

political values are only clarified, indeed.

What happens, namely, according to the questions and

assignments each visitor has to reply? He or she must

- Keep in mind something of a definition of the questioned

value or the law or institution and act accordingly (cognitive

component);

- Be aware of the emotions he is feeling; (emotional

component)

- Decide for herself or after contact with her partner or

others what her conclusions are and how to act at the

device or write down on the tablet.

- Assess the effects of his behaviour.

- If necessary, think again.

The certificate

You know: after their visit to the exhibition the students

receive a detailed personalised report at home with

feedback concerning their convictions and conclusions.

This is very much appreciated. This report is based on the

annotations made on a tablet during the visit to the

“Democratielab”. Two examples:

It ascertains when the visitor has been inconsistent. For

example: a student says to be a strong advocate of

freedom of religion, but would like to ban burka’s from

public areas.

The convictions are checked against the democratic rules

and procedures. A student who likes it to participate in

hard actions receives the feedback that it is against the

law to be destructive.

The great value of the report is that student’s convictions

are commented on, so they can reflect on them and

discuss them with parents, friends and at school with

teachers.

Visitors can also create their own election poster by

answering questions and making a picture through an

interactive display with the webcam. When ready, the

visitor will receive a high quality poster in their email box.

Does a visit to the exhibition need to start from

scratch?

I think our answer can be “No”. Three arguments.

The visitors (adolescents) already have an understanding

of their personal values. They possess the personal

virtues to a greater or lesser extent: decency, self-control,

helpfulness or charity, honesty and some elements of the

virtue justice. These virtues are not political virtues, but

surely moral virtues. So they understand what it means to

be a moral person.

Due to the level of psychological development of

adolescents, the influence of friends, classmates and

media, the students already have the concept of being

part of a broader community than family or municipality.

So they already have some understanding of living in a

community with political dimensions. Powerful arguments

are found in the psycho-analytical oriented but still

relevant studies of Erik Erikson: Identity, Youth and Crisis

(1968)and Childhood and Society (1963) and in the

research results of the well-known developmental

psychologist Lawrence Kohlberg (Kohlberg, L., 1985). His

diagram of moral development with stages and levels is

commonly known by teachers and educational

councillors.

The most important reason is that daily visitors are mostly

students in the age between 14 – 18 and all have had,

we may hope, a certain amount of citizenship education

(how minor it may be). Therefore, there will be some

knowledge and also perhaps some conversational skills.

The effects of a visit to the Lab

On the website of ProDemos you can read the goals of the

‘DemocratieLab’:

- expanding knowledge of democracy, laws and politics

- investigating one’s own democratic behaviour

- discovering one’s own views on these subjects.

Recent research results were published last year

(Verbeek, 2015). 778 Students of all forms of secondary

schools participated Three components of democratic

citizenship were tested. The variables are

- The behaviour of visitors in relation to the questions on

election-intention, supporting a petition, etc.


- The relevant attitude towards democracy, rules of law etc.

- Knowledge of political institutions and rules.

The design of the research method and analytical strategy

are described in a report you can find on the Website of

ProDemos. You can also find on the Website the results of

the test. (The report is sadly only in Dutch?)

Some results are: a visit to the exhibition has in general a

positive effect on the components mentioned above. A

majority of the students found the visit interesting and

enjoyed themselves.

I feel the need to say that these results were possibly

influenced by the cheerful mood visitors were in, due to the

school trip to The Hague and may therefore have some

short term effects.

But it is obvious that a visit to the exhibition contributes to

the development of citizenship. It clarifies concepts and

character traits taught at school.

Role of the school and educational system

Unfortunately it must be concluded that nowadays schools

are doing a lot concerning citizenship education but school

bound evaluation of the effects is missing. Citizenship

education is mandatory by law, but non-committal.

Secondly, service learning activities are an important

educational intervention to foster citizenship. It is believed

that this type of experience helps young people to learn

social skills, norms of behaviour, to pursue social activity

and to develop social trust. Many studies have found

strong relationship between service learning and social

outcomes. (Kahne, Crow & Lee, 2013). Unfortunately,

since this school year, social teaching practice as part of

citizenship education is no longer required in the Dutch

schools.

A third alarming point is that at pre-vocational schools

(vmbo) and senior secondary vocational schools (mbo)

many teachers do not have the necessary qualifications to

teach citizenship education. So many students do not grow

in their knowledge and beliefs and stay stuck in the beliefs

of friends or parents.

Worries

Does the Lab contribute to the development of citizenship?

I’m sure it does. But sometimes I’m afraid that a visit to the

exhibition, or even citizenship education in general, is not

strong enough to resist the cunning activities in our

political community trying to weaken our democratic life.

