Training days for Dagesh artists and educational consultants on the topics of child protection, teaching contemporary Jewish music and taking action against antisemitism
The continuous and subject-specific training of artists and educational consultants within the framework of Dagesh on Tour is crucial in order to strengthen them for the complex requirements of cultural and anti-antisemitism education work. At the same time, specialised training courses provide confidence in dealing with challenging educational situations and raise awareness of the legal and social dimensions of extracurricular educational work. With a diverse and inspiring programme, the third Dagesh qualification days in Berlin in 2025 set important priorities for the further development of Dagesh on Tour’s educational work.
At the start of the training, our artists and education officers themselves took on the role of workshop participants. The exercise focused on the question of how contemporary Jewish music can be taught in a modern and creative way. DJs Zerah Tanfous and Esra Wüstefeld presented media and music education methods that teach children and young people how to mix music themselves – thereby not only expanding their creative and technical skills, but also gaining insights into Jewish culture and its multi-layered musical heritage.
On the second day, social pedagogue and youth therapist Cordula Klaffs provided an insight into the basics of children’s rights and child protection. After a historical review of the development of children’s rights in Germany, she introduced the basics of child protection. The participants then discussed challenging situations in everyday life at the Dagesh on Tour workshop, educational ‘dos and don’ts’ and received literature recommendations for further study of the topic.
In the afternoon, illustrator Anne Lehmann led the practical part of the day. In an interactive workshop, she showed how successful flipchart design and visualisation of work results can sustainably increase the learning effect in children and young people. The participants were enthusiastic about the opportunity to apply the newly acquired methods directly in the upcoming Dagesh on Tour workshops – in Seesen, Chemnitz and Hamburg, among other places.
On the third and final day of the training course, Alexandra Wichmann, a lawyer at Ofek e.V., gave a specialist lecture on anti-Semitic crimes, statements and actions in the context of Dagesh on Tour’s extracurricular educational work. She provided a thorough overview of the criminal law principles and discussed possible educational implications with the participants. The participants added specific examples from their workshop practice at Dagesh on Tour, thus highlighting the ongoing urgency and relevance of addressing this issue. The subsequent reflection session on the joint days was moderated by political educator Ruth Fischer.
In addition to professional exchanges, the last qualification days of the year also offered the opportunity to take stock of an extremely successful workshop year: we have already implemented over 80 workshops in seven federal states with great commitment – offering up to 1,000 children and young people creative access to contemporary Jewish art.
We would like to thank all participants for the intensive working days and inspiring discussions, as well as our experts for sharing their experiences and expertise, which not only help shape the Dagesh on Tour educational programme, but also contribute to its further development.
