In 2016, the Network of Experts working on the Social dimension of Education and Training (NESE) reported on some of the challenges and opportunities Europe is facing in relation to growing ethnic and religious diversity, which has evolved in prejudice and xenophobia.

Prejudice involves holding negative feelings toward a group and its members (e.g., Aboud, 1988; Raabe, & Beelmann, 2011). Studies conducted in numerous countries have shown that children even at age of three to five years old express racial and ethnic prejudice (Raabe, & Beelmann, 2011).

According to cognitive developmental theory (Aboud, 2008), a key shift in children’s focus is from themselves to social categories (ingroups, outgroups). Social identity theory (Turner, Brown, & Tajfel, 1979), focuses on the pivotal role of people’s numerous social identities (e.g., gender, nationality, social class, race, religión, etc.), which become salient in different situations and impact social judgment and behavior. Unlike cognitive developmental theory, social identity theory highlights the role of context in eliciting one or more social identities above others and thereby highlights the interaction between the person and the situation. People are motivated to see their salient ingroups as positive and distinct from outgroups, which can help to maintain positive self-esteem and coherence of one’s self-image (Abrams & Hogg, 2001). To elaborate, social identity research with adults has been expanded and applied to children via social identity development theory (SIDT; Nesdale, 1999; Nesdale et al., 2007; Nesdale, Maass, Durkin & Griffiths, 2005). Consistent with the adult literature on social identity theory, SIDT focuses on the important role that context plays in highlighting a particular valued social identity, leading people to favor their ingroup, derogate the outgroup, or both. For example, Nesdale (1999) found that children’s intergroup bias, like that of adults, is likely to be dependent on other factors, such as the extent, stability, and legitimacy of intergroup status differences.

According to Nesdale and colleagues, the degree to which children exhibit ethnic prejudice is determined by (1) the strength of children’s ethnic ingroup identification; (2) their ingroup’s norms of prejudice expression; (3) the presence of intergroup conflict; (4) knowledge about the outgroup; and (5) children’s level of peer acceptance or rejection (Nesdale et al., 2004; Nesdale et al., 2009; Nesdale & Lawson, 2011; Nesdale, Lawson, Durkin and Duffy (2010).

There is also evidence that the broader cultural context can affect ingroup attitudes. Specifically, Bennett, Lyons, Sani, and Barrett (1998) found that children (ages 6, 9, 12, and 15 years) who did not identify with their national group, but who were immersed in a culture that exposed them to positive information about their national group, evidenced a preference for that group. This suggests that in a context that strongly favors one’s ingroup, ingroup favoritism can emerge in the absence of ingroup identification.

Therefore, school context curricula needs to reflect more positive diversity and be more inclusive. One of the prerequisites for inclusive classrooms is to engage young people to be active in our societies, to contribute as citizens to democracy, and all this starts with the development of their critical thinking skills. 

Based on Eckmann (2010, 2015) and the importance of acknowledging an individual’s social position in relation to discrimination, a team of educators started thinking about a concrete initiative to address these issues, and which resulted in the project “Stories that Move” (Polak, 2019).

Thus, the aim of this paper is to present the results derived from project ‘Stories that Move’,  an online toolbox for learning about anti-discrimination in four countries (Austria, Spain, The Netherlands and Slovakia).

Stories that move tool aims to contribute to intercultural historical learning encouraging young people to think about diversity and prejudice and to reflect on their own views and choices by hearing the personal stories of their peers, as well as to become socially active. The toolbox includes materials for learners, which are available in seven European languages. Until now, the toolbox has been implemented in more than 10 European countries. During the development phase, participatory research included intensive work with young people, with a large network of educators and an analysis of the feedback from educators to the prototype (Anne Frank House, 2013). As a relevant element, peer education (Damon, 1984) is present in the central role in Stories that Move of the videos in which students share their own stories. The blended learning and visible thinking techniques that are used throughout Stories that Move support the critical thinking of students (Brookfield, 1987). In particular, Stories that Move tool uses visible thinking strategies to give students insight into their learning process; learning routines, such as a set of questions or a short sequence of steps, externalise their thought processes. Importantly, in Stories that Move a lot of the learning takes place through talking, in pairs, small groups and classroom discussions. An essential part of the toolbox is to give learners choices: who do they want to know more about, which life story and topics are they most interested in. This helps to actively engage them and encourages the development of critical thinking skills, enabling them to reflect on the relevance of discrimination in their own lives. In the present paper we would like to discuss about Stories that Move results, how it has been implemented in four countries, which barriers were encountered, how these are being dealt with and what is the known about the impact of this tool on students and teachers (Polak, 2013).

