The Numismatic Collection travelling museum kits in Crete

Two “Currency and Transactions. From Yesterday to Nowadays” educational programme museum kits of the Alpha Bank Numismatic Collection travelled to junior high schools in Crete from January to May 2024.

The journey began with an online educational meeting on 18.01.2024 jointly hosted by the Numismatic Collection and the Herakleio Secondary Education Directorate. The meeting aimed at presenting the programme to high-school teachers from Crete.

The teachers embraced the programme and expressed strong interest in:

• Its topics
• The experiential teaching practices it suggests

The warm reception by the teachers in combination with the excellent collaboration with Crete’s Educational Advisor on Economics, Giorgos Vouzaxakis, resulted in the 2 museum kits travelling consecutively to 8 junior high schools on the island:

• 10th Junior High School of Herakleio
• 3rd Junior High School of Herakleio
• 11th Junior High School of Herakleio
• 6th Junior High School of Herakleio
• Junior High School of Fourfouras
• Junior High School of Tympaki
• Junior High School of Moires
• 4th Junior High School of Rethymno

1,500 students attended the programme.

Posts about the initiative were made on the Website for the Collaboration of Economics Teachers of Crete, as well as on the websites of some of the schools that participated in the programme, such as the 3rd Junior High School of Herakleio, the 10th Junior High School of Herakleio and the Junior High School of Fourfouras.

How the students benefited

During the programme, the children:

• Explored the history of coins and the evolution of transactions in Greece, from antiquity to the present day.
• Got to know the biographies of 13 figures from Greek mythology, as well as ancient and more contemporary history.
• Held in their hands exact replicas of the strongest currency from each historical period.
• Got to know key financial transaction terminology.
• Got acquainted with modern transaction methods, as dictated by the advent of technology and the digital era.
• Came in contact with topics such as modern financial options and their effective management on a personal level.

Aims of the programme

The main aims of the “Currency and Transactions. From Yesterday to Nowadays” educational programme were for students to:

• Learn about the evolution of transactions throughout the centuries.
• Come into contact with financial literacy.

Additionally, the programme aimed at stimulating teachers of various specialisations to enrich the teaching process and link the programme with lessons and subject areas of the school curriculum.

Programme review presentation

On 14.05.2024, the Alpha Bank Numismatic Collection and Crete’s Educational Advisor on Economics jointly hosted an online programme review, including:

• The results of the museum kits’ journey across Crete.
• The experience of the teachers who participated in the programme.
• The practices applied.

The review also aimed at sparking a broader dialogue about the educational programme concerning:

• Its educational benefits.
• The multiple interpretations that it can be given.
• The fact that it can be linked to various experiential activities in the classroom.
• The stimuli and learning opportunities it can offer to students in remote schools.

Open discussion

The presentation was open to secondary school teachers that didn't participate in the programme. In the open discussion that followed, teachers:

• Got informed about the programme and the best practices that can be applied during its implementation.
• Participated by sharing their views and ideas.
• Expressed their interest in implementing the programme in their own schools during the upcoming school year.