News
July 3, 2024
Democracy and tolerance: a shared path
Deutsche Bank, Teach First Deutschland and GermanDream launch “Dialog Leben” a project to promote democratic values in schools in less privileged areas
At a time when racism, populism, extremism and social inequality are pervading society more and more, it is all the more important that we create spaces for dialogue and personal encounters, both of which can help us learn about democratic values and offer the opportunity to discuss different perspectives in respectful cooperation.
To send a strong signal about the importance of democracy, Deutsche Bank is collaborating with German non-profit organisations Teach First Deutschland and GermanDream and have developed a project that will be rolled out in schools in less privileged areas this coming school year. "Dialog Leben" is the name of the project – essentially “dialogue in action” in English – and it aims to teach students about the importance of tolerance, freedom, equal opportunities and pluralism in our society, and encourage them to stand up for these values.
At the heart of "Dialog Leben" are what we call “dialogues on values”. In these workshops, young people learn to exchange ideas openly, and to discuss and share their own experiences. With a clear focus on political education through personal experience, everyone taking part in the workshops is equal.
Teach First “fellows” are the people that will bring the project to life. They have a university degree and commit to working in schools for two years to foster equal opportunities, quality education and social participation for children and young people regardless of their background. The charity GermanDream gives around 80 fellows training for the project. The fellows’ two-year commitment ensures that the workshops are a regular feature of everyday school life.
By holding these workshops in selected schools, “Dialog Leben” aims to reach 750 young people by the end of this year, with another 1,000 students expected to benefit from the project by the end of 2025.
"Dialog Leben" is part of Deutsche Bank’s CSR education program that reached more than 590,000 young people in 2023 and underlines the bank’s commitment to "Never again is now”. In doing so, the bank (db.com) is partnering with charities that teach young people tolerance and empathy and how to stand up against hate speech and prejudice. In Germany, we also support ZWEITZEUGEN e.V. This non-profit organisation encourages and empowers (young) people to become secondary witnesses by passing on the stories of Holocaust and standing up against antisemitism and other forms of discrimination. The charity offers workshops as well as formats for project days and digital storytelling. The digital learning platform "Become a Zweitzeug*in" is free and accessible to all. Young people from the age of 12 can independently discover the life stories of Holocaust survivors in a multimedia presentation. Teachers can easily embed both the digital storytelling and the learning tool on antisemitism into their own lessons and thus engage in their own ZWEITZEUGEN education. Since 2010, ZWEITZEUGEN e.V. has reached almost 30,000 children and young people with their educational offerings.
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