When you call our Parliament a fake Parliament, you are

undermining the trust in an important legislative institution.

I am also worried that the liberal democratic state is not

immune to the moral, cultural and economic problems of

postmodern society. Terror, the undeniable climate crisis,

the problem of the growing numbers of refugees, and the

acknowledgement that other people living elsewhere also

have a right for prosperity put pressure on our political

values and rules. Is our democratic system able to grasp

and remedy these emerging problems? And lastly, a public

debate requires virtuous citizens, virtuous in many ways.

They also have to have intellectual virtues. In a society,

where it is normal to show your feelings and where some

people having much trouble to restrain their emotions, a

rational debate is under pressure. Sometimes I feel uneasy

about the future of democracy. Is this political system able

to manage the problems citizens are confronted with anno

2016 and to steer homo sapiens sapiens in the direction of

a just and sustainable world (Wilson, 2014, pp. 141-142)?

References Erikson, E. (1963). Childhood and Society. New York: Norton & Company. (Ned. vert. Het kind en de samenleving). Erikson, E. (1968). Identity, Youth and Crisis. New York: Norton & Company. (Ned. vert. Identiteit, jeugd en crisis). Kahne, J, Crow, D. & Lee, N.-J. (2013). Different Pedagogy, Different Politics: High School Learning Opportunities and Youth Political Engagement. In: Political Psychology, Vol. 34, No. 3, 419-441. doi: 10.1111/j.1467-9221.2012.00936.x Kohlberg, L. (1985). The Just Community Approach to Moral Education in Theory and Practice. In: M.W. Berkowitz & F. Oser (Eds.), Moral Education: Theory and Application (pp. 27-87). London/Hillsdale (NJ): Lawrence Erlbaum Ass. Kroon, T. (2014). De morele intuïtie van kinderen. Respect en verantwoordelijkheid, vrijheid en geweten. Amsterdam: SWP. Steutel, J. & Spiecker, B. (2001), The Aims of Civic Education in a Multicultural Democracy. In: M. Leicester, M. Modgil & S. Modgil (Eds.). Education, Culture and Values. Vol. IV. New York: Falmer Press, 244-252. Verbeek, J. (2015). De effecten van het DemocratieLab. Den Haag: ProDemos. https://www.prodemos.nl/Media/Files/Rapport-effecten-Democratielab. Vos, H.M. (1989). De kern van waarden. De betekenis van centrale maatschappelijke waarden voor de theorie en praktijk van het morele leven. Assen/Maastricht: Van Gorcum. Wilson, E.O. (2014). Het raadsel van het menselijk bestaan. Amsterdam: AUP. Report scientific research: https://www.prodemos.nl/Media/Files/Rapport-effecten-Democratielab

https://www.prodemos.nl/Media/Files/Rapport-effecten-Democratielab




Some suggestions for developers of interactive assignments to clarify values Value clarification needs dialogue, discussion and debate. Listening, summarize, asking questions (to oneself, to others, to

society, to history etc.) are important competences. The main aim is not agreement, but exploration of personal and collective

values and behaviour. In this context, pupils can experience themselves as a part of social problem as well as a part of the

solution. Educational means should serve the educational objectives and are never an aim at itself.

Learning process

Learning is: bridging the gap between the biography of the pupils

and the new experience (Peter Jarvis). Educators should organise

and manage the gap with assignments, media, hands on devices,

applied to specific target groups. When the gap between the

biography and the new experience is too wide, pupils are afraid of

jumping (performance anxiety). When the gap is too small, learning

has no challenge at all. We should challenge pupils to come out of

their comfort zone, but stay close to most near learning zone

(Vigotsky). Comming out of the comfort zone, can raise existential

questions which demand rethinking and reconsidering personal

opinions and performance.

Interaction

Assignments should have interaction as main characteristic. It

should include the perspectives of time (then and now), place (here

and there) and person (me and you). Interactive assignments offer

cognitive, emotional and behavioural involvement and appeal to

internal motivation: it can make learning a pleasure for pupil and

educator.

Exercising behavioural alternatives

To clarify values, assignments should challenge pupils to

investigate their opinions, to unmask their prejudices, to analyze

their role in violent group dynamics, to create perspectives of peace

in their daily life.

The components of value clarification

Experience

Assignments which include experiences of pupils, can enrich the

learning process and make an exhibition more effective.

Sometimes an assignment is the experience as well, which should

be reflected (certificate Democracy LAB). In general pupils like

"learning by doing",

because they seem not to realise the learning process.

