International Seminar
Tirana on 19-20 December 2023 – Hilton Hotel, Butrinti Hall
Short description of the seminar: purpose, actions, participants, partners
This seminar is part of the effort to raise awareness and participation of young people in promoting European values by developing a critical understanding of history. In the Albanian context, teaching about the activities of the Former State Security in the post-World War II period is an essential element for educating young people as citizens with democratic competences, as well as for fostering their critical thinking skills and personal development.
The Former State Security was responsible for persecuting citizens with critical opinions by suppressing intellectual debate.
critics and suppressed intellectual discussion by annihilating the country’s strong personalities. Therefore, learning about such histories carries great potential to strengthen students’ appreciation of democracy and respect for human rights, emancipating them as active and critical democratic citizens.
The event brings together national and international research and experiences on how to make the mechanisms of totalitarian regimes understandable to students, also by using secret police files as pedagogical materials. The seminar addresses issues of access to documents and the adaptation of history curricula, as well as issues related to the preparation of teachers to develop such teaching, by providing appropriate materials, pedagogy and training, enabling them to understand the vision of a democratic historical education in the classroom.
In this way, the workshop explores good practices in transforming secret police files into educational materials, which will inform the creation of materials and pedagogical strategies for teaching the history of Albanian communism in general and the former Sigurimi more specifically. The results of this workshop will be part of the platform “Learning about the past ’44-91 - Open Educational Resources” and will help teachers and stakeholders learn about the past, contributing to the process of building trust in Albania after the fall of communism.
Day 1, December 19, 2023
8.30-9.00 Registration and welcome coffee
9.00-9.30 Introductory remarks by the organizers
Ms. Gentiana Sula
Chairperson of the Authority for Information on Former State Security Documents, Albania
Head of the Education Department, Council of Europe
Znj. Nina Guga
Deputy Minister of Education and Sports of the Republic of Albania
Moderator: Znj. Giulia Re
Head of the Council of Europe Office in Tirana
9.30-10.00 Keynote Lecture I:
"Exposing the mechanisms of totalitarian rule. Understanding history
through secret police files"
Prof. Dr. Denis Deletant
Professor of Romanian Studies, University College London, United Kingdom
(Online)
10.00-10.30 Keynote Lecture II:
“"State Security Files: Undiscovered Documents of Albanian History"
Member of the Authority for Information on Former State Security Documents, Albania
Znj. Ornela Arapi
Director of Scientific Support and Civic Education-
Authority for Information on Former State Security Documents, Albania
10.30-11.00 Coffee break
11.00-12.00 Panel Discussion I
““The Right to Information on Access to Historical Documents“
(Legal and Ethical Implications of Using Secret Police Files for Pedagogical Purposes)
Mrs. Klotilda Bushka
Chairwoman of the Parliamentary Committee on Legal Affairs and Human Rights
Mrs. Dagmar Hovestädt
Representative of the Secret Police Archives Network
Former Federal Commissioner for Stasi Records
Mrs. Ermonela Ruspi
Commissioner of the Special Section, Ombudsman Institution, Albania
Mrs. Sofi Noti
Secretary General
Authority for Information on Former State Security Documents, Albania
Moderator: Ms. Liri Kopaci Di Michele
Head of the Interparliamentary Cooperation Division
Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe
12.00-13.30 LUNCH
13.30-14.30 Panel Discussion II
Integrating teaching about totalitarian regimes into curricula and teaching
materials: Opportunities and challenges
Mrs. Zamira Gjini
Director General for Educational Policies at the Ministry of Education and Science
Mr. Astrit Dautaj
Head of the Curriculum Development Department (ASCAP)
