Conference Agenda

In spite of EU endeavor to promote peace and intercultural dialogue unfortunately, a number of anti-European movements, nationalist and populist – both at the far right and at the far left of the political spectrum – have recently emerged in Europe. These voices which despise the values and rights that characterize the EU, and this contempt and violation of EU values and rights tends to affect more those individuals belonging to minorities. On the contrary, Cultural diversity is conceived as a value of the Union, worthy of all respect. Furthermore, the prohibition of all forms of discrimination is enshrined in the first paragraph of Article 21 of the CFR: “Any discrimination based on any ground such as sex, race, color, ethnic or social origin, genetic features, language, religion or belief, political or any other opinion, membership of a national minority, property, birth, disability, age or sexual orientation shall be prohibited.” That is why both academic and civil society should strive to foster Cultural Diversity as an asset and promote dialogue understating and democratic principles in EU societies. Both scholars and politicians insist on the need to prepare society to deal with the challenges that cultural diversity, and globalization present to the development of a sense of a cohesive community (Castles & Miller, 993). Education has a pivotal role to play in meeting the 2030 agenda In a European society which is increasingly multi-cultural and pluralistic, social cohesion and inclusion is a fundamental pre-requisite for growth, and sustainability.

Since the memory of Holocaust covers the educational challenges in a multi-cultural setting in Europe, the Arabic and Muslim reception of it impacts the process of teaching. The learners’ reception engages hostile and resistant representations and attitudes, educators in Europe and the Mediterranean contexts are more and more faced by the claim for an ethical unworthiness based on the religious and cultural background, therefore, new tools of pedagogic intervening are requested to insure the correspondence between the European agreement upon human rights teaching and the practices of humanitarian remembrance

The suggested symposium brings together scholars from three countries which will critically discuss thorugh their contributions different epistemological and pedagogical approaches towards the engagement of students in the process of identity and culture negotiations in educational settings in the context of Shoah Teaching and learning. This panel will bring together scholars form Israel, Morocco and Spain who will examine comparatively in what way Shoah education contributes to the development of a critical understainig of social justice related issues . They will also reflect on the ethical dimenstion of this approach to teacher education and will explore teh new concept developed by Prof Gross "Reflective Culture of Holocaust Remembrance". The concept was developed as a grounded theory concept and as an integral part of class observations during the research and the researcher active and reflective interventions iProf Gross attended.

The collective memory of the Holocaust is shaped through direct and indirect actions in Israel and abroad. The Israeli government decided that national Holocaust Remembrance Day would also be considered a day to combat racism and anti-Semitism. The United Nations determined that January 27, the day the Auschwitz camp was liberated from the Nazis in 1945, is World Holocaust Remembrance Day. The remembrance of the Holocaust will always be a call against anti-Semitism, racism, neo-Nazism, prejudice, and intolerance.

The Holocaust is a central issue in Israeli education systems. Every educational framework is required to adapt the learning methods, the teaching contents, and the nature of the insights and meanings to the age of the children. Learning about the Holocaust usually takes place near Holocaust Remembrance Day and Heroism. The lessons are planned and are suitable for this topic and often include participating in a traditional ceremony, watching a film, listening to survivors' testimonies, and more (Cohen, 2010; Fieldman, 2009). The education system is faced with tensions arising from the dilemma between the importance of acquiring Holocaust knowledge and preserving cultural memory and dealing with complex content of death and survival that are unbearably difficult.

In Holocaust literature, the reader is exposed to multiple voices and complex content and examines moral issues and still has the power to help process content following trauma, fear, and pain (Harshav, 2000; Erll, 2011, 2020; Graff, & Shimek, 2020).

Literature lessons are based on close reading to consolidate readers' responses which adapt the meanings of the plot to their personal experiences (Dias & Hayhoe, 1988). Usually, the teachers address the children with questions that require a deliberate and known answer in advance, and the interpretive discourse is structured and focused. The writing tasks accompanying the reading are also identical in purpose to the questions given in the classroom discussion. Mostly, they are close to the plot and aimed at understanding and revisiting the story's meanings (Elkad-Lehman, & Bar-on, 2022; Fisher; & Nancy, 2012; Newkirk, 2011).

This study examines an innovative method of teaching and learning about the Holocaust. The diversity in teaching and learning is via a different unusual lesson plan of writing a 'Journal Diary' while reading Holocaust literature. A diary is a genre that allows one to write without considering readers or attracting their attention. This writing requires an open communication channel between the addressee (the child/student) and the recipient (the teacher/instructor/parent/peer) in an atmosphere of trust, confidence, and inclusion. The diary can involve the children's lives and motivate them in the future. Writing an emotional 'Journey Diary' in Holocaust literature lessons is a diversity in the conservative teaching method. That encourages examining fundamental questions of human behavior and taking a stand and decision. Both partners, the writer, and the reader are invited into emotional and moral involvement. Open discussion strengthens the children's ability, and personal writing makes the study topics relevant to their lives. Studies indicate that writing a diary contributes to the ability to write a text and examine methods of teaching and learning (Yüce, 2020; Supiani, 2016; Yuliani, & Fitriana, 2017).

The purpose of the study is to examine the contribution of an innovative teaching method: writing a personal 'Journey Diary' continuously while reading Holocaust literature as part of the program 'What read there?' in elementary school.

The study questions are: (1) What are the challenges and actions in teaching-learning the program 'What read there?' in elementary school? (2) How does continuously writing a 'Journey Diary' help process interpretation and create personal insights, values, and identity?

The perception of »our« history is of great importance for our self-images and relations with »others«. Too long, common European history has been told under nationalistic aspects and respective »others« have been perceived as a threat due to unresolved historical conflicts and the transmission of unquestioned stereotypes. In times of increasing social plurality in European societies, it is appropriate to work on a transnational understanding of mutual history in order to dissolve the inhibiting past. This presentation introduces a scientific project of "Dialogical Remembering", which brings together teachers, history didacticians, historians and representatives of civil society organisations to review curricula and history textbooks in Austria, Slovenia and Italy with regard to the teaching of common history. Nationalist and exclusive views as well as "good practice" have ben examined. In international working groups and school tandems, new and inclusive ways of teaching about the common history of „Alps-Adriatic-border region” between Austria, Italy and Slovenia have been developed. It has also been examined whether and how the history shared by the "autochthonous" population groups can be connected to newly arrived members of the societies, where there are possibilities for connecting to supra-regionally relevant topics and possibilities for conveying belonging. Common, multi-perspective materials for school lessons in Austria, Slovenia and Italy, which make people aware of the opportunities of a common heritage in the Alps-Adriatic region, rounded off this pilot project. Conflicts were notleft out, but different perspectives and narratives have been juxtaposed and have been made visible: different narratives can coexist without having to relativise each other. In this way, empathy for the point of view of the "others" can develop, trust and insight can grow and thus an important step towards an inclusive society can be taken. In this lecture, the methodology of the project will be presented and the underlying considerations regarding a dialogical remembering will be explained. Examples will be given of how multi-perspectivity can be achieved in dealing with the common past.