Write History Yourself: Docutubes as a Dialogical Tool for Constructing Historical Narratives

Abstract

In order to build a better understanding of the conditions needed for religious and non-religious coexistence in  Europe, to support values and practices of peaceful co-existence, and to promote and enhance mutual dialogue and understanding the European Union research programme Horizon2020 launched a call for the development of innovative dissemination tools to be used in (in)formal education and various disciplines. A multidisciplinary consortium of initially nine academic institutions and two NGO’s from eight European countries took up the challenge, based on thorough historical research on religious peace treaties and contemporary discourses on and representations of religious diversity, and on a deep understanding of young people’s perceptions, experiences and knowledge of religious diversity in the past and present. Considering the current multimedia society in which young people are constantly confronted with (mis)information taking the form of audiovisual and opinionated narratives that circulate through (social) media, we developed a so-called docutube methodology. Docutubes are short videos (approx. three minutes), created by learners, in four phases. In the exploratory phase, learners are presented with diverse historical and contemporary (written, visual, and audiovisual) source fragments (called ‘clippings’) presenting multiple perspectives on religious diversity. Those clippings serve to broaden learners’ knowledge basis, to critically analyze media, and to foster reflection. In the planning phase, learners examine audiovisual (film) grammar and prepare the script for their own docutube. In the creation phase, they actually produce a docutube, meaning they film and edit. Subsequently, in the reflection phase, they share and reflect on their creation.