The educational systems in (most) European countries seem to have relegated civic education to the rang of a “secondary course”. Textbooks and teaching methods are often limited in their scope and the European dimension is practically absent from them, failing to exploit the potentialities inherent to the subject and teachers’ abilities and sensitivities.

In view of this ascertainment, the project comes to fill a gap, upgrading and updating the educational approach to civic education in a European context with a view to helping the educational community in shaping well-rounded, responsible European citizens of tomorrow.

The project targets the educational community (teachers, lower secondary school pupils, policy-makers, etc.) and, by extension, society as a whole. Partners elaborate a survey and analyse the didactic needs in their respective countries, cooperate in drafting a teacher’s manual on European citizenship based on the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights, train teachers, carry out and assess test-run activities in schools, and organize national/trans-national meetings with the wider educational community, examining possible partnerships.

The outputs are a survey of needs, a teacher’s manual, tuition courses, instruction workshops, evaluation surveys, as well as a number of promotional and dissemination products, tools and activities.

Outcomes and Results
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The project outcomes concern a number of materialised and non-materialised resources:

The handy outcomes referred to the elaboration of the Charta Nostra manual, which contain a number of activities based on and inspired by the Articles of the Charter of the Fundamental Rights of the EU. It was created as an e-book format and it has been uploaded to project’s site. Seven lingual versions have been developed, i.e. DE, EN, EL, ES, FR, IT and SI. For dissemination reasons 600 copies of a CD-ROM containing all the lingual versions had been produced. Another product is a survey with the affirmative title d “Initial identification of situation and mapping of needs of teachers in Civic Education and European Citizenship in junior high schools” in EN. A number of other useful products was produced as well, which assisted the promotion and the wide exploitation of project’s manual, such as the project’s site (where one can find project information and download all lingual versions of the Charta Nostra manual), 2 materials for promotional reasons, i.e. a promo-post cards depicting the front page of the manual and a brochure in IT for publicizing project’s manual in Italy, an electronic newsletter in IT for dissemination reasons nationwide, a database containing entries of institutional educational agencies of IT, an email list directory with entries of educational agencies Europe-wide and Mediterranean countries, a scrapbook with press releases, a photo gallery with photos from project activities for documentation reasons and 2 assessment reviews.

The non-materialised outcomes concern briefings given to a number of educational agencies, tuition courses carried out, addressed and engage teachers, a guidance course for parents and a European meeting, all aimed at ensuring the availability of project’s results to the widest possible stakeholders and audience.

In addition, to the above one can count other outcomes, such as the methods developed, the experiences gained, the efforts made to rouse the improvement of educational policies aspects and the partnerships and the friendly supporting ring which has been created around the project.

The conclusions of project evaluations focused on the innovative concept of the manual, its qualitative features, its possibility for diachronic utilization, the flexibility, interdisciplinary approach and transferability of its activities in a broaden context, as well as on the usefulness in promoting an important EU document and in familiarizing people with it in such a way. Other conclusions concern the quite open dissemination endeavours was made and the quantity of people from the educational field that was participated and/or was informed on the project and its outcomes. However, a special attention should be to maintain and develop the valorization efforts beyond project’s lifespan.

The dissemination activities undertaken were varied. Several organized efforts were made to reach as wide audience as possible through press, media, web and distribution of materials, as well as by contacting target groups in person. In addition, special care was given to take advance of any unplanned opportunity that was appearing, in an effort to widen project’s impact.

The impact was quite positive in terms of familiarising target groups with the Charter of the Fundamental Rights of the EU and with the European Framework on Key Competences and in terms of providing teachers and educators with a novel educational activities’ manual which can be easily used as a supplementary tool in various learning environments and which enhances interdisciplinary learning and European citizenship.

Achievements
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The project met its targets in terms of outcomes.

Synoptically, it productively identified, created, designed, disseminated and valorised a novel and practical manual regarding the multifaceted context of the Charter of the Fundamental Rights of the EU; it developed a proposal on a methodology for teaching and learning-to-learn civic education and European citizenship in classrooms and outside classrooms; it improved the skills of the schoolteachers in setting the teaching subject of civic education in a broader European context and in an intensified European outlook; it grew schoolteachers’ awareness, motivation and attitude in manipulating integrated learning techniques and in initiating integrated didactic interventions in schools and school classes; it supported transnational mobility activities dedicated to educational matters; it promoted transnational cooperation between teacher training establishments, other educators and teaching staff; it encouraged cooperation among junior high schools at local level; it fostered collaboration bonds and synergies among old and new members of the EU in a European educational context; It offered the opportunity for the creation of multicultural experiences, of discovering and testing new good practices, of sharing and circulating knowledge; it brought closer the school community with the Community’s social and educational policies; it popularized the Charter of the Fundamental Rights of the EU and in extension the European Constitution. In some cases it productively increased the interest for participation in European Elections in 2009. Above all, it strategically accomplished to foster the common values on which the EU is based, i.e. respect of human dignity, freedom, democracy, equality, rule of law and respect of human rights and to encourage innovation in the field of education, in order to contributing in making EU a knowledge based society with greater social cohesion.

The achievement of these objectives was done through transnational meetings and workshops, elaboration of surveys, reviews and appraisals, creation of a handy teacher manual using as focal point the Charter of the Fundamental Rights of the EU, production of lingual versions of it, test-run activities, briefings, tuition courses and seminars for teaching workforce in how to use manual in the classroom and educational environments and through multifaceted valorisation activities and initiatives.

