With the societal challenges young Europeans face, education plays a key role in forming capable citizens able to collectively answer today’s and tomorrow’s issues. Even though “the promotion of civic proficiency” is a European priority and developed by numerous schools on the continent, we observe strong disparities regarding civic education among member states. There is a real need for cooperation to reinforce European school’s ability to develop civic education programs. To that effect, the strategic partnership European ACCES aims to share, transfer and develop innovative practices in civic education to: 1. Reinforce schools in the implementation of pedagogical tools for civic education. - Develop expertise regarding the needs and practices existing in Europe regarding student participation - Give the tools and train professors and actors of high school life to implement pedagogical projects on civic education in their schools. - Reinforce cooperation in-between schools and youth actors to develop methods based in formal and non-formal learning. - Encourage openness among faculty and students to their local community and the European educational space. 2. Develop democratic participation and civic expression for the 14 to18 year olds in the academic context. - Reinforce participation and civic expression in the academic context - Promote student access to democratic spaces fostering better understanding of today’s issues on the local, national and European level. - Encourage the acquisition of civic and social skills for high school students in Europe (critical thinking, commitment, openness to European cultures, adaptability, linguistic practices) - Encourage dialogue between faculty and students around common projects Targeted groups: - High school students aged 14 to 18 year old in Europe - European high schools: professors and faculty - Administrations participating in the construction of pedagogical policies The project unites a consortium committed to civic education. Its members, four schools proposing varied devices of civic education, are complementary both in their geographic position and expertise. The European Youth Parliament develops exchange, expression and debate projects proposed by students for students. The Portuguese association ECOS accompanies schools in the implementation of non-formal civic education projects and relies on a large network of partner schools in Europe. Throughout the project, consortium actors will coordinate 6 pilot group gathering students and faculty during 3 cycles of the “ACCES path”. - At the start of the year: identification of actors and devices to implement - Debate club on current events coordinated with a pedagogical project. Multilingual exchange with five other pilot groups through an online debate platform. - Organisation of one or more activities open to the local community, also within a pedagogical project. - Experimentation of high school democratic device - At the end of the school year, formalisation of propositions for youth civic participation in Europe - Valorisation of skills developed through the path The consortium coordinates the production and publication of varied intellectual productions: - Research, census of European practices and policies - Method sheets, Resource sheets, pedagogical tools for online debate ExpressLAB - Proposition guide for local, national and European leaders - Formation kit facilitating the publication of resources through a network of instructors for European students and faculty. Ultimately, the project participative high schools will have impacted: 25 countries, 120 new actors involving +30 000 persons who will have discovered the project through social networks +300 monthly visits on the web platform. 24 highschools, 500 high school students. Through a broad diffusion, this project mobilises a great number of faculties, students but also youth organisations working with schools in Europe. The tools developed aim to be reused durably by formal and non-formal education actors in Europe though a large publication using: - Events organised throughout the project - The constitution of a network of instructors, resource capable persons for faculty and students in Europe - The publication of those resources among the European networks of the EYP – France (40 countries with over 1000 students) ECOS (educational teams and actors of non-formal education Network of Democratic citizenship Schools) and through a network of associated actors.
Nous avons donc déterminé les objectifs suivant : - Développer la coopération en Europe entre différents établissements scolaires secondaires , privés et publics, généraux et professionnels et les acteurs de l’éducation et de la citoyenneté: associations locales, institutions publiques et privées, …; - Stimuler les échanges entre enseignants et élèves au niveau européen ; - Renouveler les pratiques d'apprentissage de l'éducation civique en promouvant l’utilisation de nouvelles technologies et de méthodes pédagogiques innovantes; - Créer des ressources accessibles pour renouveler l'apprentissage de l'éducation civique et stimuler la participation des élèves; - Former à l'utilisation de ces ressources pour les intégrer efficacement dans leurs pratiques pédagogiques; - Favoriser le sentiment d'appartenance à la communauté européenne en mettant l'accent sur les valeurs communes en matière de démocratie et de citoyenneté; - Renforcer l'expression démocratique des jeunes autour des questions politiques, sociales et civiques, grâce aux développements de compétences et de connaissances durables par le biais d’activités participatives.
Le projet “European Acts and cooperation for Civic Education in Schools” est né de plusieurs constats effectués par les partenaires du projet dans le milieu scolaire. L’école est un lieu central pour l’apprentissage du vivre ensemble et de la citoyenneté. S’il n’est pas le seul et ne devrait pas être perçu comme tel, il reste le moyen le plus efficace et le plus utilisé pour éduquer les jeunes à la citoyenneté. En tant qu’enseignants et professionnels de jeunes travaillant auprès d’élèves en milieu scolaire secondaire, les organisations partenaires avaient identifié, grâce à leur expertise respective, les besoins suivants en matière d’éducation civique à l’école: - Approfondir les envies et les besoins des jeunes en matière d'éducation civique; - Échanger sur les pratiques existantes; - Croiser les regards entre enseignements formels et informels ; - Mise en œuvre d'activités participatives; - Proposer des ressources accessibles ; - Réfléchir et analyser l’éducation civique au niveau européen. Suite à l’analyse de ces besoins, il nous est paru opportun de proposer un projet de partenariat stratégique qui nous permettait notamment de mener une réflexion pédagogique conjointe au niveau européen.