This is the first Multipliers-led event run by AHEAD. It was implemented on Wednesday the 30th October 2024 at the Institute Dolors Aleu, a secondary school from Barcelona.
The 2-hours-long workshop was carried out by two members of the GREM team in AHEAD together with the team of teachers, one of whom is involved in the GREM and democratic memorial activities. The activity was facilitated by
The participants were second year (2 ESO) students of the institute of ages 13 to 14 years old. They are the youngest participants that have taken part in our activity. Therefore, the activity was, in a certain degree, simplified adding extra clues, and supporting the participants in the discovery of the diverse clues and historical context.
Catalan was the main language of the activity. However, it included materials and “clues” in other languages such as German, Italian, Spanish, English and French. For this specific group, the team also supported the translation of some of the clues.
Participants were invited to collect all the pieces from the 4 research lines and make sense of the whole history narrated by the game. Facilitators took an active role in linking the different discoveries made by the four groups.
During this piloting activity, the group of participants successfully completed the 4 axes, followed by the summary of the discoveries made.
Overall, the development of the game was very positive, and the group was engaged and interested in its development.
Surprisingly, the detective game revealed participants' unfamiliarity with Catalan, Spanish, and European history. Many children, especially those of migrant background, were unaware of the Spanish Civil War, Franco's dictatorship, WWII, or Hitler. This surprised facilitators, leading to a shortened debriefing and a reflection on the importance of historical awareness to avoid repeating past mistakes.
The teachers involved in the exercise highly evaluated the activity, and some suggestions were shared to create further material for educators and young learners. For instance, it was proposed to create a manual with guidelines and information about history, especially those elements that correspond to the Catalan republicans in the resistance movement during the Nazi occupation of France and their deportation and extermination in the concentration camps, namely in Mauthausen and Ravensbruck.
Another important insight was the need, expressed by the participants, to provide the educators and youth workers with introductory material and historical context about the events of the activity. Not surprisingly, the activity was developed, on the contrary, as a starting point to raise awareness and motivate young people to explore and address these issues once their interest is aroused. From there on, the educators were supposed to accompany this learning process.
