Implementation of “Schools now and then”(SOI-GR-301)

Author: Vasiliki Sipsa, philologist

School/Organization: 1st Senior High school of Pyrgos 

The “Schools now and then” Learning Scenario by Kristina  Jelošek was chosen because school is in everyday life of every student all over the word. Although schools may be different from country to country, as Kristina  Jelošek, describes, in some ways are similar. Also by exploring how schools have changed over time we have the ability to understand how much societies and aspects of life have changed. Each school is a monument of local history and students can by studying the history of their school, develop social and history literacy.

The implementation context

The Learning Scenario. 

I implemented the Learning Scenario with a class of 22 students at the Senior High School of Pyrgos, Greece. The students  are between 16-17 years old, are familiar with Europeana, they are also involved in eTwinning projects and are competent in computer skills. I implemented the learning scenario in 5 hours and the students worked on teams. 

The L.S. was used as a starting point for a recreation of our school history, since our school was one of the oldest in Greece. It was build in 1873 and its archival material is very old. Ιt was a significant  school through which passed many personalities of science, arts and politics. This gives the students the opportunity to study from primary sources the transformation of educational process.It promotes experiential learning and has multiple benefits as the student becomes familiar with it processing and analysis of written or visual sources and evidence, promoting exploratory, heuristic learning and cooperative teaching and essentially the student  him/herself produces history instead of merely studying it. Methodologically except from the search and collection of information and evidence valuable tool it is the recording of the oral history and the discourse analysis of the officials documents.

The narrative

Stages of implementation .

The implementation of the project includes several stages: The first stage is preparatory and lasts 1 teaching hour. It is initially carried out discussion on the topic of the project followed by students brainstorming about the material which could be included. Finally it is decided to record the change in educational process as written through oral testimonies, photographs and official archival material. 

In the next phase the students worked in groups.  4 groups are formed, the architects, archivists, journalists and historians ( Worksheet) (https://docs.google.com/document/d/1TQulgIctECv8wzHjYWfzw0PXd30r2QE_Sbrxa6VUL4k/edit?usp=sharing) not of the same capacity but depending on its volume material to be utilized. This stage, which lasts 3 teaching hours, includes the collection and study of archival material, preparation of interviews of old teachers and students and  critical discourse analysis on archival material. The team of architects consists of 3 students and undertake to record the history of the school building. They collect material they find in internet, at the local library, photographic material. The second group undertakes to research archival material from school and Europeana.  The third group consists of 5 students and they study discourse analysis and compare photos. Finally the fourth group creates an article about school history. (https://docs.google.com/document/d/1m4PtQDlaUpOrcQ-AtYdte15maos5Wx6UekjC2930fwY/edit?usp=sharing)

After they finished the team’s work, the results were presented to their classmates in front of the classroom (1 hour). A very interesting discussion followed, and students gave feedback to their classmates. In the end, they drew the conclusion that schools now days are more open and free.

Learning outcomes

Evaluation. 

Valuation process was positive and the comparison of the educational process between the past and the present impressed the students. It is even remarkable that motivated students who, while in the other philology courses, had not active participation, showed particular zeal in the specific project with result in strengthening their self-confidence and receiving recognition from them groups of their classmates. The participants said that they liked to be briefly archivists  and discover fragments of history little known of the educational system and of their own school. The experience was unique for the students who evaluated the actions through an anonymous questionnaire in Google Forms. The processing of the answers showed that the students became aware of the issues of local History and digital heritage.

Outcomes for the educator

Feedback. 

I, as  teacher who organized the learning process, have seen my initial goals and objectives achieved to a significant extent. The interaction between my students was creative, acted as a breath of fresh air in the educational process and brought about positive results. Students had learned how to use Europeana platform and other sources and to find information by paying attention to copyright.  At the same time, their interest in cultural heritage increased . This learning activities stimulated experiential learning and engaged in discussion. They improved their critical thinking  and  research abilities. (https://docs.google.com/document/d/1ufR51r040fe7e_JAPpoyuByK2u-3YEMk7YuBLG4cCgo/edit?usp=sharing)

Did you find this story of implementation interesting? Why don’t you read about the related learning scenario? Schools Now and Then (LS-HR-636) created By Kristina Jelošek

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Do you want to discover more stories of implementation? Click here.

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

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