Laboratorio Lapsus has developed its approach from extensive experience in educational settings, working closely with middle and high school students through hands-on activities. The core of its work involves creating historical learning pathways that address contemporary issues, which has helped to understand the interests and concerns of young people and their teachers.
One of the key discussions within Laboratorio Lapsus revolves around the use of school textbooks. While textbooks are traditionally seen as the primary tool for teaching history, there is a growing consensus among educators that effective history education should go beyond mere memorization. Instead, it should equip students with the tools to analyze and understand the past and its connections to the present, helping them identify logical connections, causes, and consequences and develop critical thinking and analytical skills.
To achieve this, Laboratorio Lapsus advocates for using historical sources in teaching. Working with primary sources, such as oral testimonies, archival documents, multimedia objects, and visual materials, allows students to engage directly with historical evidence. This approach helps students to develop skills in document analysis, critical thinking, and interpretation, which are essential in an era of information overload where discerning truth from misinformation is increasingly important.
This article proposes the use of educational kits – and specifically Moj Dom edukit -designed around specific themes and built on a collection of diverse sources. The Moj Dom edukit guides students through the process of analyzing, constructing, and deconstructing historical narratives, with the support of educational questions that prompt discussion and critical reflection. It also includes additional resources for further research, such as bibliographies, filmography and other resources.
The kit is accompanied by a historical introduction to guide and give context for key events and topics. It is designed for both in-person and remote teaching, with user-friendly formats that are accessible to students with reading difficulties.
Laboratorio Lapsus recognizes the challenges teachers face, including limited time and heavy workloads. The educational kit is intended to offer a practical alternative to traditional lecture-based teaching methods, promoting active student engagement with historical sources. This hands-on approach helps develop the analytical and critical thinking skills that are crucial for understanding both the past and its relevance to the present.
Why this kit in Moj Dom project
This educational kit was created by Laboratorio Lapsus and colleagues from Documenta. The aim is raising awareness about the war in the former Yugoslavia, primarily using the memories of those who directly experienced it first-hand. It is a multilingual digital resource suitable for teaching both history and civic education.
The partners of the Moj Dom project created this edukit because they believe that addressing and understanding the wars of the 1990s in Yugoslavia is not merely an academic exercise for younger generations but a necessary step to grasp complex historical, social, and political processes, promote inclusive identities, and ensure a better understanding of the importance of peace and coexistence. By learning from past conflicts and engaging in comprehensive memory work, younger generations can build a future where diversity is celebrated and mutual understanding prevails.
Laboratorio Lapsus draws on its own experience with oral history and interviews collected for the creation of its kits. This is a powerful tool in educational contexts, especially when dealing with traumatic memories such as wars, genocides, or natural disasters. Historical events are no longer mere dates or facts but stories lived by real people. This approach can facilitate empathy and deep understanding, stimulating critical reflections in students on issues of memory, identity and social justice. Moreover, this approach can help bring out the stories and experiences often neglected in traditional historical accounts and textbooks, thus contributing to a more inclusive and diverse view of history. The Moj Dom edukit is, in fact, the result of 75 interviews with people coming from Italy, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, Slovenia, and Croatia who were either people who emigrated in the context of Yugoslav wars or volunteers operated both in Italy or in the countries involved in the conflict. It allows us to understand, on the one hand, the tragedy, poor living conditions, and the challenges faced by the interviewees due to the war; and, on the other, the motivations and feelings of the humanitarian workers who found themselves in a completely different context from what they were accustomed to.
This Edukit was conceived out of the need to bring to light the memories of such a tragic event and to address a historical topic that is often not properly covered or sometimes not even presented to students. Additionally, it responds to the historical context we find ourselves in today — a time when we are surrounded by wars that, after World War II, we thought would no longer be part of our vocabulary. Moreover, the memories of the volunteers serve as lessons and reflections on current migration flows and the reception system we offer.
The topics explored in-depth include displacement and subsequent reception, the concept of home (especially for people who emigrated in the context of Yugoslav wars forced to leave their homes and their eventual return), the challenges faced by activists, and the trauma of the war with a particular focus on children.
