European Identity - Individual, Group and Society - HumanitarianNet

DILEMMAS AND TASK IN THE FORMATION OF EDUCATION-BASED ... 159for the period 2000 - 2006 identified —in Towards a Europe ofknowledge (COM (97) 563) (December 1997)— three major areas, thesecond of which was citizenship. The Commission wished to emphasise«the enhancement of citizenship through the sharing of commonvalues, and the development of a sense of belonging to a commonsocial and cultural area. [This] ... must encourage a broader-basedunderstanding of citizenship, founded on active solidarity and onmutual understanding of the cultural diversities that constituteEurope’s originality and richness».Many professional and academic courses in Higher Education aredirectly concerned with educating students who will work withchildren and young people, and which consider—how children and young people are socialised and becomecitizens;—how they learn about and understand the social, political,economic and cultural environment; and—how they can be encouraged to construct identities that recognisethe complexities of this environment.Thus CiCe directly addresses this Commission priority in an interdisciplinarymanner through the agency of the Universities and Collegesof Europe, to build shared educational approaches to learning andteaching about social, economic and political similarities and differencesacross Europe, enhancing the quality of the relevant academic andprofessional courses in all participating states. This will contribute to thedevelopment of an active and participating democratic citizenry. Theseconcerns need to be addressed in the early years of learning and tocontinue through the period of formal education. Research suggeststhat children’s thinking on such issues is best developed beforeprejudices have become entrenched (Osler and Starkey, 2002).Thus we address both what children and young people know andhow they learn. Our concern is not just with what they can understand,but with how they can be enabled to participate and act. Ourknowledge of this can inform and develop higher education students’learning and practice, and channel students’ understanding within aEuropean context (Tourney-Purta, 2002).The development of civic or social education is of particularsignificance now, because of the current nature and direction of changein our societies. Societies have always been changing, sometimes atsuch a slow pace that —pace Durkheim— the next generation doesappear to be more or less the image and reflection of the one that