Purpose/goal
To activate teachers' creativity to solve challenges
Duration
1,5- 2 hours
Material
bookcovers
volunteers
Description
It is an open book about life.
There are no paper books in the Human Library. You meet people of flesh and blood. People with an inspiring story or a poignant testimony. Their stories are about loss, success, illness, hope, recovery… Talking with a Human Book is not only a good remedy against prejudices and taboos, but also ideal to inspire and develop creative thinking.
How does it work?
At the beginning of each Human Library you get an overview of the Human Books present. You choose the story that appeals most to you and get to know the man or woman behind the story. Each conversation lasts 20 to 30 minutes. During this time you will have the opportunity to get to know the Human Book in a personal conversation, from person to person.
In The Human Library it is like a real library:
- The Book is the person who wants to share his experiences.
- The Borrower is the person who wants to borrow a 'book'.
- The Catalogue is the collection of titles and short descriptions of each book, with keywords.
- The Librarian is the administrator of The Human Library.
Vlaamse Vereniging voor Geestelijke Gezondheid (VVGG) (Flemish Mental Health Association). (s.d.). The Human Library. Consulted from https://www.geestelijkgezondvlaanderen.be/de-levende-bibliotheek
How did we use it at the AP college?
Good education is one of the most important escape routes from deprivation. It is therefore important that our students gain insight into the complexity of this subject and are able to provide good education. In order to be able to set up a good education, it is important that students can come up with solutions for the obstacles they encounter. Poverty is one such obstacle. They have to be able to work in their school and classroom with few resources. In the past, we noticed that students often got stuck on the complexity of the problem.
The Human library not only helps them to grasp the complexity, but we also focus on the further development of our students' creative thinking so that they are able to come up with solutions with few resources and within a unique context. The Human books bring all students a unique story that not only inspires, but is also a starting point to find creative solutions for the problems they are confronted with in education.
Moreover, this form of work also enables them to test their actions or flourishing ideas against various experts.
Available in Dutch and English