The use of these kits in education proves to be very effective, especially because it goes beyond transmissive learning and allows students to learn by working on various types of sources, interpreting, analyzing and interacting, thus addressing their doubts, curiosities, and concerns that are close to their interests. Furthermore, this helps break away from traditional one-way teaching and promotes practical and direct engagement; it enhances critical analysis of the proposed topic. Through the educational kit, tools are provided to approach and develop critical thinking regarding the events presented, with the result being both memorization and interpretation.
Here is a short summary of the contents.
The workshops Building bridges; Your Home, my Home; The Challenges of activism; Childhood trauma and Choices in conflict aim to foster a deeper understanding of these themes through excerpts from interviews sharing the personal experiences of those interviewed. The proposed methodology includes group work, critical discussion, and dialogue. We recommend using these methods in formal education settings.
The workshops Memoryscape; Museum Curators: Personal Objects, Opinion-metre; (In)Equality, Racing Board Game, and Membership aim to engage younger generations in active reflection on their interpretations and thoughts on identity, belonging, the processes of building a home, and privilege. The methods include critical approaches and practical learning. We recommend using these methods in non-formal education settings, where individuals can share their experiences with peer groups.
Extracts from the workshops: how to use it in formal and informal education
As part of a broader educational toolkit designed to explore various themes through different workshops, “Your Home, My Home” provided a space for participants to delve into the concept of home. This workshop involved a few dozen teenagers from Milan, drawn from both informal educational backgrounds and a high school class. The diverse group brought together young Italians and first and people with a migratory background, enriching the discussions with a variety of perspectives and experiences.
The workshops were designed to explore the concept of home from both personal and collective perspectives. Participants shared their experiences and reflections on what “home” means to them, starting with the definition of the term in their mother tongues. This initial discussion revealed the multifaceted nature of the concept of home, showing it to be more than just a physical place; it also encompasses relationships, emotions, and memories.
In the first part of the activity, participants reflected collectively on the various meanings of home, highlighting how its understanding can vary significantly depending on individual and cultural experiences.
Afterwards, the young people were invited to choose a word from the Moj Dom project glossary, which included terms like “change,” “community,” “cohabitation,” “culture,” “integration,” “ties,” “freedom,” “memories,” “rootlessness,” “relationships,” “reappropriation,” “shelter,” “choice,” “security,” “solidarity,” “space,” “stability,” and “temporariness.” Each participant selected the word that most resonated with their personal experience of home and shared the reasons for their choice with the group.
An interesting aspect of the workshop was the use of art. Participants were encouraged to visualize their concept of home by drawing. These drawings ranged from detailed floor plans of their rooms to more abstract representations of the feelings and memories associated with their living spaces. For example, some sketches depicted a favourite view from a bedroom window or a symbolic object that evokes the essence of home. These visual elements provided a deeper, more personal insight into each participant’s relationship with their home environment.
A significant moment in the workshops was when participants replicated the interview work carried out by the Moj Dom researchers, collecting each other’s stories through the homes they have lived in throughout their lives. In pairs, the young people explored and discussed the homes they had lived in, what they loved or disliked about those spaces, and what objects or sensations made them feel at home even when they were not there.
These activities revealed recurring themes among the young participants, especially those with a migration background. Many perceived Milan as their current home. One, facing the decision of whether to continue his studies outside of the city or in Milan, realized that he wanted to stay in his hometown. Experiences in Milan are not always positive, though. The living conditions described were often characterized by small, overcrowded spaces, a reality that contrasts with nostalgic memories of previous homes. However, some young people still consider their country of origin as their “true” home, maintaining a strong connection to past memories and experiences.
A common emerging theme was the difficulty in perceiving home as a refuge or a place of well-being. For many participants, home is not a place where they feel comfortable or protected. Some even described it as a place of danger. Participants often said that home to them was another place, such as an educational centre, where they felt free to be themselves or even someone who loved them.
A space for deep reflection
The stories and experiences shared in the workshops highlighted the multiple dimensions of home: as a physical place, a space for relationships, an emotional refuge, and, at times, a source of tension or discomfort.
This experience showed how the concept of home is closely linked to personal experiences, socio-economic conditions, and cultural realities. It also highlighted the importance of providing spaces for dialogue and reflection for young people, especially those in difficult situations, where they can express their emotions, share their stories, and perhaps rethink what home truly means.
Ultimately, the Moj Dom project invites us to reflect not only on what home means for each of us but also on how we can build more inclusive and welcoming spaces that respond to the diverse needs and realities of people.
Laboratorio Lapsus
