Initiatives
History project competition
2013/2014 school year
MY FAMILY AS PART OF HISTORY
Have you ever talked with your grandparents about their childhoods? Or have you thought about what it must have been like to grow up at a time when material living conditions were much worse than today? Perhaps you have parents or grandparents who have experienced war or major upheavals in Norway or in other countries? This project competition invites you to study these conditions. The point of departure is you yourself, your own family or another person who is close to you. You have considerable freedom to choose how you want to approach your topic, but the subject is history. In other words, you must study something from the past – distant or recent. The theme is quite broad and can be tied to several of the topics you will otherwise be studying at school in the subject of history.
You should not only describe what happened, but also try to explain why it happened. Include your own reactions and thoughts about the events that unfolded. Why did you chose to write about this topic in particular? What was your point of departure, and did you find what you expected to find? How did you react to what you found out?
POSSIBLE TOPICS FOR DISCUSSION
Formulate your own topic for discussion. In a good project entry, your topic will serve as the 'Ariadne's thread' that ties the whole investigation together. Examples of topics for discussion include:
Living with wars and conflicts
Do you have one or more relatives who have lived in an area of conflict? How has this affected their lives? What do they think about the conflict and the people involved? Perhaps have you relatives who grew up in Norway when the country was at war? What can they tell you about life in Norway during the war?
Living conditions then and now
Compare the conditions your generation have had while growing up with the childhood conditionss of your parents or grandparents. What differences did you find, for example, in relation to material wealth, values, educational opportunities or recreational activities? What do the differences you found tell us about social development?
Migration in Norway or to Norway
Have your ancestors moved within Norway or from Norway? Or do you perhaps have parents or grandparents who moved to Norway? Why did you, your parents or your grandparents move? What did they leave behind, and what did they move to? How did moving change their lives?
These are examples of topics you can investigate. Naturally, you are free to make up other questions for investigation. If you would prefer not to examine your own family so closely, you can write about other people you know or key individuals in your local community.
YOUR QUESTIONS AND USE OF SOURCES
In trying to formulate a question to study, you might need help from your teacher. Remember that you should do research, not just repeat what others have said. It is important that your question is clearly articulated, and that you make an attempt to answer it.
In the history books, you can read about changes that have taken place – major and minor alike. These changes will set the stage for your report, but the most important part of your entry will be what you yourself can find out about the conditions you are investigating. This means that a large part of your project will involve using different sources that can shed light on your family, e.g. interviews, pictures, diaries, letters and statistics.
Your essay must specify how you have used your sources. You must also determine whether you can trust them and ask questions aboutwhat the sources actually can say. Your assessments should preferably be included at the points in the text where you cite sources. When you quote from or paraphrase sources, you must always make it clear that you are citing something that is not your own. Feel free to use footnotes. Lastly, remember to include a list of written and oral sources.
PRACTICAL INFORMATION
The competition is being organised by the Norwegian Historical Society (HIFO) with support from the Freedom of Expression Foundation and Aschehoug Publishing House. It is open to pupils in lower and upper secondary school.
The purpose of the competition is to promote investigative teaching methods in the subject of history. Pupils themselves are to produce presentations of history associated with their own experiences and thoughts. The ’little story’ should be tied into the ’big picture’.
Supervision and assessment criteria
HIFO offers supervision to teachers and pupils and can be contacted at this address:
.(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
The product
The product can be an article, preferably illustrated, a DVD or a website. Once submitted, entries will not be returned. For that reason, participants should be sure to keep a copy for themselves. The entry is supposed to be made during the 2013/2014 school year.
Jury
A jury consisting of two teachers and a specialist in didactics will select the best entries.
Prizes
There are cash prizes in the competition: NOK 5000 for 1st place, NOK 2000 for 2nd place and NOK 1000 for 3rd place. Winners will be named in two classes: one for upper secondary school and one for lower secondary school. Some of prizewinners will also be given an opportunity to take part in young people's encounters in Europe, along with prizewinners from other countries in the summer and autumn of 2011. Two different encounters will be organised: one for prizewinners under the age of 18 and one for those over the age of 18. The encounters will have history as their common denominator, and they will be organised by EUSTORY – the History Network for Young Europeans at the Körber Foundation in Hamburg. All participants will receive a diploma.
Participation
Pupils can sign up individually or in groups with a maximum of four participants. Entries are to be in the Norwegian language, and the written product should be a maximum of 15 pages long with the line spacing set at 1.5. The entry can well be shorter. The entry must specify the pupil's date of birth, telephone number and e-mail address. If a pupil enters work done at school, his or her teacher's name should also be specified.
