How Can the Clippings Be Used in Educational Contexts? Lessons Learned from the RETOPEA Project

While previous chapters introduced sets of sources—or ‘clippings’—along with more information about different historical peace agreements, this chapter focuses on the educational aspects of how teachers and youth workers can use the clippings to support teaching and learning. These clippings aim to inspire young people to think ‘like historians’ by engaging them with accessible primary and secondary sources, selected by experts, about religious diversity in the past and present. They are designed to be used in workshops and lessons in a wide range of formal and informal educational settings. The RETOPEA project team has piloted the use of the clippings collection across Europe in the context of school lessons in history, religious education, philosophy, ethics and civic education, but also in cross-curricular workshops and youth work. In this concluding chapter, we will reflect on lessons learned from these pilots. We will explore the benefits of using the clippings in educational contexts and consider how educators can use the clippings to support young people to learn with history. Specifically, we explore how they might be utilised to develop young people’s historical awareness and critical thinking skills to equip them to engage in dialogue about potentially ‘tricky’ issues, become active citizens and challenge stereotypes.