Abstract:

Promoting the participation of the youth in research is considered to be one of the most important priorities of modern education, the successful implementation of which determines the succession and sustainability of science. To implement this priority, various types of knowledge transfer activities are organized. Summer schools are considered to be a successful form of non-formal education that provides a possibility to attract the youth to a research issue, deepen their knowledge and arouse interest in research in general. In addition, summer schools successfully develop young people's soft skills and provide an excellent experience of international communication, allowing them to meet colleagues and make friends.

Within the framework of the project No. lzp-2020 / 2-0136 "The Baltic Germans of Latgale in the context of socio-ethnic relations from the 17th to the beginning of the 20th century", funded by the Latvian Council of Science, conducting interdisciplinary scientific research on the Baltic German cultural heritage in Latgale region, in the summer of 2021, the international scientific summer school “Baltic Germans’ heritage in Latgale of the 16th - 20th century” was organized. The aim of the article is to analyse the scientific and educational specifics of the summer school, as well as other peculiarities of the activity, which were determined by the theme of the project. At the end of the summer school, the participants provided both oral and written feedback, which is used in the article to analyse the strengths and the weaknesses of the summer school. The peculiarities of the summer school were determined by the focus of the project on the research of the cultural heritage of the ethnic minority (Baltic Germans), which is especially relevant today, as it stimulates interest in the culture of ethnic minorities. By becoming better aware of this culture, the young people’s tolerance is developed.

The Baltic German culture and history in the region of Latgale have not been thoroughly studied, therefore the summer school is of unique importance. It provided the participants with the opportunity to get informed about the results of recent and yet unpublished studies. At the same time, the organizers and lecturers of the summer school, who are also the researchers of the project, had the challenge to present the research results to the participants of the summer school in the most compelling way possible, so that they would be remembered and would arouse further interest. In order to achieve these results, classes and lectures at cultural heritage sites were chosen as the most successful solution, which allowed the participants to get to know the Baltic German cultural heritage on-site and to understand its place in the multi-ethnic region of Latgale.

Keywords:

Summer school, non-formal education, tolerance, ethnic minority, research project.