With the project “DEBATING-CRITICAL THINKING SKILLS” will be promoted debates and along with drawing the attention of the students to recent social issues in order to build a future of United Europe. The aims of the project are encouraging young people in leading a dialog, listening to each other and being tolerant in communication with others. The key project’s aim, along with uniting five schools from five different countries, is to create capable, well-informed, searching and active society. The participants will learn to express openly their standpoint, defend sensibly and convincingly own position and acting tolerant with people who has different viewpoint. The practical lectures will help them to develop oratory skills, master presentation, critical thinking and communication skills in order to help them for better presentation in a job interview. During this project will meet each other persons with different interests, life experiences and views provoking them to think. When you a surrounded with bright young people eager to know, speak and be heard you feel dynamic together with them. There is a place for everyone. There will be a challenge for getting out of comfort zone and joining environment where everyone wants to speak, participate in society and change something. The communication skills and personal qualities develop while participating in debates, where the competitive atmosphere inspires the students to upgrade day by day in friendly environment, too. The experience is useful and valuable. Essential in this project is learning to defend own thesis, to commit to other’s thesis and to prove his/her opinion. Will be prepared “A handbook How to Create a Debating Club and Debate at school” in order to help debaters without training. At the training meetings will be cleared up the admissible means and methods in debating, organize meetings and discussions with MEPs in the partner countries and shared experience and impressions from local Parliaments’ work. All this will lead to forming citizenship with desire for coping along with social apathy. In this project will be involved students with special educational needs where they won’t feel unworthy, burden to society or isolated. Teachers will be trained to be mediators in conflict solving, mentors and trainers, because the debates aim training the participants to find information independently, systematizing it and devising arguments from it. With the implemented activities the project participants are going to learn to be tolerant and accept different viewpoints; also will learn culture of communication and ethics, which is extremely important in occasions of seeing aggression and lack of tolerance between young people. There will be cooperation with local students’ parliaments, NGOs, schools in the region, formal and informal institutions for disseminating the results and products of the project. The students will write essays on “I- Citizen of United Europe and a Future MEP” and the best essays besides being awarded will be published in a project collection. Enclosed certification program will motivate the students making them responsible citizens and boosting their self-confidence. Students will be able to work in 2030 when we take into account project’s results. They will have the certificates as evidence for employers on the labor market about the competences acquired in this project which will enrich beneficiaries’ portfolio.
The “DEBATING-CRITICAL THINKING SKILLS” project wanted to promote debates and draw students' attention to recent social issues to build the future of a United Europe. The objectives of the project were mainly: - encouraging young people - leading a dialogue, - listening to each other - be tolerant in communicating with others. Thanks to a partnership of five schools from five different countries, we wanted to give our contribution to sensitizing our pupils to the issue in order to create a capable, well-informed, and active society. Participants learned to express their point of view openly, to defend their position sensibly and convincingly, and to respect people with different points of view. The practical lessons helped them develop speaking skills, good command in the presentation of activities, critical thinking and communication, and relationship skills with others. During this project people with different interests, life experiences, and points of view met. Thanks to the interaction between these subjects with our children, who are attentive and eager to listen and express their opinion, an extremely dynamic and stimulating learning environment has been created. The results were useful and valuable as well as a source of inspiration for future initiatives: our young people understood the importance of getting out of their comfort zone, releasing themselves from many preconceptions or the fear of confrontation. They have well understood the basic concepts of a civil community and above all, they are aware that everyone must express and defend their opinions. The experience was useful and valuable. A manual on "How to create a discussion club at school" was prepared. During the LTTA, teachers explained possible tools and methods useful for discussing, organizing meetings and discussions with decision-makers in partner countries, and sharing experiences and impressions with local administrators. Debate was an active citizenship project aimed at combating the lack of initiative and social apathy among citizens. The involvement of pupils with special needs was also important to emphasize the inclusive logic of the whole project. Finally, teachers were trained to become conflict resolution mediators, mentors, and trainers.