Piloting the ESSR: Piloting International Lesson Plans in Bosnia and Herzegovina (part 2)

In our previous blog, we focused on the teachers’ comments. In this section, we will highlight student comments instead, from after they finished the round of international piloting:

“I consider my experience in these lessons as something unforgettable. I felt that it was great for me and for my future studies, and I am very interested in history, especially in the communist period.”

“I found these lessons very interesting, because I improved my knowledge. This experience was one of the most significant I have had. I have gained some really beneficial knowledge that I will keep in mind, and I will try to use it in the future.”

“It is important to open up your horizons and look to other countries, and keep in mind that there are similarities in history. The way you live and the cultures you come from may not be better compared to others.”

“This way of learning is much more effective than reading a book or a newspaper because you are sharing ideas and broadening your horizons by communicating with professors and classmates.”

“During our lessons, we had a great opportunity to learn new historical facts. I improved a lot of my knowledge.”

“[The teacher] was careful about the difficulty of each person and helped each student improve. She has encouraged me and prodded me to do better. I learned new things.”

“I liked it because it was fun, and you got to work with your friends. I learned how to cooperate. I learned something, it wasn’t boring.”

“It was fun because everyone was involved. I love working on a team.”

“It was challenging.”

“I think this program is cool. I think Ms. Samir is really nice, kind, and all the other wonderful things you can call a nice teacher. I liked this type of class design because it used measuring and involved questions, color, and creative thinking.”

“I learned a lot! I paid attention to every word that the professor said. I wish everyday at school was like this…”

“This project is so amazing. I hope we do it again!”

“I liked the projects because they helped me understand different historical facts.”

Through this project, teachers had the chance to pass on their knowledge and try to educate the students to become understanding and independent people who will learn about history with an open heart and mind. In fact, this project shows that we have to work together. If we do that, we can learn a lot from each other and become better teachers — teachers who want to improve and want to be there for the students’ sake. New topics beyond the curriculum enrich teaching and benefit students. The professors agree that they could devote several hours each semester to projects like this.

This is an extremely good sign that ideas like this should be supported and that similar activities should continue in the future. Projects like this help students, professors, schools, and the whole society. Students make the most progress by learning about diversity.