We will discuss results on sharing the challenges and chances in introducing ‘Stories that Move’ to educators and supporting them in the actual use in the classroom, and how the assessment of the tool varies across four countries (Austria, Netherlands, Slovakia and Spain) and across the different phases of the project. In the Netherlands, where the largest group of educators is working with the tool, a whole school approach is developing, with school leaders choosing to introduce different modules in successive years, so that the learners have a chance to look at the topics (identity, diversity, discrimination) from different angles and at different moments in their school career. In Slovakia, ‘the Milan Simecka Foundation’ has worked with the School Inspectorate in several schools to research effective strategies to reduce prejudice against Roma and has leaned on materials from Stories that Move; an experience that has enriched the implementation of Stories that Move. In Austria, Stories that move have been implemented since 2017. An insight on process implementation in different schools will be discuss. In Spain, the tool has been implemented as part of a pilot study to assess the impact on students and the need to use it in secondary schools. In that respect, results show that more than 50% of the students would like to have the digital tool as part of their learning process in different subjects. In conclusión, to understand what discrimination is, it is essential to realise what it does to people. Stories that Move helps learners step into the lives of young people who talk about different forms of discrimination and encourages them to share their own experiences and observations with their fellow learners in schools.

Aboud, F. E. (1988). Prejudice and Children. Cambridge MA: Basil Blackwell. Aboud, F. E. (2008). A social-cognitive developmental theory of prejudice. Handbook of race, racism, and the developing child, 55-71. Abram, I. (2008). Das Arena-Modell. Retrieve from http://www.stichtngleren.nl/deutsch.htm Anne Frank Haus & Anne Frank Zentrum (2013). Stories that move. Discussing diversity and discrimination. Retrieved from www.storiesthatmove.org Dijk, I V. (2001). Verdammt starke Liebe. Die wahre Geschichte von Stefan K. und Wili G. Bielefeld: Bertelsmann. Eckmann, M. (2015). Is teaching and learning about the Holocaust relevant for human rights education?. In As the witnesses fall silent: 21st century Holocaust education in curriculum, policy and practice (pp. 53-65). Springer, Cham. Ehricht, F. & Gryglewski, E. (2009). GeschichteN teilen – Dokumentenkoffer für eine interkulturelle Pädagogik zum Nationalsozialismus. Berlin: Haus der Wannsee-Konferenz. Gryglewski, E. (2013). Anerkennung und Erinnerung. Zugänge arabishc-palästinensischer und türkischer Berliner Jugendlicher zum Holocaust. Berlin: Metropol. Polak, K. (2013). Teaching about the genocide of the Roma and Sinti during the Holocaust. Chances and challenges in Europe today. Intercultural Education, 24 (1-2), 79-92. Polak, K. (2019). Mastering the media, developing critical thinking skills with regard to stereotypes and prejudices. In Licht, Pateraki & Scimeca (ed.) If not in schools where? Learn and practise democracy with eTwinning, Central Support Service of eTwinning (CSS), 27 – 30. Polak, K. (2019). Stories that Move. Linking past and present in education against discrimination: key elements and challenges. Schweizerische Zeitschrift für Geschichtsunterricht. Special Issue ‘Umgang met der Shoah in der Schule’, 5, 103 – 109. Stories that Move. (2020). Evaluation Report eTwinning and Anne Frank House Learning Event; Online Course: Discussing Diversity and Discrimination using the Online Tool Stories that Move. Unpublished evaluation report submitted to German fund EVZ and to eTwinning by the Anne Frank House.