From the 18th until the 22nd of April 2012, 25 history educators (secondary school teachers, PhD students and (junior) university lecturers) came together in Utrecht for the Case Studies of the Cold War Conference. The aim of the conference was to give scholars and teachers the opportunity to work together to consider the best way to apply the latest historical research in the classroom or in seminars.
During the five-day course, there were many fascinating lectures and interactive workshops on a wide variety of themes and events related to the Cold War. In between these talks and workshops, the participants set together in small groups to develop new teaching material. The lesson plans they came up with are incredibly fun and creative and they will soon be available on Historiana.
As part of the conference, the participants spent one afternoon at the Utrechts Stedelijk Gymnasium, one of the oldest grammar schools in the Netherlands, There, they had the chance to discuss their new lesson plans with some of the pupils. It seemed that the pupils had some experience with using primary sources like UN reports, but other historical sources like speeches and letters were not commonly used. The students believed that diaries and memoirs could provide an interesting perspective on the daily life of people in the past. Visual material was also very much appreciated. Overall, the pupils said theyd rather form their own opinion by analysing sources than listening to the teacher all the time.
The teacher discussion and the evaluation forms showed that the participants very much enjoyed this five-day course and suggestions were made about a (bi)annual repetition. Ideally, such a conference would travel around Europe. Euroclio will keep you posted on any further developments!
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