The Concept of Walkshops of the Foundation for the Rights of Future Generations
Walkshops of the Foundation for the Rights of Future Generations aim at enabling young people to test and apply an effective auditory learning method in the context of a definite topic or problem. The concept draws on Aristotle, whose school of the Peripatetics linked mental mobility with physical movement and transfers this approach to the current century. Over the course of the last decade, the range of audio books and podcasts increased tremendously. Nonetheless, auditory learning and teaching materials – in contrast to visual counterparts – have not yet been widely used in the education sector to specifically address the needs of the auditory learning type. As movement can and should play a central role in the cognitive learning process, walkshops unite physical activities with learning and thus combine walks with workshops – in the full sense of the word. In doing so, walkshop participants (i) listen to educational content while walking through diverse landscapes, (ii) visit learning venues along their route and (iii) discuss what they have learned and listened to in the course of evening events in various towns.
Visit our site walk-for-the-future.info for more informations (in German)
Previous walkshops dealt with climate crisis and the coal phase-out. In the afternoons, topic-related learning sites are visited to obtain insights and to engage with locals. In the evenings, two-hour discussions with scientists, politicians, entrepreneurs, activists, citizens take place to exchange thoughts and arguments. Each walkshop participant may contribute on a rotational basis and is thus trained to become a holistically and well-informed multiplier. This is why the curriculum of digital teaching/learning materials is compiled in such a way that the perspectives and problem perceptions of different actors are addressed. The knowledge is deepened through the learning sites, where one can look, listen and touch, and applied in the debates with decision-makers. Through the balanced selection of podcasts, but also through the balanced line-up of panels at the evening discussion events, participants gain a broad and sound understanding of ecological, economic and social developments. Empirical evaluations of the first walkshops showed positive learning effects, particularly for learning content from the social sciences and humanities, although the knowledge that walkshops impart is fundamentally different from pure book knowledge.