Diversity

To overcome diversity in learning style, gender, ethnic background

and culture a various range of didactic assignments is

recommended (Bloom’s taxonomy). Pupils can participate with

various learning styles (cognitive, affective, artistic, physical) and

can exercise multi-intelligence tools.

Moral

Value clarification needs a open and transparent climate, where is

no place for moralistic approach. Investigating and exploring of all

opinions and behaviour should be possible to appropriate values.

Fundamental human rights are basis of assignments.

Self directed learning

Assignments which allow pupils to explore limits of imagination,

thoughts and behaviour are attractive for them and effective (self

directed learning). Educators should avoid assignments which

appeal to socially desirable behavior, predictability or political

correctness (hidden curriculum).

Cooperation

Assignments which appeal to cooperation, make a connection to

one of the most important competences of democracy. Interaction

(including conflicts) with peers can be attractive and should be

moderated on demand.

Role of educator

To optimise value clarification, educators are mediators and

partners in learning. They co-operate in research instead of

transforming information. They challenge pupils to think by

themselves and exercise all human potentials in problem solving.


Democracity, a role play for children to built a city - Good Practice 1 Presented by Olivier van Doorne en Patrick Pokkelé, educational executives of Museum BELvue Brussels, Belgium

The BELvue Museum in Brussel was founded in 2013 and is a museum of Belgian National History and the place

to experience democracy. The Museum has a partnership with the Flemish, French and German community and

an important partnership with the Parliaments (Flemish, Federal, French community and French region)

The mission of the Museum is advocate CHANGE in groups

of children and young people. From indifference to interest,

from repeat indiscriminately to reflection and from prejudice

to nuance. All activities in BELvue are aimed at discussion,

interaction and production. Learning by experience is very

important in relation to understanding and gaining

knowledge. The programs pay special attention to pupils

following technical and vocational education. From social

economical point of view, they seem more vulnerable than

other pupils.

One of the programs is Democracy, mainly offered to a

group of pupils 10-18 in combination to a visit of the

parliament. The scenario has 4 steps:

- Creating a party, writing and defending party program

- Executed party program by building houses

- Making choices

- Creating and discussing the city

Special attentions during the program for: consultations,

argumentations, decision making and conflict management.

Pupils have to create a political party, writing and defending

a party program. This is not easy although the children and

young people learn quick. They need and evolvement from a

individual choice to a group choice. Different parties can

execute their party program by building houses. Each

member of the party chooses a building with a function,

which must be related to the party program. The buildings

can have different functions: government, education and

transport, environment, economic, social, recreation and

religion.

Making choices is necessary and is most similar to the real

politic system of the liberal democracy we live in. Each party

can place three buildings in the new city. Some buildings,

chosen by the party members can’t be placed, because it

can be contradictory to the party program. After this the

parties create a discussing about the city, while architects

place the buildings. They need to take care of the

environment and the participants need to decide: can you

live in such society?

In DemocraCity pupils can learn to express their ideas and

defend those ideas. They can learn how to make a

consensus (win win situation). They understand how a

democracy functions by themselves and can visualise it also

by visiting a parliament.

DemocraCity was developed by BELvue Museum Brussels

and implemented in a program of ProDemos in The Hague.

DemocraCity is also edited in a box. In cooperation with

Peace Education Projects BELvue Museum developed an

interactive exhibition Democracy Factory, which has a very

successful tour through Belgium.

Info: www.BELvue.be www.democratiefabriek.belvue.be

http://www.belvue.be/nl/activities/democracity

http://www.belvue.be/

http://www.democratiefabriek.belvue.be/


Clarifying values with Critical Mass Expedition - Good Practice 3 Presented by Hiske Arts, director of Critical Mass Utrecht the Netherlands

Critical Mass makes interactive exhibitions, films and games to challenge people to reflect upon our society and

how we deal with conflicts. Critical Mass tries to play and act with difficult themes, which connect to everyone on

our society. The motto of the activities is: performance and experience. In their projects, animators don’t tell

young people what to think and how, challenge them to reflect, reconsider and take action.

“We confront them with their own views and opinions and

together we create a new perspective. Sometimes we let

them make choices in time pressure, which tells us more

about their positions and biased opinions. All our activities

are aimed at discussion, dialogue and exchange of opinion

and behavioral alternatives”, explained Hiske Arts in her

presentation.

The themes about how people behave to one another and

society, which we can clearly understand with group

dynamics, are quite emotional and sometimes heavy for

young people but we always try to apply them to the context

and the imagination of the target groups.

Expedition Friend & Foe

This installations are aimed at dynamics of the school yard.

