The wealth of experience of tolerance education centres was a source of joy during the republican methodological event “How to teach about the Holocaust? Practical examples”, which will be presented on 17 March 2021. Teachers were invited by the Kaunas Pedagogical Qualification Centre and the Tolerance Education Centres at Kaunas Veršvų Gymnasium and Kaunas Kazis Grinius Pro-Gymnasium.
“Education about the Holocaust and the preservation of the memory of its victims is not a one-off event, it is a gradual leading of pupils to their intellectual and moral maturity and critical evaluation of the events, as well as to a change of attitude,” Diana Murauskienė, an expert teacher of history and civic education, coordinator of the Tolerance Education Centre (TUC) at Kaunas Gymnasium of Veršvų, said. She presented methodological recommendations on how to teach about the Holocaust, gave practical examples of project activities implemented and being implemented by teachers and students of the Gymnasium TUC, explained the necessity of making sense of these activities, the necessity of fostering tolerance, empathy, awareness of the historical context, and the need for cooperation, and the impact on society.
Julija Stankevičiūtė, a pupil of class IVa of Veršvų Gymnasium in Kaunas, talked about her original photography exhibition “Traces of Jewish Culture Marked by Time”, which is an integral part of the international project “Traces of Jewish Culture in the Local Community”. This project was funded by the US TOLI Institute in cooperation with the International Commission on Historical Justice and the Jewish Community of Kaunas.
Nijolė Grikietytė, a teacher of ethics at Kaunas Kazis Grinius Progymnasium, recalled the history of the Tolerance Education Centre. 1998 m. The school is named after President Kazis Grinius (1866-1950). The values upheld by the school are closely linked to K. Grinius, his ideas and works. Pupils are constantly researching the events of K. Grinius’ life, searching for historical sources, using them as a basis for their research, and visiting sites related to his life and work.
Two activities are particularly important in the education of pupils: the implementation of democratic principles and the development of tolerance. 2016 m. K. Grinis and his wife Kristina were awarded the title of Righteous Among the Nations in recognition of their contribution to the rescue of Jews. The decision was taken by a public commission at Israel’s Yad Vashem Memorial Museum. K. Grinius and his wife Kristina had taken in a friend, Dmitrijs Gelpernas, a prisoner of the Kaunas ghetto, during the Nazi German occupation.
Lithuania K. Grinius and K. Griniuvienė’s contribution to the rescue of Jews was recognised in 1993 when they were awarded the Cross of the Rescue of the Fallen.
The Tolerance Education Centre at Kaunas Kazis Grinius Progymnasium has been open since 2018. December. 2019 m. 25 January Stanislovas Šimanauskas, the headmaster of the school, signed a cooperation agreement with Ronaldas Račinskas, the head of the Secretariat of the International Commission for the Evaluation of the Crimes Committed by the Nazi and Soviet Occupation Regimes in Lithuania. The agreement is aimed at fostering a mature and responsible civil society based on the principles of tolerance and respect for universal human values and principles. A coordination group and a calendar of dates have also been set up by order of the Director. Members of the group attended seminars in Kėdainiai, the Sugihara Centre in Kaunas, Varėna, Vilnius, internships in Israel, and cooperation with other TUCs.
A year and a half ago, we had our first meeting with the Tolerance Education Centre of Kaunas Veršvų Gymnasium. Students shared their artistic projects and teachers shared their experiences. 2021 m. a remote opening of the exhibition of Julia Stankevičiūtė’s photographs “Signs of Jewish Culture in Kaunas” was organised at Kaunas Kazis Grinius Pro-Gymnasium, which became a cycle of integrated teaching.
Idalija Braškytė, an expert dance teacher at Kaunas Kazis Grinius Progymnasium, quoted Irena Veisaitė when talking about the Holocaust theme in art projects: ‘Life must be transparent. Transparency comes from knowing another nation and knowing your own history.”
Personality-forming, knowledge and understanding of important subjects, conveyed through experience, emotion, artistic activity, especially when the pupil is caught. That’s why dance, music and theatre are integrated into lessons and project activities. We educate people who want to understand the culture of another nation, to discover the signs of history in their present environment.
Rita Aleksandravičienė, a teacher of primary education and theatre, shared her experience on how to “turn” the works read by pupils into a script for a performance, how to act out events and experience real emotions, how to perceive content through the senses. “Theatre is a mirror of life, and the purpose of theatre is to turn that mirror towards society and show its face – its problems, its pains, its experiences. I introduce the Holocaust to primary school children through the living stories of people who lived through and experienced this terrible tragedy. After introducing the work to the children, I first ask them to illustrate the image they have seen or heard, to draw the feeling they have experienced. After stapling the book of illustrations together, we play radio theatre, and the pupils, translating the book of illustrations, tell the whole story, which they have already ‘felt’,” the teacher shared her experience.
Sigitas Nefas, a history teacher at Kaunas Kazis Grinius progymnasium, discussed anti-Semitism as a habit with historical roots and the transformation of marginal domestic anti-Semitism into an ideology in the 20th century. In Europe. The next part of the teacher’s presentation moved the audience from history to current issues – teachers’ responsibilities and opportunities in developing students’ tolerance and ability to cooperate in the context of different cultures. The speaker stressed the importance of these qualities in the development of general personal competences. The last part of this teacher’s presentation focused on the complexity of Holocaust education. Based on the experience of K. Grinius progymnasium teachers, the possibilities for teachers of different subjects to participate in this process were presented.
Lina Kostiukovienė, an expert history teacher at Kaunas Kazis Grinius progymnasium, emphasised that today’s learning is characterised by a constant growth dynamics, which allows for the student’s self-expression. “Every teacher focuses on the content of the subject they teach, wanting students to be inquisitive, intelligent, creative and proactive.
If we trust our students to tackle topics that are difficult enough to tackle, but still relevant today, such as the Holocaust, Genocide, Tolerance, we open up the possibility to think creatively and critically, to not be afraid to make mistakes and to learn from our mistakes, to work in a team, to find information, to analyse, to evaluate, to decide, and to solve problems. One of the keys to success is the creative use of different “tools”: integration, differentiation, personalisation, technology, non-formal education, “borderless” learning, inquiry-based learning.
Exploring topics like this is both an opportunity to develop and an opportunity to make sure that our students are curious, creative, enterprising, responsible, critical thinkers, not afraid to make mistakes and to learn from their mistakes, to work in a team, to find information, to analyse, to evaluate, to make decisions, to solve problems,” assured the expert teacher of history.
Edita Rabizaitė,
Deputy Director of Kaunas Kazis Grinius
