Off the Wall - Teacher’s guide
This teachers’ guide was developed for the project Off the Wall, in the context of which Flemish, Dutch and French youngsters came together during an exchange week to work on topics like borders, war and peace, the Atlantikwall and displacement. Off the Wall was organised within the context of the Creative Europe Project Atlantikwall Europe. Under the direction of theatre maker Pascal Buyse, they translated their ideas and experiences into an artistic performance. Filmmakers Toyah Van der Poten and Yel Ratajczak documented the process.
The point of departure of the project was the social environment of youngsters and the way in which they deal with borders and delimitations. In the documentary you can see the youngsters brainstorming about how it feels to be constantly on the move. Refugees and displacement are a topic as well. Never before have so many people seemed to be far away from home, either out of necessity or voluntarily. How does it feel to be constantly on the move? By means of artistic workshops, stories, testimonials and a theatre performance, the youngsters went back into time to World War II and made the link with present times.
Get to work
This teachers’ guide contains more information about the Atlantikwall as well as several activities you can do with your class before or during a visit to an Atlantikwall site or to Atlantikwall Raversyde (Oostende, BE). These activities not only relate to the theme of World War II but, like Off the Wall, they are linked to current events.
The teachers’ guide has a modular structure: you can choose the activities that are most suitable to your class. For each activity we have indicated whether it is suitable for students aged 12 to 14, 14 to 16 or 16 to 18.
When the activities are linked to the documentary, we refer to the corresponding fragment. This way you can decide whether to watch the full documentary (37 minutes) or only a few well-chosen fragments.
We wish you and your students an inspiring visit to the past and fascinating research into the present and the future.
