To encourage dialogue among researchers and practitioners, the EWC annually organizes a series of Educators’ Consultations in cooperation with European universities and teacher training institutions. Latest research projects and their key findings related to issues of democratic citizenship, human rights and intercultural understanding are shortly introduced.
In 2011, the Educators' Consultations will focus on the findings of the IEA International Civic and Citizenship Education Study (ICCS). The EWC regards the findings of the study, which was published in autumn 2010, extremely interesting with regard to basic challenges of EDC in schools.
The findings indicate a gap between pupils' "civic knowledge" on the one
hand and their willingness to engage actively in the political life of
their society (with the exception of taking part in elections/using
their right to vote). The study will therefore be the initial point for
discussions with teachers and teacher trainers in different European
countries; Austria, Bulgaria, Poland, Germany and others.
Questions for debate:
- What do more engaging approaches to learning democracy look like?
- What experience do educators have with participatory learning
methods, inclusive class room environments, Democratic School Governance
and EDC-partnerships between schools and local communities?
The first 2 consultations in 2011 will take place in May, in Austria:
2
May: Vienna/Austria, in cooperation with the University of Vienna and
Polis/The Austrian Centre for Citizenship Education in Schools 4
May: Innsbruck/Austria, in cooperation with the University of Innsbruck
and Polis/The Austrian Centre for Citizenship Education in SchoolsMore information on forthcoming consultations will be published soon.
Henrik Wergeland (1808 – 1845) was a romantic poet and an important historian. He was an advocate for
democracy, and an eager defender of freedom of faith and freedom of expression.
