How could Teacher Education contribute to the development

of European Citizenship Literacy ?

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ISTEPEC

• Intercultural Studies in Teacher Education to Promote European

Citizenship

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The aim

is to help trainee teachers develop professional competences (= knowledge, skills and attitudes) in the area of European citizenship education

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ISTEPEC

• A Comenius 2.1 programme with Comenius 2.2 mobility grants for 240 trainees

• 2004 – 2007 (3 years)

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ISTEPEC

• A network of 10 partner institutions in 9 countries

– Stockholm (Se), Tilburg (Nl), Exeter (UK)– Poznan (Pl), Kecksemét (Hu), Banska

Bystriça (Sk)– Catania (It), Cordoba (Es), IUFM de

Bretagne (Fr)

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European Modules

• 2 week-modules• Designed collaboratively• Implemented in each institution

– Different contexts– Slightly different emphases or focuses

• An average of 16 participants from a variety of countries in each module

• 3 working languages: Spanish, English & French

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European Modules

• Work schedule :– 1/3 Workshops– 1/3 classroom observation & practice– 1/3 personal work

• Initiation to the host language (Polish, Slovak, etc.)

• Cultural week ends and social evenings related to the general theme of the module

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Before & after the modules

• Preparation in the institutions of origin

• Collaborative work on the distance learning platform (QuickPlace)

• Production of possible lesson plans to introduce European Citizenship Education at various levels (see examples on QuickPlace)

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Criteria for lesson plans

• The productions must show evidence of:– Learning from the new environment (learning

to look, listen and feel)– Emphasis on innovative teaching:

• Independent research• Discovery learning• Active learning• Contextual learning• Use of ICT

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The rationale behind the modules

• Interactive workshops

• Reflective approach : from experience to professional knowledge

• => Transferable skills

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How did we define the contents and select the ressources for

the workshops?

• Based on the notions of:– Citizenship literacy– European citizenship– Intercultural understanding

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Citizenship Literacy

• The notion of literacy : the state of being able to decipher and to produce artefacts in one given area of science – AND to act accordingly

• « literacy » can apply to any area; i.e. numerical literacy => numeracy

• Thence = citizenship literacy

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Citizenship Literacy

• Three components :– Thought– Language– Action

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Citizenship Literacy

• Thought– Food for thought: necessary input of

knowledge– Questioning, investigating, probing (the

scientific approach)– Autonomous critical thinking

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Citizenship Literacy

• Language– Understanding and decoding language

(including the media and the arts –all forms of mediation between the world and the self)

– Expressing one’s opinions, ideas, feelings and emotions without becoming aggressive or violent

– Debating, negotiating

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Citizenship Literacy

• Action– As a teacher– As a person– As a citizen (civic rights and duties)

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European Citizenship

• The idea of Europe : a historical and geo-political perspective

• The cultures (including values) & languages of Europe

• The European Institutions today

• Europe in today’s world; a few burning issues

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Intercultural Understanding

• De facto composition of the groups – International– Interdisciplinary– Interlevels (primary & secondary together)

• Finding out about professional cultures

• Eliciting the representations of « identity » and « identities »

• Intercultural practices during the workshop

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Examples of activities

• 6 thinking Hats

• Forum Theatre

• All kinds of People

• City magazines

• Films

• Monuments, architecture and history

• Etc…

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Value Added ?

• For the teacher trainers

• For the host teachers in schools

• For the trainees

• For the pupils

• For the institutions

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Looking towards the future

• European modules in the partner institutions as part of the « ordinary » teacher training course

• ECTS credits make mobility easier

• A future European master’s degree for teachers ?

http://ki.bretagne.iufm.fr/QuickPlace/istepec/