Taking groups of students to the Auschwitz-Birkenau Memorial and Museum is a heavy responsibility, but it is a major contribution to citizenship if it fosters understanding of what Auschwitz stands for, particularly when the last survivors are at the end of their lives. It comes with certain risks, however.
This pack is designed for teachers wishing to organise student visits to authentic places of remembrance, and for the guides, academics and others who work every day with young people at Auschwitz.
There is nothing magical about visiting an authentic place of remembrance, and it calls for a carefully thought-out approach. To avoid the risk of inappropriate reactions or the failure to benefit from a large investment in travel and accommodation, considerable preparation and discussion is necessary before the visit and serious reflection afterwards. Teachers must prepare students for a form of learning they may never have met before.
This pack offers insights into the complexities of human behaviour so that students can have a better understanding of what it means to be a citizen. How are they concerned by what happened at Auschwitz? Is the unprecedented process of exclusion that was practised in the Holocaust still going on in Europe today? In what sense is it different from present-day racism and anti-Semitism?
The young people who visit Auschwitz in the next few years will be witnesses of the last witnesses, links in the chain of memory. Their generation will be the last to hear the survivors speaking on the spot.
The Council of Europe, the Polish Ministry of Education and the Auschwitz-Birkenau Memorial and Museum are jointly sponsoring this project aimed at preventing crimes against humanity through Holocaust remembrance teaching.
The objective of this manual is to support teachers and practitioners in Education for Democratic Citizenship and Human Rights Education (EDC/HRE). It addresses key questions about EDC and HRE, including competences for democratic citizenship, the objectives and basic principles of EDC/HRE, and a whole school approach to education for democracy and human rights.
The manual consists of three parts. Part I outlines the basic principles of EDC/HRE as far as they are helpful and meaningful for the practitioner. Part II gives guidelines and tools to design, support and assess the students' processes of constructivist and interactive learning. Part III provides toolboxes for teachers and students in EDC/HRE.
The other volumes in this series offer concrete teaching models and materials in EDC/HRE for pupils from elementary to upper secondary level.
Not by bread alone gathers essays on higher education, including some written especially for this book. They cover three key areas: the missions of higher education, public responsibility and qualifications. Together, these essays spell out a view of higher education as a key factor in developing modern societies built on the fundamental Council of Europe values of democracy, human rights and the rule of law. They also underline the key role of higher education in developing the ability of our societies to conduct intercultural dialogue.
To fulfil its role, higher education needs to prepare for citizenship as well as for employment, for personal development as well as for the development of a broad knowledge base. Our vision of higher education and its multiple purposes must be reflected in the way we view qualifications. We also need to take a close look at how the public responsibility for higher education and research can best be exercised in a society with many actors, all of which have their own legitimate agendas. In this situation, public authorities have an overall responsibility for coherent education policies.
This recommendation concerns the mastery of the language of schooling in the various subjects taught and its importance for learners' success.
Many factors have well-documented roles to play in a learner's educational success or failure (the family's socio-economic situation, help available to learners from their parents, educational activities, level of teacher training, early support, etc.).
Inadequate command of a wide range of linguistic forms partly determines educational failure, as confrmed by the programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) and the Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS).
Mastery of the language(s) of schooling is one of the ways to achieve the goal set by the European Commission and by a wide range of national authorities of reducing the number of learners leaving the education system without qualifcations. The measures to promote an adequate mastery of competences in the language of schooling on the part of all students are part of the action against educational failure, and thus an important contribution to the search for equity and quality in education.
With the possible exception of "employability", no word is used more frequently in current education debate than "quality". However, quality itself is rarely debated. It tends to be taken for granted and discussions focus on how it may best be achieved.
The Council of Europe takes the view that the quality of education needs to be assessed in accordance with what we - public authorities, educators and the public in general - want education to achieve. The Committee of Ministers Recommendation CM/Rec(2012)13 on ensuring quality education links the notion of quality to the purposes of education: preparation for employment; preparation for life as active citizens in democratic societies; personal development; or the development and maintenance of a broad and advanced knowledge base. The recommendation considers that ensuring quality education is a public responsibility which needs to be adapted to the level of education and age of students. It distinguishes between the quality of individual schools and higher education institutions and the quality of education systems. It also emphasises that, at system level, social inclusion must be seen as an integral part of the notion of quality. If an education system has a few lite schools and higher education institutions but does not provide adequate opportunities for all its students, it cannot be considered a high quality system.
Cette recommandation porte sur la maîtrise de la langue de scolarisation dans les différentes matières enseignées et son importance pour la réussite des apprenants.
De nombreux facteurs jouent un rôle bien connu dans la réussite ou l'échec scolaire (situation socio-économique de la famille, aide que peut trouver l'apprenant auprès de ses parents, démarches pédagogiques, niveau de formation des enseignants, soutien précoce, etc.).
Le manque de maîtrise de formes linguistiques diversifiées détermine pour partie l'échec scolaire, comme le confirment les enquêtes du Programme international pour le suivi des acquis des élèves (PISA) et du Programme international de recherche en lecture scolaire (PIRLS).