Themes like exclusion, bullying, peer pressure and conflict

(de)escalation are at stake. Five sea containers are located

on the school yard and for all pupils an intensive group

program is organized in all containers. Animators of Chritical

Mass are also carrying out an investigation in the school

about ‘a safe school for everyone’ and discuss the outcome

with the teachers in a specific teachers training program.

The result of the project has a high quality for participating in

the sea container program is not an incident, but completed

with a follow up and a training for teachers.

Hiske Arts in discussion during the seminar.

Info: http://www.criticalmass.nl/

“The focus of the presentation was the game of exclusion where youngsters managed to experience through

‘gamification’ the cost and the pain of being excluded. Some participants has additional questions related to

critical level of analysis: a) how does change the perception/reaction in a bullying case depending on the position

we have either as group-member of the victim or the perpetuator? b) Which is the impact and role that group

dynamics play in these situations? It was quite interesting that Hiske did some exercise with us. After looking a

video in which a situation of bullying was conducted, we literally had to take position in the seminar room. After

this, there was some space for testimonies.” From the notes of Gert Guri.

http://www.criticalmass.nl/


Exercising party politics with ProDemos - Good Practice 3 Presented by Bas Banning, educational executive at ProDemos House for democracy and state of law The Hague

In this assignment of 60 minutes students simulate a debate about a law proposal. All pupils

receive a smart Phone with a certain color which matches with a particularpolitical party.

The simulation games is conducted and directed by a moderator. All political parties have to

make up their minds and prepare an opinion on basis of the information which they receive on

their smart phones. Members of parliament are not connected with a party profile but are

confronted with a description of the voters. So members of parliament which belong to the

same party, have to consider for themselves how to satisfy their voters.

The students try to gain all a majority for their point of view.

Besides they can bring in amendments, which should stand

or denied by voting. The pupils have to decide: should I be

loyal to my opinion, based on certain values or do I have to

deal with my voters, which perspectives can conflict with the

underlying values. Values like justice, equality and respect.

Beside these competences like listening, reasoning,

negotiating and compromising are very important. This

simulation games can be carried out with min. 18 and max

60 participants from secondary schools and vocational

training centers.

“A nice example of gamification methodology to

learn universal values by simulating the House of

Representatives. The game draw upon the interest of

children for new technologies and thanks to the

curiosity, participants followed the game

instructions. In a role model approach youngsters

played different roles and were frequently advised by

the game facilitator through messages send to their

smart-phones. Through this approach of specific roles

played by each participant, youngsters became aware

of the dynamics behind the process of decision-

making.” From the notes of Gert Guri.


The Peace Labyrinth Jerusalem - Good Practice 4 Presented by Danny Fridberg PhD candidate National Centre for Peace and Conflict Studies University of Otago New Zealand.

Interactive exhibitions are a new medium for peace education in Israel. The Peace Labyrinth, based on a model

developed by Peace Education Projects (PEP) for an exhibition in the Netherlands, is the first project of this type

in Israel. The model was revised to suit the needs and the political and social situation in Israel, particularly in

Jerusalem. The project is an initiative of the Jerusalem Foundation, in cooperation with the Olivestone Trust and

the Bloomfield Science Museum Jerusalem. The article presents the theoretical, methodological, and practical

considerations at play in adapting the original model for use in Israel and notes the insights gained for peace

education and for the museum’s educational endeavors.

The bilingual (Arab –Hebrew) Peace Labyrinth was based

on the Dutch Peace Factory Exhibition, developed by Peace

Education Projects in 2004 in the Netherlands and as La

Fabrique de la Paix in France in 2007. The travelling

exhibition was released in the Bloomfield Science Museum

in Jerusalem in 2011. After two years it was exhibited in Ein

Dor Archeological Museum. At this moment the exhibition is

in renovation and will be travel on in Israel. The project had

3 objectives: Improving children’s communication skills;

Improving self-awareness in conflict situations; Providing

tools for dealing with conflicts. The visit structure contents of

an opening discussion, accompanied by the film “Balablok”

and instruction (20 minutes), Exhibition visit (1 hour) and a

Summary discussion (10 minutes)

Developing and transforming an exhibition from the Dutch

context to the Israelian context was quite a difficult job,

however it was a rich learning experience for experts in both

countries. They had to face 3 different dilemmas and

questions.

In the first place: the different contexts – Positive Peace in

the Netherlands vs. Negative Peace in Israel. The distinction

is from peace researcher Johan Galtung. The context in

Israel is more violent than in the Netherland, so the

approach is to get away from a negative situation (negative

peace). In the Netherlands there is a more peaceful

coexistence, which gives options to increase a peaceful

climate (positive peace).

