Centropa

The Teacher Training Seminar of Centropa took place between 17-19. September 2021 in Szeged, Hungary.

Centropa

Workshop at the professional development seminar for Hungarian educators.

Centropa is a historical educational institute aiming to preserve Jewish memory. We have a database of 1,200 oral history interviews and 25,000 family photographs, and our mission is to support educators so they can teach about 20th century Jewish history in an engaging and sensitive way, using personal stories.

During our seminar, 38 educators from all over Hungary came together. Participants attended expert lectures on the Jewish history of Szeged and the heritage of the city, and they also had the opportunity to visit the beautiful New synagogue, where they were welcomed by the head of the Szeged Jewish community, and attended a Shabbat service. We have also presented our database of interviews and photographs, along with short films and educational activities of how they can be used in classroom. Teachers who have used our materials in the past also presented their best practices.

In the center of the seminar stood our travelling exhibition, Stories from a family album, which shows the everyday life of the Hungarian Jewry in the 20th century through photographs. The exhibition was presented in the University of Szeged, where students, university staff and the interested public could also see it. The seminar participants have visited the exhibition, and worked together in small groups of how they would incorporate it into their teaching. During the seminar, we offered several opportunities to teachers to share their experiences, discuss challenges, and work on lesson plans together, as we believe no one teaches a teacher better than another teacher.

Together, the seminar has added to the knowledge base of participants about the Jewish history and the Holocaust, and equipped them with materials and tools which they can use in their class. It was great to meet educators after a long year of lockdown – their dedication and enthusiasm always tells us that we need to continue our work.