La maîtrise de la ou des langue(s) de scolarisation représente l'une des voies devant permettre d'atteindre l'objectif - que se fixent la Commission européenne et de nombreuses autorités au niveau national - d'une réduction du nombre d'apprenants quittant le système scolaire sans qualification. Les mesures en faveur d'une maîtrise suffisante des compétences en langue de scolarisation par tous les élèves relèvent de la lutte contre l'échec scolaire et participent ainsi au premier chef à la recherche d'équité et de qualité dans l'éducation.
Mobility is considered to be important for the personal development and employability of young people, as well as for intercultural dialogue, participation and active citizenship. Learning mobility in the youth field focuses on non-formal learning as a relevant part of youth work, with links to informal learning as well as to formal education. Different stakeholders at European level, particularly the Council of Europe and the European Commission, but also individual member states, foster programmes and strategies to enhance the mobility of young people, and particularly the learning dimension in mobility schemes.
This book on learning mobility is a joint Council of Europe and European Commission publication, and provides texts of an academic, scientific, political and practical nature for all stakeholders in the youth field - youth leaders and youth workers, policy makers, researchers and so on. It should contribute to dialogue and co-operation between relevant players and to discussion on the further development and purpose of youth mobility schemes and their outcomes for young people.
The linguistic integration of migrants affects every aspect of settling in a new country (employment, health, etc.). The aim of this collection of texts is to propose a number of specific measures member states can take to help adult migrants become acquainted with the language of the host country. The main focus is on organising language courses that meet migrants' real communication needs. It is not enough for authorities simply to consider the technical aspects of such courses, they should also design and conduct them in accordance with the fundamental values of the Council of Europe.
A number of issues concerning the linguistic integration of adult migrants are presented here, beginning with the notion of linguistic integration itself. Family reunion, the nature of citizenship and the function of language tests, among others, are dealt with from the point of view of language and language use. Readers are invited to reflect on the type of language competences that need to be acquired as well as an appropriate use of the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages. The collection also sets out approaches and instruments designed to assist in implementing effective policies.
Growing up in democracy is addressed to teachers who want to integrate Education for Democratic Citizenship (EDC) and Human Rights Education (HRE) in their daily subject teaching. Nine teaching units of approximately four lesson plans each give step-by-step instructions and include student handouts and background information for teachers. The complete manual provides a full school year's curriculum for students in primary school (grades 4 to 6), but as each unit is also complete in itself the manual allows great flexibility in use. It is therefore also suitable for textbook editors, curriculum developers, teacher trainers, student teachers and beginning teachers.The objective of EDC/HRE is to teach children to become active citizens who are willing and able to participate in the democratic community. Therefore, EDC/HRE strongly emphasise action and task-based learning. The school community is conceived as a sphere of authentic experience where young people can learn how to participate in democratic decision making and may take responsibility at an early age. Key concepts for EDC/HRE are taught as tools of life-long learning.
This is a manual for teachers in Education for Democratic Citizenship (EDC) and Human Rights Education (HRE), EDC/HRE textbook editors and curriculum developers. Nine teaching units of approximately four lessons each focus on key concepts of EDC/HRE. The lesson plans give step-by-step instructions and include student handouts and background information for teachers. In this way, the manual is suitable for trainees or beginners in the teaching profession and teachers who are receiving in-service teacher training in EDC/HRE. Experienced teachers may draw on the ideas and materials. The complete manual provides a full school year's curriculum for students in upper secondary school (grades 10 to 12), but as each unit is also complete in itself, the manual allows great flexibility of use.The objective of EDC/HRE is the active citizen who is willing and able to participate in the democratic community. Therefore, EDC/HRE strongly emphasises action and task-based learning. This manual for upper secondary level focuses on key competences that enable young people to participate in democratic decision making and to meet the challenges of a dynamic pluralist society. Key concepts of EDC/HRE are taught as tools of lifelong learning.
Education which helps citizens live together in our diverse societies is a matter of urgency. We all need to develop the ability to understand each other across all types of cultural barriers; this is a fundamental prerequisite for making our diverse democratic societies work.This publication looks at the development of intercultural competence as a key element of mainstream education. It stresses the need firstly for an appropriate education policy which puts intercultural competence at the heart of all education and, above all, for the development, on an everyday basis, of the necessary attitudes, skills and knowledge needed for mutual understanding. Without these, no sustainable societal change is possible.
Democratic institutions and laws are essential, but they cannot bring about democracy on their own. They will only function if they build on a culture of democracy, and our societies will not be able to develop and sustain such a culture unless education plays an essential role. Student engagement is crucial: democracy cannot be taught unless it is practised within institutions, among students and in relations between higher education and society in general.
This 20th volume of the Council of Europe Higher Education Series demonstrates the importance of student engagement for the development and maintenance of the democratic culture that enables democratic institutions and laws to function in practice. This volume covers three aspects of student engagement that are seldom explored: its role in society through political participation and civic involvement; its place in higher education policy processes and policy-making structures; and how student unions represent the most institutionalised form of student engagement. The authors are accomplished scholars, policy makers, students and student leaders.
