In 2011/12, the Educators' Consultations focus on the findings of the IEA International Civic and Citizenship Education Study (ICCS) and the CoE Charter on EDC and HRE.

The ICCS 2009 European Report: Civic knowledge, attitudes and engagement among lower secondary students in 24 European countries presents results of analyses designed to investigate students’ knowledge and understanding of civics and citizenship in a European context and their perceptions, attitudes, and behaviors with respect to specific European-related civic and political issues, institutions, and policies. The ICCS was carried out by the International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement (IEA).

The EWC regards the findings of the study, which was published in autumn 2010, highly 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 be the initial point for discussions among educational practitioners and researchers in the seminars taking place in different European countries; Austria, Bulgaria, 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?

Consultations in 2011:

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 Schools

31 May: Sofia/Bulgaria, in cooperation with the University of Sofia and the Ministry of Education, Youth and Science - Bulgaria


More information about forthcoming consultations will be published soon.