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Materials for schools

‘The subject must be discussed in schools’: explaining the story of compulsory social measures and placements to the younger generation is a core element of the programme. The FOJ is therefore initiating or supporting various projects aimed at upper secondary school pupils and their teachers.

Learning app ‘Care and coercion’

The Lucerne University of Teacher Education, the Vaud and Ticino Universities of Teacher Education, the Our Faces, Our Stories Association and the company Feinheit AG have together been commissioned by the Federal Office of Justice to develop an educational app on the history of compulsory social measures and placements.

The web-based learning app is available online free of charge in German, French and Italian. It is aimed at pupils in Year 7 and above and any other persons interested. In video portraits, they hear of the lives and fates of the victims of these measures. Pupils reconstruct the life of the narrator, analyse sources and record their thoughts.

Numerous age-appropriate documents and a guide for teachers on the app's website offer additional information. The documents provide an introduction to the topic as well as suitably prepared information on the history of the welfare state, its strengths and challenges.

The app can be used in different subjects (e.g. history, civic studies or ethics) and in different teaching and social forms.

‘Ausgegrenzt und weggesperrt’ teaching programme

The Independent Expert Commission (ICE) on Administrative Care has been working with the Bern University of Teacher Education (PH) to develop a teaching and learning programme to enable students to engage with the topic of administrative care. The ‘Ausgegrenzt und weggesperrt’ (Ostracised and locked away) programme was published for the first time in German in 2019.

In 2023, the FOJ commissioned the Bern University of Teacher Education to update the content and translate it into French and Italian. This much expanded version has also been available online in French and Italian since September 2024.

School visits by witnesses (coordinated by "Austausch-Échange")

The Federal Office of Justice is supporting a project run by the organisation Austausch-Échange, which aims to familiarise the younger generation, students and apprentices with the topic by arranging for ‘witnesses’ from the time to visit schools. The focus is on hearing and discussing the story of someone who experienced the measures directly at the time. The dialogue-based exchange between pupils and witnesses offers a unique and often emotional approach to the topic as well as a shared space for self-reflection and for discussing the current system of care. The witnesses are accompanied by a teacher, who supervises the visit.

Last modification 02.06.2025

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