A trip around the world (EN-CUR-613) - Teaching With Europeana

How can we, by teaching a foreign language, transform our students into travelers who will be willing to give up any prejudice they might have towards the “different”? The purpose of this educational scenario, therefore, is to create a learning process that, in addition to the communication objectives that a language course contains by definition, also tries to make the students reflect on the irrational prejudices may have about those who must “travel” by force or for any other reason must leave their homeland. The starting point of our journey will be different paintings and the students will be asked to identify the purpose of the journey in each of them. As the paintings will be by painters of different nationalities, students will still be called also to reflect on the history of their homeland and of the world and identify this travel purpose during the centuries around the world. It will be a journey through language, art, and history.

This learning scenario has been developed during the “Digital Education with Cultural Heritage” online course. The course aimed to improve teachers’ understanding of cultural heritage in order to efficiently integrate it into their lessons and practices. The courses can be accessed here.

Author: Maria Tymviou

Age of students: 14-15

Subject and topic: Italian as a foreign language, art, history/Understanding others and breaking down prejudices through a foreign language lesson

Learning Scenario

Europeana-DSI-4-cur-2021-EN-TYMVIOU.docx Download

Europeana-DSI-4-cur-2021-EN-TYMVIOU.pdf Download

Public Domain Mark 1.0: the featured image used to illustrate this article has been found on Europeana and has been provided by the Mauritshuis.

Donata Federici Monesi says:

January 29, 2022 at 8:49 am

Given the fact that we are living in an era where migration is an everyday fact, often painful, as it means being necessarily displaced and forced to move because of political, religious, cultural or environmental reasons (wars, poverty, persecution, discrimination, prejudice, climate change and much more), I found this scenario really meaningful and well-paced.
The history of art represents a great repository of stories of migration; using it as an educational tool to make students reflect on this phenomenon is an effective way to make them empathize with the lives of those who, for one reason or other, have had to leave their homes in search of a better life. Since the phenomenon of travelling for pleasure is relatively recent (or, at least, it was a privilege for a few in the past centuries), dealing with the theme of forced migration is of great significance, as it teaches children how to see migrants with new eyes, understanding their motivations and accepting them as absolutely humane.
As for the activities designed by the scenario creator, I appreciated both the fact that they have to do some research on the paintings chosen, acting as art critics, and the fact that they have to make their own painting, by doing which they can identify with the lives and experiences of the migrants while also expressing their creativity. I would have loved to see the art exhibition put up at school where all the students’ paintings were exhibited-I guess having an art exhibit at school showing the students’ works is just the perfect final act for this amazing project!

Arzu Kilitci Calayır says:

March 29, 2022 at 3:18 pm

First of all, congratulations to you and your students for this meaningful Learning scenario. In my opinion, especially when people join the journey as their willing, it will open the way to meet new people and learn about new cultures, and become a global people. However, forcing people to travel sometimes leaves a mark on people as a very bad experience for reasons such as war. That’s why we wish that all journeys can be journeys that take place with the wishes of the people.
I congratulate you for creating awareness among teachers and students with your scenario.
Best wishes,
Arzu

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