Mr. Vojko Kunaver
Institute of Education of the Republic of Slovenia (online)
Mr. Peter Jašek
Director of the Research Center, Institute of National Remembrance, Slovak Republic (online)
Moderator: Mr. Gerti Janaqi
Director General, Pre-University Education Quality Assurance Agency
14.30-15.30 Panel Discussion III
“The Use of Multimedia and Technology in Teaching the History of the
Secret Police”
Virtual reality experiences
Digital histories and secret police files
Mr. Tomaž Ivešić
Director, Center for Studies on National Reconciliation (SCNR), Slovenia (online)
Mr.Vit Šisler
Assistant Professor of New Media Studies, Charles University in Prague,
Czech Republic (online/offline tbc)
Mrs. Blerina Gjoka
Executive Director of “Kujto.al”
Mr. Przemysław Gasztold
Office of Historical Research, Institute of National Remembrance, Poland (online)
Moderator: Mr Fynn-Morten Heckert
Educational consultant for the Council of Europe
15.30-16.00 Coffee break
16.00-17.00 Discussion IV – Roundtable
The Approach of Repression in Totalitarian Regimes in the History Classroom – Pedagogy and
Practice
Mr. Vojtek Ripka
Lecturer, Anglo-American University of Prague & EuroClio Ambassador, Republic
CZECH
Mrs. Urszula Bijoś
European Network of Remembrance and Solidarity (ENRS) (online)
Mrs. Katharina Lütz
Stasi Prison Memorial Center in Berlin Hohenschönhausen, Germany (online)
Mrs. Vojsava Kumbulla
Executive Director of the History Teachers Association
Moderator: Mr. Shkëlqim Allkaj
Director of Pre-University Education
Day 2, December 20, 2023
08.30-09.00 Registration and welcome coffee
09.00-10.00 Discussion – Roundtable:
Training teachers to approach the history of totalitarian regimes
Prof. Dr. Bardhyl Musai
University of Tirana Faculty of Social Sciences
Mrs. Elisabeta Osmanaj
Dean's Office, Faculty of Educational Sciences, "Aleksandër Xhuvani Elbasan" University
Mrs. Ana Radakovic
Vice-President of the organization "Education for the 21st Century", Serbia (online)
Mr. Edon Qesari
Researcher, Institute of History, Albania
Moderator: Ms. Ornela Arapi
Director of Scientific Support and Civic Education
Authority for Information on Former State Security Documents, Albania
10.00 -11.30 Workshop
Beyond the Curriculum: Turning Secret Police Files into Educational Materials
AIDSSH Presentation Strategic Approach
Case Studies on the Effective Pedagogical Use of Police Files
Secret
Mr. Vojtech Ripka
Lecturer, Anglo-American University of Prague & EuroClio Ambassador, Republic
CZECH
Mrs. Aljula Jubani
Director of the Institute of European Studies, University of Tirana
11.30 -12.00 Coffee break
12.00-13.00 Closing session: Reflections and directions for the future
Ms. Gentiana Sula
Chairperson of the Authority for Information on Former State Security Documents,
Albania
Mr. Fynn-Morten Heckert
Advisor on Educational Issues, Council of Europe
13.00-14.30 Lunch
14.30-17.00 Visit to the Authority for Information on Former State Security Documents/or
the Museum of Secret Surveillance: “House with Leaves”
[1] At the beginning of 2023, the Information Authority for Former State Security Documents launched the concept of the Platform "Learning about the past '44-91 - Open Educational Resources", which will contain information on horizontal and vertical points of history, with a focus on dates and characters that have marked the country's past under the communist regime.
Here, the opportunity will be created to exchange opinions, discussions on events and characters, reflections, information on human history and profiles of historical figures, including historiography, which will include, through continuous training, teachers and students and will enrich curricula of subjects such as: Albanian Language and Literature, History of Albania, the Balkans and Europe, Citizenship, Philosophy or Sociology. The platform is based on UNESCO standards for open educational resources and brings together as partners of the Authority, the Ministry of Education and quality assurance agencies, the Albanian Telegraphic Agency, Albanian Radio Television, the European Network of Remembrance and Solidarity, the Council of Europe, the OSCE, universities, schools, experts, teachers and students.