There is a number of other achievements, which add a quantitative and qualitative value to the project. Indicatively, the overachievements could be seen on:

-The quantity of the dissemination activities, which extended beyond the forecast;
-The quality of the exploitation activities, which engaged a broaden stakeholders from the educational field.
-The successful and active involvement of mainstream teachers and decision makers/executors, which possibly will result in utilising project’s main product in ordinary school life.
-The number of participating mainstream teachers, which was higher than the anticipation.
-The efficient affiliation of institutional and public educational agencies in project’s product, which may result into the incorporation of project’s product as a school educational tool.
-The volume of project manual and its structure, which can serve multipurpose functions.
-The content of project manual that includes activities of diachronic outlook.
-The lingual versions of project manual, which were 2 more from initial plans.

Added value
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The added value of the project could be indicated by the following:

The fact that the project was directed and approached pupils, educators and adult students from the medium and lower social classes, i.e. social groups with low power. In one case, the project also involved prisoners (individuals with minor influence). In addition, it approached disadvantaged geographical regions where immigrants, their children, children of farmers and religion and national minorities. Upper class citizens were not left out, however.

Thus, the project proved that being aware of one’s rights and of the citizenship are essential components of the education of all the citizens.

A second point of added value is the fact that the project approached the educators through interpersonal contact at their base, taking into account the means they own, the society they are part of and its social level. By no means did the project ignore other (electronic) forms of contact, active spreading and dissemination of its objectives and products. The combination used was such to achieve the optimal diffusion. Therefore, it secured the fact that the products and the knowledge subjects are going to become useful and countable.

The third point is the fact that the project informed the educators on the European Framework of Key Competences and, by combining it with the methodology used in the project manual, it grew schoolteachers’ awareness, motivation and attitude in manipulating integrated learning techniques and in initiating integrated didactic interventions in schools and school classes.

The main product of the project was not limited to the in-class use (making CE classes a bit different and more interesting). The young users (pupils) shall grow up being more aware of their fundamental human rights which will certainly improve their quality of living in schools, at work, at home.

The forth point is the fact that the project gave its partners a chance to expand their activities in education and their social interference at a European level, as well as to reveal the policy of the Commission (to invest in innovative educational initiatives) through their contribution to the content of the manual - which gives it an international component and a sense of cultural diversity.

Finally, the project, inspired by the Charter of the Fundamental Rights of the EU, a by default intercultural essay, educated as much as proper children, youngsters and educators in particular and general. These people were taught the fundamental European values: human dignity, freedom, democracy, equality, justice, human rights, right to culture and education, some values Europe must be still proud of.

Contribution of the transnational work
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Each partner and the culture it carries brought its own perspective in the development of the project, thus offering different points of view and perceptions in the European “making”. That contributed to the exchange of experiences, practices and knowledge and to the mutual acquisition of new and/or revised approaches in a variety of issues.

In the said project, each partner revealed new methods to the teaching of the same subject by selecting and developing the manual’s activities. In that sense, transnational work contributed substantially to the cultural and educational diversity of the manual. Its wide-ranging activities create a kind of educative mesh into the rational system the text of Charter of the Fundamental Rights of the EU incorporates, which creates a stable base in teaching and learning human and European rights.

Moreover, the transnational character of the project facilitated the partners in promoting it as a joint European venture and thus as a more trustworthy and valuable endeavour, which concerns larger communities and which fosters mutual growth. Under this sense, project actions were perceived by teachers, students, and the rest of the people to whom the project was addressed, as activities that seek to raise their awareness in understanding European fundamental rights of individuals who are citizens of different Member States of the EU and at the same time citizens of the EU.

In addition, transnational meetings contributed to the exchange of experiences among teacher teaching similar contents to pupils in participating countries but with different levels of educational support, time and finances.

Finally, the project offered the opportunity to follow, adapt and transpose examples of best practices from one country to another.

Sustainability
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The sustainability of the project lies on the possibility of continuous download and use of the Charta Nostra Manual in schools and in other places of education. The content of the manual is such that will always be of interest therefore there is a great possibility of its use in the future.

Teacher personnel who were present at tuition courses, seminars, briefings and workshops have assured that they will use the manual in their classes and work. Acting as multipliers, they may spread the information about the manual to their colleagues.

Through the broad and varied dissemination events carried out during project’s lifespan, a number of European agencies expressed an interest to be involved in manual’s further dissemination and exploitation. A number of foreign language teachers affirmed that they will make use different lingual versions of the same activities to enhance comparative language learning.

Another feasible possibility to sustain project results is to exploit networks in where partners either are members or have succeeded to build on or have been triggered by the project and to promote Charta Nostra in conjunction with other Education and European Citizenship projects.

Finally, the partnership will remain in contact every time there is an additional possibility of using or disseminating project products and results.

Partners

• Andragoski Zavod Maribor-Ljudska Univerza, Slovenia, www.azm-lu.si
• Leader Lingua Formazione Comunicazione, Italy, www.comunicareinterculture.it
• Institut Municipal d'Educació de Barcelona, Spain, www.bcn.cat/educacio

Survey of Needs

Initial identification of situation and mapping of needs of teachers in Civic Education and European Citizenship in junior high schools. Available in PDF; 2 MB

Assessment Report

This is the final assessment report of the project, published in October 2008.
Prepared by: Dr. Leonidas C. Bombas, Comparative Educationalist

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