Module M: Training Seminar for Teachers on Courses offered by the History of Nazi Germany, Institutions, Human Rights Project

Ulrike Pastoor

 

Target groups
Educators at memorials and information disseminators working in historical and political education who specialise in the Nazi regime and human rights education

 

Themes and goals
In this module, we present the project History of Nazi Germany, Institutions, Human Rights and its educational approach. We provide an overview of the content and goals of the seminar modules we have developed and take a closer look at selected methods and materials. We also talk about our experience working with groups of employees from the police, judiciary and public administration and provide participants with tips and suggestions based on this experience regarding the many ways they can use the project’s materials in their own educational work. For example, the materials can be used to design and teach seminars for certain groups of professionals at other memorial sites. Or, they can serve as examples of how current discussions within society can be addressed and examined from a historical point of view in seminars designed for certain groups of professionals. The materials place special emphasis on the actions of state institutions while also exploring institutional development and reorganisation from both a historical and contemporary point of view, with the Universal Declaration of Human Rights serving as a frame of reference.

 

Because a one- to two-day further education course is too short to present all of the project materials and methods, we focus primarily on issues that are of interest for the participants (for example, defining target groups) and work with a selection of text-based materials and interactive methods representing the range of methods available. We also focus on promoting an understanding of the overarching themes and content. For this reason, if the course is booked for two days, we generally begin with an analysis of the syllabus of a seminar designed for the judiciary, police, or public administration, and then we successively work through all relevant modules in the syllabus.