Together with the Zentralstelle für das Auslandsschulwesen (ZfA - Central Agency for Schools Abroad) and in cooperation with the Federal Agency for Civic Education and Stiftung Erinnerung, Verantwortung und Zukunft (Foundation for Remembrance, Responsibility and the Future), the Federal Foreign Office has called on German schools abroad and German profile schools to develop projects on the culture of remembrance in their own school and regional historical context for the 2019/2020 academic year.

One of these projects for the competition "Remembrance for the Present”, initiated by Federal Foreign Minister Heiko Maas and submitted by the Deutsche Höhere Privatschule Windhoek (DHPS) has now been completed:
Under the title of “ACKNOWLEDGING OUR PAST - A HISTORY SHARED - UNSERE GETEILTE GESCHICHTE” a teaching unit on the Namibian history of the late 19 and early 20th century has been developed, which focuses on coming to terms with the separate and common past of all Namibian population groups. In addition, the learners designed a project newspaper.

Grade 10 learners of DHPS Windhoek have dealt with this challenging time of the Namibian-German history and took a closer look at the German colonial period and its relevance in Namibia until today.
The texts produced in the course of this study are summarised in the project newspaper. They reflect on perspectives from this period and refer to current aspects that emerge from past events.
These texts were written exclusively by the learners. They are not scientific texts that claim to be the objective truth, but are the expression of young people who have dealt with a subject that is more or less part of their family and/or national history.
The teachers took on a moderating, supporting, demonstrating and knowledge-transferring role. The emphasis was on pedagogical work and efforts to actively integrate all learners into the project and to give them the opportunity to see their texts in printing.

Actually, excursions of several days to important places in the hitherto untold Namibian history were scheduled, which were planned jointly by the learners. However, the corona pandemic thwarted this project highlight. On top of this, the school was closed from March to August 2020 due to the pandemic, and the learners were forced to study and write from home. The learners nevertheless were very creative, and largely put in great (cross-subject) effort. Small groups of learners were formed who together designed the layout of the newspaper together or went on an excursion to historical sites.

The result reflects the multi-faceted character of the country and DHPS. It is a kaleidoscope of colours.
We trust that the readers will discover many new perspectives while reading:

Project newspaper: ACKNOWLEDGING OUR PAST - A HISTORY SHARED