The general purpose of the project is to increase interest of young people in the European integration and European issues by supporting educators and youth workers in providing accurate materials and tools to show how the European heritage and values are linked to particular fields of knowledge the young people are being taught at schools. Our project thus brings forth the idea of creating new materials in form of a simple manual, updated by good practices from Poland, Germany and Romania. By identifying common challenges and specific problems in each country through critical approach towards European integration and issues in school curriculum we will engage educators, youth workers and young people to work on materials addressing the EU – the concept of integration, its demography, history, cultural and natural heritage as well as its institutions, competences and specific actions. Two training courses for educators and youth workers as well as one blended mobility for youth will be organized and constant work with local working groups will be conducted. In order to encourage deliberate learning processes inclusive and interactive methods will be used. In a participatory way, engaging educators, youth workers and youth, a manual on European education suited to the partners’ environments and needs will be created, tested, implemented and disseminated. In a long-term perspective the Manual aims to become a permanent resource for comprehensive European education in schools and youth-work. The project will therefore enhance the interest, critical approach and willingness of youth to participate in democratic and civic life of the European community by understanding it better.
Our objectives: A. to increase awareness and knowledge of young people (mostly students of primary and secondary schools) on EU and their countries as active EU Member States, B. to support educators and youth workers in improving the quality of European education by introducing them to new working methods and tools, transnational cooperation and exchange of good practices, C. to set up discussions on European issues in interesting and comprehensible format for young addressee by showing these issues in a broader context (within different subjects taught at schools, extracurricular activities and out of school youthwork), D. to build the network of local authorities, educators and youth workers to develop European education and thus improve the quality of the formal and non-formal education system in response to the challenges of today, E. to contribute to the development of intercultural dialogue, internalization of European values, better acquaintanceship between Europeans.
Our project aimed at increasing the interest of young people in the European integration and European issues. In Poland, due to changes in the curriculum European issues and values were not and are still not considered as very important and meaningful anymore. European topics, usually reduced and not showing the whole picture, are brought up occasionally within just few school subjects. Since European education is limited to youth work the scope of European integration related topics has decreased in recent years. More often than not, school curriculum, not only in Poland, is mostly full of factual knowledge, which prompts young people to focus rather on memorizing data than understanding processes, rules, ideas about the EU institutions or history of European integration. With our partners from Romania and Germany we therefore set on a quest to find a way to catch the interest of young people and encourage them to take up individual effort and further explore European values, take interest in current European issues.