We wanted to promote the European Union values through school education by empowering teachers and pupils with the tools to make those values effective and practical. Among some of our key objectives were: - Stimulating teachers to acquire content knowledge about values and knowledge about learning and teaching these values. - Acquisition by teachers of value-related skills and learn how to help students reflect, enter into dialogue with others and develop democratic skills. - Support teachers in dealing with controversial issues, in particular, by offering collegial support and profound expertise on the content involved. - Provide teachers with possibilities to experience the values of the European Union themselves, as well as value teaching and learning processes, in local, national and international settings. ‑ Identifying core European values and learning goals for students in a cross-curricular way. ‑ Detecting opportunities and dangers for students during the learning process of common European values. ‑ Making students as well as all teachers aware of the need for developing and exemplifying common European values.
According to the recommendations made by the Research for CULT Committee - Teaching Common Values in Europe back in 2017, each nation should try to find a good balance between policy steering and giving autonomy to schools. The perspective of steering expresses what society expects from all schools with regard to teaching common values. Autonomy, on the other hand, gives schools the space to develop their own pedagogical vision for developing values, within their own context, through the active involvement of teachers and students. Schools should be at the center of their community and serve as the pedagogical engine for community development. Parents, community groups and NGOs should surround the school and partner up in educating young people. Mutual support makes education more meaningful for students and can create a strong pedagogical community. The European Union's fundamental values are respect for human dignity and human rights, freedom, democracy, equality and the rule of law. These values unite all the member states – no country that does not recognize these values can belong to the Union. We carried out the project in a transnational way to reach further and apply common core European values in action.