The wannseeFORUM, founded as a re-education project, has a close historical connection to the USA. It is now represented in the current exchange/fellowship program of the Association of German Educational Institutions, "TECE – Transatlantic Exchange of Civic Educators," through its New Media department and actively participates in the transatlantic exchange on political education: so far online and now through in-person meetings in Germany, including in the thematic working group "#politicalinformationisbeautiful".
We are including a detailed article on this topic from project manager Katja Greeson/AdB here: https://www.adb.de/content/transatlantic-exchange-civic-educators
The photos were taken by participants.
"After many online meetings and much anticipation, the Fellows of the "Transatlantic Exchange of Civic Educators" project from the AdB and the Tisch College of Civic Life met in person for the first time in Germany from November 5th to 14th, 2021. The group of 21 Fellows, including 13 colleagues from the USA and four colleagues from the partner organizations, first spent four days at the European Youth Education and Meeting Center (EJBW) in Weimar, before continuing their journey – with a stopover in Erfurt – to another AdB member organization, the Centre Français de Berlin, for the remainder of their stay."
The objectives of the in-person meeting were: 1) to become familiar with the German landscape of political education (discourse, thematic priorities, and structures); 2) to further develop connections and explore potential partnerships within the group; 3) to provide an opportunity for peer learning and the exchange of expertise; and 4) to create a stimulating learning environment that encourages participants to think beyond their usual contexts.
To this end, the program encompassed a variety of formats, from group seminars and expert panels to site visits to relevant organizations and methodological workshops. Prominent features of German political education served as thematic guidelines: right-wing extremism prevention, international youth work, non-formal education, remembrance work and historical-political education, decolonization and anti-racism discourses, among others.
The participants had the opportunity to get in touch with a total of 21 organizations, including: neue deutsche organisationen e. V., Licht-Blicke e. V., Stolpersteine Berlin e. V., Wissenschaft im Dialog and the Berlin State Center for Political Education.
Furthermore, the TECE Fellows learned about various AdB projects (e.g., the platform politischebilden.de and DIGIT-AL ) and the work of AdB member organizations (e.g., the international youth work projects of the EJBW and the project "Migrants as Experts in Political Education," as well as Lernort Stadion e. V. ). The complete program is available here
These external inputs provided inspiration and new information, but as one participant reminded us with a quote from John Dewey, “We do not learn from experience… we learn from reflecting on experience.” Therefore, reflection groups were another important element of the week's program, giving participants the opportunity to exchange ideas in consistent small groups. Fellows had another opportunity to work in small groups in four thematic working groups, developed in online sessions during the summer and fall. There, fellows could suggest topics and form groups to explore specific themes of interest in greater depth. Ultimately, the four groups focused on the following topics: historical and political education, digitalization and political education, civic learning and neutrality in polarized societies, and youth empowerment. During the in-person meetings, each small group led a session with the entire group to advance their work on their topics. The work in these thematic working groups is ongoing. The Fellows will have the opportunity to further develop the results of their small groups at the second in-person meeting in January.
As the participants packed their bags and said their goodbyes at the end of these demanding 10 days, the focus shifted to readjusting to everyday life. One participant's comment is noteworthy: "How can I possibly explain what this experience has been like to my colleagues and family back home?" For many participants, it was their first in-person professional development experience since before March 2020, and the time spent together demonstrated how rewarding and enriching this type of exchange is. Undoubtedly, the fellows and organizers left with a sense of connection, their heads brimming with thoughts and ideas, and looking forward to our next meeting in Boston, Massachusetts, and Washington, D.C., in January 2022