The deadline for submitting entries is Monday, 24 March 2014
Send your entry to:
HIFO's history project competition
The Freedom of Expression Foundation, Oslo
Uranienborgveien 2
NO-0258 Oslo
More information
Click on HIFO's website at: www.historiekonkurransen.no
Folder 2013.pdf (pdf, in Norwegian)
History project competition
2013/2014 school year
MY FAMILY AS PART OF HISTORY
Have you ever talked with your grandparents about their childhoods? Or have you thought about what it must have been like to grow up at a time when material living conditions were much worse than today? Perhaps you have parents or grandparents who have experienced war or major upheavals in Norway or in other countries? This project competition invites you to study these conditions. The point of departure is you yourself, your own family or another person who is close to you. You have considerable freedom to choose how you want to approach your topic, but the subject is history. In other words, you must study something from the past – distant or recent. The theme is quite broad and can be tied to several of the topics you will otherwise be studying at school in the subject of history.
You should not only describe what happened, but also try to explain why it happened. Include your own reactions and thoughts about the events that unfolded. Why did you chose to write about this topic in particular? What was your point of departure, and did you find what you expected to find? How did you react to what you found out?
POSSIBLE TOPICS FOR DISCUSSION
Formulate your own topic for discussion. In a good project entry, your topic will serve as the 'Ariadne's thread' that ties the whole investigation together. Examples of topics for discussion include:
Living with wars and conflicts
Do you have one or more relatives who have lived in an area of conflict? How has this affected their lives? What do they think about the conflict and the people involved? Perhaps have you relatives who grew up in Norway when the country was at war? What can they tell you about life in Norway during the war?
Living conditions then and now
Compare the conditions your generation have had while growing up with the childhood conditionss of your parents or grandparents. What differences did you find, for example, in relation to material wealth, values, educational opportunities or recreational activities? What do the differences you found tell us about social development?
Migration in Norway or to Norway
Have your ancestors moved within Norway or from Norway? Or do you perhaps have parents or grandparents who moved to Norway? Why did you, your parents or your grandparents move? What did they leave behind, and what did they move to? How did moving change their lives?
These are examples of topics you can investigate. Naturally, you are free to make up other questions for investigation. If you would prefer not to examine your own family so closely, you can write about other people you know or key individuals in your local community.
YOUR QUESTIONS AND USE OF SOURCES
In trying to formulate a question to study, you might need help from your teacher. Remember that you should do research, not just repeat what others have said. It is important that your question is clearly articulated, and that you make an attempt to answer it.
In the history books, you can read about changes that have taken place – major and minor alike. These changes will set the stage for your report, but the most important part of your entry will be what you yourself can find out about the conditions you are investigating. This means that a large part of your project will involve using different sources that can shed light on your family, e.g. interviews, pictures, diaries, letters and statistics.
Your essay must specify how you have used your sources. You must also determine whether you can trust them and ask questions aboutwhat the sources actually can say. Your assessments should preferably be included at the points in the text where you cite sources. When you quote from or paraphrase sources, you must always make it clear that you are citing something that is not your own. Feel free to use footnotes. Lastly, remember to include a list of written and oral sources.
PRACTICAL INFORMATION
The competition is being organised by the Norwegian Historical Society (HIFO) with support from the Freedom of Expression Foundation and Aschehoug Publishing House. It is open to pupils in lower and upper secondary school.
The purpose of the competition is to promote investigative teaching methods in the subject of history. Pupils themselves are to produce presentations of history associated with their own experiences and thoughts. The ’little story’ should be tied into the ’big picture’.
Supervision and assessment criteria
HIFO offers supervision to teachers and pupils and can be contacted at this address:
.(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
The product
The product can be an article, preferably illustrated, a DVD or a website. Once submitted, entries will not be returned. For that reason, participants should be sure to keep a copy for themselves. The entry is supposed to be made during the 2013/2014 school year.
Jury
A jury consisting of two teachers and a specialist in didactics will select the best entries.
Prizes
There are cash prizes in the competition: NOK 5000 for 1st place, NOK 2000 for 2nd place and NOK 1000 for 3rd place. Winners will be named in two classes: one for upper secondary school and one for lower secondary school. Some of prizewinners will also be given an opportunity to take part in young people's encounters in Europe, along with prizewinners from other countries in the summer and autumn of 2011. Two different encounters will be organised: one for prizewinners under the age of 18 and one for those over the age of 18. The encounters will have history as their common denominator, and they will be organised by EUSTORY – the History Network for Young Europeans at the Körber Foundation in Hamburg. All participants will receive a diploma.
Participation
Pupils can sign up individually or in groups with a maximum of four participants. Entries are to be in the Norwegian language, and the written product should be a maximum of 15 pages long with the line spacing set at 1.5. The entry can well be shorter. The entry must specify the pupil's date of birth, telephone number and e-mail address. If a pupil enters work done at school, his or her teacher's name should also be specified.
The deadline for submitting entries is Monday, 24 March 2014
Send your entry to:
HIFO's history project competition
The Freedom of Expression Foundation, Oslo
Uranienborgveien 2
NO-0258 Oslo
More information
Click on HIFO's website at: www.historiekonkurransen.no
Folder 2013.pdf (pdf, in Norwegian)
Initiatives