In the second place Fridberg mentioned the dilemma of the

the political vs. the inter-personal sphere. Everything in

Israel has political dimensions. Talking about refugees and

asylum seekers in the Netherlands is no problem at all,

although opinions can be very different even opposite. But in

Israel, it is not the same, it depends the cultural and social

context and cannot be done in an exhibition.

The third dilemma had to do with shortage of knowledge and

tools for educators. We all knew that an exhibition as the

Peace Labyrinth can only be successful if the visit to the

museum is prepared by the class and the teacher and has a

good follow up program. Our solution was to involve

teachers in the development process of the project to create

a set of guidlines and manual for educators.

Daniel Fridberg and Diana Alderoqui-Pinus published an article in Curator The Museum Journal Volume 55 Number 3 July 2012. A copy can be find on www.vredeseduatie.nl

“Danny Fridberg mentioned in his presentation the important role of contextualization whenever we have to deal with values. Cultural background, education and age are components which not only influence the state of the art of the values but also the appropriate approach to be implemented for transmitting these values to youngsters. According to Fridberg there are also institutional challenges to be considered such as: the political and social situation, limited experience or inadequate education of teachers, shortage in the number of teachers involved in value education. Preparing and delivering manuals for teachers can somehow tackle the limited experience and the limited funds available for teachers’ training.” From the notes of Gert Guri.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p5bF0tKwAVU




http://www.vredeseduatie.nl/


The evaluation of the seminar - It was inspiring, thanks! Very interesting

The evaluation of the seminar was quite positive. This could be noticed during the program, in which the participants were strongly dedicated to the themes of the day. It was also the conclusion in a written inquiry with 4 questions and the possibility to adjust some personal remarks. The general questions could be scored from 1 (extreme negative) to 10 (very positive). The participants scored the following averages:

What is your overall impression of the program? 8,1. What is your opinion of the presentations during the seminar? 7,8. What is your opinion about the methodology of the DemocracyLAB? 8,8. Do you have more understanding of 'clarifying values with interactive and digital assignments'? 7,8.

Some of the participants added a personal remarks: - Telling stories to other generations is still important. - I missed presentations/discussions about interactive/digital tools in classrooms.

- Do it again. - Get a stronger wifi, so that your lab-phones work also on the 3th floor? Also adults like to play! - There was a lot of attention for 'values', but less for 'digital assignments'. It could have a lot more attention. On the other hand: good to meet people 'in the same field of work'. - Go on with this kind of meetings. It’s great to speak and meet so many people in this field. - We’d like to receive links of websites and literature references about values - There's a lot of approaches; emotional stories that make empathize and/or hands-on. None of them are perfect in themselves. But by visiting two exhibitions we give a lot of support, moral and political. - The highlight is 'diversity' instead of all goals the same. - A biscuit a tea time would be nice. - It was an inspiring day, thanks! - One day was not enough. Very interesting. - Possibly it could be better the approach Universal values more from definition level at the start of the seminar. - Interesting day. A lot of information. For some of the speakers the English language was difficult, which made it hard to listen to.

The DemocracyLAB and the Fortress of Democracy are sponsored by:

This report was edited by Jan Durk Tuinier, Geu Visser, Maartje Langeslag and Ger Guri (notes), Peace Education Project s Utrecht the Netherlands. Phone: ** 31 30 2723500 Internet: www.vredeseducatie.nl E-mail: [email protected] .

Observation

by Dirk Timmermans educational advisor of the

City of Antwerp Belgium.

“Active citizenship has different components. From

participation committees to educational vision, from

tools for citizens to hands on exhibitions. We need

them all to succeed. We need to stress the importance

of an educational opinion of schools and museums.

Most of these organizations seem to perform if they

have no vision.

Exhibition and assignment developers need to

implement a diversity of means, between analogue and

digital and hands on. Education urges us to relate

means and objectives. It was important to make a

difference between values and virtues, between

knowledge, skills and attitudes and don’t mix them up

all the time. Each part needs a specific educational –

didactic approach”.

Observation

by Paul Dalli, Maltese Mentoring Institute, Malta.

1. Universal Fundamental Values make us human.

2. Tacid knowledge vs Explicit knowledge

3. Exclusion is pain

4. Emapry, but compation goes deeper.

5. How we behave.

6. It’s artful to design Friend and Foe.

7. I was aske to think by Tom Kroon.

8. Remember Dany who evokes “Educators”.

9. Quo Vadis? Analog or digital – Lorenzo follow

your dream/

10. What I hear i forget, what I see I remember,

what I do I understand.

11. Ler us all become citizens of one village, one

country,one continent, one plannet one

universe.

12. This is our right.

http://www.vredeseducatie.nl/

mailto:[email protected]

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