Join our Leiden Education Innovation Sustainable Development Goals Programme: learning with object-centred research, debate and design thinking.

What is Challenging Perspectives about?

  • Phase 1: To research: “Who have we been listening to in history, and whose voice has been silenced?” Start 24 March 2021
  • Phase 2: To debate: “The majority in society decides who deserves a monument”. online 6 June 2021 in English, and real life 14 June in Dutch in het Rijksmuseum van Oudheden in Leiden.
  • Phase 3: To design solutions for more inclusive remembrance in the public space by adding a missing voice to an existing monument or by creating an idea for a new monument. May – June 2021

Please, find the lesson materials for students here. Challenging Perspectives wants to prepare students to become intercultural, or even global citizens… What does this mean at the local level? Let’s look at what we are telling them that they are, or belong to. Let’s look at identity formation. Identity is a complex and entangled concept. Difficult to grasp. One way to engage in meaningful learning around it, might be the role of history, and how it is being “made” in the present. Which perspective do students have? Evidence of their learning will be presented later in The Challenging Perspectives Channel! Considering society’s social, cultural and political struggle with diversity and inclusion, we want to challenge teachers and students.

What is it?

Challenging Perspectives is a new global citizenship programme started by teachers in and around Leiden (NL), Plymouth (UK), Plymouth (USA), Kathmandu (Nepal), Ankara (Turkey), New Delhi (India) and open to students and teachers around the globe, that helps to challenge students into thinking critically and creatively about how the past is made in the present. Do get into contact with us!

Where does it come from?

Challenging Perspectives started by building upon successful projects and platforms related to the Mayflower 400 commemoration events. Schools are invited to support the participation of teachers of history, English, religion, economy, geography and/or arts in the programme which is ongoing. The programme includes opportunities for professional development and co-creation. It offers many opportunities for international collaboration between schools, such as joining us on the Leiden EU City of Science 2022 and projects related to the Sustainable Development Goals / SDGs. Students between the ages of 10-18 will participate in different activities, including public debate competitions at local museums, international collaboration and an exciting public project to design a new monument.

What is going to happen?

Challenging Perspectives connects and sequences three learning methodologies: objectbased learning, science debating, and design thinking.

Key moments:

16 November 2020: Workshop on Debate Education: assessing a debate as a jury member

19 January 2021: Objectwijs Workshop

10 February 2021: Workshop How to Debate (primary education) and Launch of the programme Challenging Perspectives

14 June 2021: Public Museum Debate (RMO, Leiden)

1-14 June 2021: international online debates

10 November 2021: Final of the design thinking challenge

November 2021: launch of the Leiden EU City of Science 2022 SDG Museum Debates

June 2022: DNA Debate in Boerhaave and DNA Debate in Naturalis.

June 2022: Debate on Inclusion in Volkenkunde.

Who are we?

The programme is created by Marleen Spierings (Challenges Leiden, ‘t LEF, De Leidse Aanpak, fulltime teacher), de Stichting Nederlands Debat Instituut, and Miranda Verhaar (Makers van Morgen, Objectwijs). Change comes from many places, but is ultimately delivered by teachers, in classrooms. With limited time, resources and the increasingly confusing and unpredictable reality of Covid-19, we want to connect a number of existing initiatives and approaches at local and international levels, so that teachers and students can more easily participate, work together and benefit from new methods.

Our expert jury will evaluate your debates. Guides in our Leiden Museums and students have been trained as professional debate leaders and jury members. When you have registered you will receive debate lesson materials and a debate rubric.

Designs wil be judged based on a Challenge Rubric. It all comes down to your creativity, exchange of information and knowledge and joint history work. Two selected entries / prototypes will be invited by the jury to be finalised in November 2021.

The deadline for your proposal and prototype is 22 June 2021! You are free to work as you wish as a team. We did think a bit how you could best prepare for this challenge, and we advise you to follow these steps:

Technically, international teams will be equipped with 

  • Whatsapp group 
  • Team Google Drive folder 
  • Teleconferencing platform – to be easily able to have video chats. 

These are the steps we will take: 

Phase 0: Preparation (March 2021) 

  • Teachers will make teams of three-six students.
  • We exchange student products via whatsapp groups and Google Drive folder for each team, where we will provide instructions and resources. 
  • All teachers: are invited to join a whatsapp group and get access to all teams Google Drives to observe progress. 

Phase 1: Empathy (April 2021) 

After you have received your team confirmation and information, the first stage is about Empathy. It is the phase where we ask you to think: Why do different people think that commemorating a person or event is important, or not? How do they express this? What are they actually looking for? What are the needs of the different cities at an international level? 

In this phase teams should together: 

  1. Research the resources we provide you: websites of organisations/ people involved  
  2. Make an analysis of  who is involved  
  3. Summarize what the reasons (motivations) are behind the activities and especially map what kind of commemorations will be planned. 
  4. Study what kind of commemorations have been done in the past: where- why. 

Make sure you keep a detailed log of your reading, analysing and summarising work. This will help teachers (acting as coaches) see your progress, and possibly help out when needed. 

Phase 2: Team Vision (April/May 2021) 

After the teams think they have done enough research in Phase 1, it is important to come to a shared vision. What do you as team members agree on? What are the main building blocks of your team? (name, ambition, desire). This is a process in which all team members should be able to float ideas, discuss if they make sense in the light of the research. In fancy terms, this is to be an iterative process of Empathy (what are the needs again?), Ideation (what are our ideas on how we could we address those needs?) and Definition (which idea/solution do we agree to work on?) 

In this phase, the teams need to make sure they are open to each other’s ideas, and try to refer to the research they did in their conversations. This is also the most creative stage. Anything is possible. There are no wrong ideas. If teams are not sure, or get stuck, they can ask their teachers/coaches for support. 

Teams need to make sure they take good record of their deliberations, but it is also possible for this to be a summary report. In a creative process, the focus is on energy and interaction.  

Phase 3 (May/June 2021) 

In this phase the teams will work to: 

  1. Conceptualise their commemoration design.  
  2. Write a summary 
  3. Share this summary draft with advisors and/or teachers 
  4. Refine it 

Tip: Make sure you check back with your ideations and empathy, but try and deliver a (prototype) before June 22nd.

Final phase (before 1 July 2021) 

Teams are invited to submit their final design with two documents:

  1. Proposal and Process Paper (1 page max on how your topic, what your research showed you, how you together created a proposal and how your prototype relates/addresses the challenge) 
  1. Product of Concept in the form of a presentation (any format is allowed, PPT, short vid, vlog, etc) 

Two selected entries will be invited by the jury to be finalised in November 2021 

Resources provided 

  • Big blue button web conferencing tools 
  • Team Google Drive folder 
  • Address book to contact advisors 
  • Additional information 

Listen to the podcast https://link.chtbl.com/FHDW-Vs9