Train of 1000

Core features of the practice


  • Organisation:

    Institution name: War Heritage Institute
    Institution type: non-formal educational center
    Institution URL: www.warheritage.be
  • Format:

    Guided tour, Extra-mural site visit, Instructional material, Other
  • Target population:

    Students, Young people, Educators in formal settings
  • Cost (per practice):

    201-500 euros
  • Setting:

    Designated extra-mural memorial or historical site, Outdoor urban location, Other extra-mural site
  • Themes:

    Remembrance education and/or history education, Citizenship/democracy education, Antisemitism, Human rights/discrimination, The Holocaust and/or other genocides
  • Core activities:

    Group work, Group discussion, Creative activity, Lecture, Testimonial

Additional information about the practice


    Target population

  • Number of participants:

    More than 100
  • Age of target population:

    16-18
  • Additional specifics:

    Other:, Open to all students from all over Europe
  • Components of the practice

  • Topics and objectives:

    Each 3 to 5 years, we organise a Train of 1000 in collaboration with the Fondation Auschwitz and the Fédération International des Résistants (FIR) for a 1.000 secondary school students coming from all over Europe. The Train of 1000 ends with a train ride from Brussels to Krakau and visits to the extermination and concentration camps of Auschwitz and Birkenau (visits to Krakau and different cultural activities included).
  • Materials used:

    Material culture, i.e., physical object or setting, Audiovisual material, Online material
  • Material produced:

    an temporary monument made by the pupils
  • Sequence of activities - methodology:

    1. Schools can apply 1,5 years in advance 2. At the end of the school year that will follow the year the Train of 1000 will take place, the selected schools are known 3. The schools that are selected begin their indivudual trajectory which they wrote themselves, around the date of liberation of the Auschwitz-camp, we ask the schools to make a pop-up monument. During the preparatory trajectory, we suggest tools teachers can use, we also suggest films, books, music, theatrical plays,... pupils use to prepare their Train of 1000 4. In the month of may, the actual Train of 1000 takes place, a train ride that lasts around 24 hours, visits to Auschwitz and Birkenau, cultural activities, debates, testimonies of survivors, and so on 5. Schools use the impressions they had after the Train of 1000, making an exhibition for instance,...
  • Length of activity:

    More than 15 hours
  • Is the activity digital?:

    No
  • Accessibility and replicability

  • Language(s) in which activity can be delivered:

    Bulgarian, Dutch, English, French, German, Italian, Spanish, Other
  • Is specialist knowledge or professional training required?:

    No

Qualitative Details


  • Has this practice been evaluated?

    Yes
  • How many times?:

    10
  • By whom?:

    Participants, Informal non-participant observer, Instructor delivering the practice, Internal evaluator
  • By what means?:

    Informal verbal feedback, Formal verbal feedback, Qualitative written feedback, Quantitative survey
  • Core content knowledge and transferable skills:

    Pupils need to know to what can lead intolerance and exclusion. We also want to learn them to always think critically. We want them to understand how an ideology can manipulate people.
  • Indicators of success:

    A lot of different factors: when pupils are impressed by what they see, when they feel they've learned something, they've had empathy with what they've experienced
  • Educational coordinator contact details:

    Name: Hannes Vanwymelbeke
    Email address: hannes.vanwymelbeke@warheritage.be

Scalability

The RETHINK project is concerned with bridging formal and informal education. This section explores the factors that make a practice adaptable.


  • Key factors for successful implementation:

    Other factor – please specify, /
  • Main challenges to teachers adapting this practice for their students:

    Teachers need to be highly motivated to invest quite a lot of time in preparing the project
  • Availability of guidance/training/replication materials (and in what language/format currently):

    /
  • Other comments or details:

    /