The project “DISCOURSE - DISCussing OUR Stance for Europe ” will promote debating but will also draw the attention of our students to present-day social issues because they are the future builders of United Europe. Our project aims at encouraging young people to lead a dialogue, listen to each other and be tolerant while communicating. The key objective of the project, which unites five schools from five different countries, is to help build a well-informed, capable, searching and active civil society. Project participants will learn to openly express their standpoint, convincingly and sensibly defend their own position and be tolerant to those who don’t share their point of view. With the aid of practical lessons they will develop their oratory skills, critical thinking, master presentation and communication skills, which in turn will help them perform better at a job interview. We will bring together people with different interests, views and life experience, and we will provoke them to think. When you are put in an environment which is filled with bright young people who want to know, speak and be heard, it is something contagious. There is a place for everyone. They will challenge you to get out of your comfort zone and will set you in an environment which will make you want to speak, be part of your society and change something. Debates are a really good environment for the development of personal qualities and communication skills. What is more, a competitive atmosphere inspires people to want to be better than they were the day before. At the same time it is a friendly environment, too. As a whole, it is a valuable and useful experience. But the essence of the whole project is for a person to learn how to defend his/her own thesis, commit himself/herself to other people’s theses and prove to the listeners that he/she is right. We will prepare “A Handbook How to Create a Debating Club and Debate at School”, which will help those who want to debate,without being trained to. During training meetings, we will clarify the methods and admissible means while debating, present meetings and discussions with MEPs from partner countries and share impressions from the work of local Parliaments. This will help form a citizenship and a desire for coping with social apathy. In addition, we will take care of the students with special educational needs to find their place in the project, so that they won’t feel isolated, unworthy or a burden to society. We will train teachers as mediators for conflict solving, trainers and mentors because the aim of the debate is to find information independently, systematize it and devise arguments from it. By implementing project activities, participants will learn how to be tolerant, accept different points of view; will be acquainted with ethics and culture of communication. And this is extremely important in a time when we observe aggression and lack of tolerance among youths. We will cooperate with NGOs,vlocal students’ parliaments,vformal and informal institutions and schools in the region for dissemination of project products and results. One vital activity will be students writing essays on “I- Citizen of United Europe and a Future MEP”.The best essays will be awarded and a long-term distribution will be ensured by publishing them in a project collection. We will include a certification program in our project to motivate students, make them more responsible citizens and help their self-confidence. Students will be able to work in 2030 when we take into account the project’s results. These certificates will be evidence for employers in the labor market of the knowledge and skills the students have acquired in the mobility, and will also enrich beneficiaries’ portfolio. During project activities, students will apply their knowledge in the sphere of ICT, English language, since this will be the project’s main working language, History, Politics, Philosophy, Business Education, Geography, Ecology and Psychology. They will create products which will be a symbol of cross-border cooperation and intercultural exchange.The project’s voluntary initiatives “Good Deeds of Young Debaters” will support socially disadvantaged families, organize collecting food packages and necessities which will help the work of animal shelters. Debaters will also visit homes for the elderly.The project’s sustainability will be ensured by producing films, which will be shot during debates, and will be given in the form of a CD to each participant. We will use the opportunities of the cinema as the best means for communication and presentation of values.
The project “DISCOURSE - DISCussing OUR Stance for Europe ” promoted debating, but also drew the attention of our students to present-day social issues because they are the future builders of a United Europe. Our project aimed at encouraging young people to lead a dialogue, listen to each other and be tolerant while communicating. The key objective of the project, which united five schools from five different countries, was to help build a well-informed, capable, searching and active civil society. Project participants learned to openly express their standpoint, convincingly and sensibly defend their own position and be tolerant to those who don’t share their point of view. With the aid of practical lessons, they developed their oratory skills, critical thinking, and mastered presentation and communication skills, which in turn will help them perform better at a job interview. We brought together people with different interests, views and life experience, and we provoked them to think. When you are put in an environment which is filled with bright young people who want to know, speak and be heard, it is something contagious. They will challenge you to get out of your comfort zone and will set you in an environment which will make you want to speak, be part of your society and change something. Debates are a really good environment for the development of personal qualities and communication skills. What is more, a competitive atmosphere inspires people to want to be better than they were the day before. At the same time it is a friendly environment, too. As a whole, it is a valuable and useful experience. The essence of the whole project was for a person to learn how to defend his/her own thesis, commit himself/herself to other people’s theses and prove to the listeners that he/she is right. We prepared “A Handbook How to Create a Debating Club and Debate at School”, which will help those who want to debate. We held meetings and discussions with MEPs from partner countries and shared impressions from the work of local parliaments. This will help form a citizenship and a desire for coping with social apathy. By implementing project activities, participants learned how to be tolerant and accept different points of view. They were acquainted with the ethics and culture of communication. We cooperated with NGOs, local students’ parliaments, and formal and informal institutions for dissemination of project products and results. We also held an essay competition on the topic of “I- Citizen of United Europe and a Future MEP”.The best essays were awarded and a long-term distribution ensured by publishing them in a project collection. We included a certification program in our project to motivate students, make them more responsible citizens and help their self-confidence. During project activities, students applied their knowledge in the sphere of ICT, English language, since this was the project’s main working language, History, Politics, Philosophy, Business Education, Geography, Ecology and Psychology. They created products which are a symbol of cross-border cooperation and intercultural exchange. The project’s voluntary initiatives “Good Deeds of Young Debaters” supported socially disadvantaged families, organized collecting food packages and necessities which will help the work of animal shelters. Debaters also visited homes for the elderly.