Project title: Citizenship Education in European secondary schoolsProject period: 28 months (1 September 2016 – 31 December 2018)CONTEXT/BACKGROUNDSocial and civic competences are one of the essential key competences so European students must be equipped with the right knowledge, skills, attitudes and a commitment to active democratic participation in society.Our project wants to give a model how schools and curricula can contribute to students acquiring these skills. It has a competence- and project-based approach to find new ways in teaching citizenship education, focusing on practical skills through active learning – ’learning by doing’: learning about past and present violations of democratic principles in discussions with witnesses, volunteers and representatives of NGOs, excursions to places of remembrance, etc.OBJECTIVES• to promote equity, social cohesion and active citizenship through school education by discovering and exchanging good practices of partner schools;• to find new ways and methods for teachers in school education to enhance students’ social and civic competencies (knowledge, skills and attitudes) in a combination of both curricular and extra-curricular school based activities;• to increase students’ active European citizenship, ability to work in multicultural groups, positive attitude towards European projects and tolerance towards different cultures;• to build a European network of the partner schools lasting after the project period as well.NUMBER AND PROFILE OF PARTICIPANTS• 5 European secondary schools in Germany, Hungary, Poland, Spain and Turkey, all having curricular and/or extra-curricular programmes for citizenship education;• 15 teachers in the given schools committed to citizenship education;• 20-25 secondary school students in each school, mostly above the age of 16.DESCRIPTION OF ACTIVITIES1. PreparationA/ Setting up project management, selecting students, creating website;B/ Preparing project meetings and student exchanges;C/ Translating local good practices into English, uploading materials to website;2. ImplementationA/ Organising after-school workshops for students;B/ Transnational project meetings at each school for studying good practices;C/ Short-term student exchanges for experiencing extra-curricular activities in citizenship education: Tolerance Day, place of remembrance, Final Event;D/ Creating a methodological resource book and video guide and uploading them to the project website.METHODOLOGY• at project meetings: visiting lessons, presentations, lectures, transnational discussions, workshops and round tables, studying teaching/learning materials and methods, curricula and educational programmes, monitoring and evaluating progress, making surveys;• at after-school workshops for students before and after student exchanges: local group work/pair work, making presentations, studying the background of partner schools and countries – history, geography, arts, etc., monitoring and evaluating progress, making surveys;• at student exchanges: ’learning by doing’ - transnational group work/pair work, interactive transnational workshops and round tables, visits to places of remembrance, presentations, lectures, discussions, board games, films, sports, music, dances, arts and crafts, monitoring and evaluating progress, making surveys etc.RESULTS AND IMPACT1. main products• project website –a tool of communication and dissemination of results.• methodological resource book and video guide – uploaded to the website with free access for the public.2. expected impact on partner schools • testing and adapting good practices to the school curriculum or extra-curricular activities will promote their citizenship education with project-based learning and teaching methodology.3. expected impact on participating teachers • the project will contribute to the development of their professional, English and ICT skills and help to prevent professional burnout.4. expected impact on participating students • they will gain experience in cross-curricular and project-based learning in citizenship education in a Europe wide context;• the project will enhance their critical thinking, English, ICT, general communication, social, civic and intercultural competences too;LONG TERM BENEFITS• the work of 5 European schools (some of them newcomers in Erasmus+) will result a long-term cooperation;• the participating students will actively contribute to the development of democracy, inclusion and social cohesion in society, collaborate with NGO-s;• enhancement of citizenship education in other European schools by using the methodological resource book and video guide developed in the project.
CONTEXT/BACKGROUND Our project was based on the shared value of citizenship education used as a tool to educate active and conscious European citizens. We wanted to discover and exchange new innovative ways of curricular and extracurricular good practices of our partners and to give a model how secondary schools can contribute to the development of the social and civic competences of their students and to their active citizenship with a competence- and project-based approach. OBJECTIVES The main objective was to promote solidarity, social cohesion and active citizenship in European school education by discovering and exchanging good practices of partner schools and supporting teachers with the enhancement of social and civic competencies (knowledge, skills and attitudes) in a combination of both curricular and extra-curricular school based activities. We wanted to educate our student participants’ to become active European citizens, to develop their ability to work in multicultural groups, positive attitude towards European projects and tolerance towards different cultures. NUMBER AND PROFILE OF ORGANISATIONS There were 5 European schools involved in the project - from Germany, Hungary, Poland, Spain and Turkey, which all had their curricular and/or extra-curricular programmes for citizenship education. They all provide general education at secondary level, the German, Polish and Turkish schools are state ones, while the Spanish school is maintained by the Church and the Hungarian one by a foundation. DESCRIPTION OF ACTIVITIES 1. Preparation – project management was set up, students were selected and project workshops held in each school, while the project website was created and maintained by the coordinator school: https://crosscult.poli.hu/. 2. There were 6 transnational project meetings to discuss management issues, to visit lessons and to plan how good practices can be integrated into citizenship programmes of partner schools. 3. We organized short-term exchanges of groups of pupils in Budapest, Hungary; Zielitz, Germany; Kraków, Poland and Seville, Spain, where both teachers and students took part in the extra-curricular, citizenship education activities of the host school. 4. Finally, we created our main products: a handbook: https://crosscult.poli.hu/2019/02/18/handbook-final-product-of-the-project/, and a video guide: https://crosscult.poli.hu/2019/02/18/video-guide-final-product-of-the-project/ of our good practices. METHODOLOGY At after-school project workshops between student exchanges, students worked in groups or pairs. They prepared materials for student exchanges: made presentations, watched films about the topic, shared information about partner schools and countries. After the student exchange, they reported to their peers: introduced the activities of the exchange with photo and videos. At the student exchanges our main method was ’learning by doing’, i.e. students worked in transnational groups, presented home assignments, took part in interactive workshops, discussions and study visits to places of remembrance, created board games, etc. RESULTS AND IMPACT 1. Main products - the project website for the dissemination of results, and a hand book and video guide, uploaded to the website with free access for the public. 2. Impact on partner schools - the project has enhanced their extracurricular citizen education programmes with non formal, project- and activity based methods. 3. Impact on participating teachers – it has contributed to the development of their motivation, attitude, professional skills and methods, English and ICT competences, which can help to prevent professional burnout. 4. Impact on participating students – with learning about human rights, democracy, civic responsibility and the history, geography, culture and habits of their partners, the project has developed their critical thinking, English, ICT, general communication, social, civic and intercultural competences. The inclusion of students with fewer opportunities has helped their social integration. LONG TERM BENEFITS Participating students will become active, conscious European citizens after graduation, actively contributing to the development of democracy, inclusion and social cohesion in society, collaborating with NGOs. With the help of the hand book and video guide developed in the project, extracurricular activities of citizenship education will be adapted and introduced in other European secondary schools.