Con­tro­ver­sy and disa­gre­e­ment in the classroom

Upda­te: New dates anno­un­ced — The Annu­al Con­fe­ren­ce will take pla­ce onli­ne from 31 Octo­ber to 29 Novem­ber 2020

We are deligh­ted and honou­red to pre­sent the 27th Euro­Clio Annu­al Con­fe­ren­ce on “Con­tro­ver­sy and Disa­gre­e­ment in the Clas­s­room”. The Con­fe­ren­ce, which is orga­ni­sed in coo­pe­ra­tion with UDi, the Ser­bi­an History Tea­chers’ Asso­ci­a­tion, and Educa­tion for the 21st Cen­tury, will take pla­ce onli­ne, 31 Octo­ber-29 Novem­ber 2020. The Con­fe­ren­ce will incor­pora­te the final trai­ning of the Lear­ning to Disa­gree project.

In a time of growing divi­sion, whe­re into­le­ran­ce cre­a­tes an “us-ver­sus-them” atti­tu­de among soci­al groups, it is essen­ti­al for stu­dents to learn how to deal with con­tro­ver­si­al sub­jects, and how to cope with a vari­e­ty of viewpo­ints and disa­gre­e­ments. And there­fo­re it is also important that tea­chers inclu­de met­hods of dia­logue, deba­te and discus­sion in their les­sons, and deal with controversies.

• Healt­hy demo­cra­tic socie­ties are tho­se in which peop­le know how to argue wit­hout resor­ting to harm and vio­len­ce. Through dia­logue, deba­te and discus­sion young peop­le can learn to deve­l­op liste­ning and spe­aking skills to argue well. This helps them to beco­me acti­ve and respon­sib­le demo­cra­tic citizens.
• Many coun­tri­es are expe­ri­en­cing a growing diver­si­ty in their clas­s­rooms, as socie­ties are growing more diver­se. Stu­dents should learn how to deal with this diver­si­ty of peop­le and plu­ra­li­ty of ideas and viewpo­ints in the wor­ld aro­und them.
• History is always con­te­sted, with discus­sion and deba­te at its heart. Young peop­le can learn to chal­len­ge, expl­o­re and test the evi­den­ce-base of claims so that they are able to distingu­ish valid histo­ri­cal inter­pre­ta­tions from histo­ri­cal perspectives.
• Using dia­logue, deba­te and discus­sion gives stu­dents voi­ce. They learn that the­re are many evi­den­ce-based opi­ni­ons and have the opportu­ni­ty to participate.
• Schools are a gre­at pla­ce to try the­se met­hods outs, as they should be safe lear­ning environ­ments in which young peop­le can test out ideas and expl­o­re new thin­king, chan­ge their views and cri­ti­cal­ly eva­lu­a­te their own valu­es and atti­tu­des wit­hout fear of jud­g­ment. At the same time it offers an opportu­ni­ty to teach them how to respect­ful­ly disa­gree.
• Dea­ling with con­tro­ver­si­al issu­es provi­des a good way to direct­ly con­nect with stu­dents’ lives and with the out­si­de wor­ld (out­si­de the safe school environ­ment). Ignor­ing them would mean ignor­ing the rea­li­ties in many stu­dents’ lives.

The 27th Euro­Clio Annu­al Con­fe­ren­ce will con­sist of acti­ve wor­ks­hops, panel discus­sions, inte­r­a­cti­ve ses­sions, and net­wor­king events. During the­se acti­vi­ties, you will be intro­du­ced to the topi­cs of Peop­le on the Move, Bor­ders, Sur­vi­ving under Pres­su­re and Cul­tu­ral Her­i­ta­ge, and will reflect on how to assess pupils’ soci­al and civil com­pe­ten­ces through deba­te, dia­logue, and discus­sion on the­se topi­cs. In addi­tion, you will be intro­du­ced to the new fea­tu­res of the eLear­ning por­tal Historiana.eu, espe­ci­al­ly relat­ing to the eActi­vi­ty buil­der.

Con­ta­ct the orga­ni­sers! Reach out to us at ali­ce@euroclio.eu.