TASKs for democracy

Activity 19
What is education for democratic
citizenship (EDC) for you?
DESCRIPTION
Original activity contributed by Pavel Alonov
Focus: this activity focuses on how to familiarise oneself with the main idea of education for democratic citizenship
(EDC) and to start to identify different opportunities to support participatory democratic citizenship
in schools.
Target group: pre-/in-service teachers of age groups 3-5/6-10/10-14/14-18/adult learners
Expected learning outcomes:
A_COOP_2: Willingness to work together with others and become actively involved
A_EPIST_2: Recognition of formal, non-formal and informal learning in a lifelong perspective
Type of activity: Introductory
PROCEDURE
Step 1 (sharing representations of EDC – 10 minutes)
1. Display different pictures and ask each participant to select one picture that, in their opinion, best relates
to EDC.
2. Ask participants to explain why they think their selections describe EDC best. Ask the next person to
continue. Each member should not take more than 30 seconds to share with the whole group.
3. When you finish this exercise ask all participants to take one piece of coloured paper from a small bag.
They have to group according to colours in groups of four.
Step 2 (gathering data – group work – 15 minutes)
1. Give every group one piece of paper (A3 format) and a marker.
2. Ask them to reflect on their experiences with democratic education and especially on good practices
between schools and external partners.
3. During the conversation, give each group one of the next questions.
Why it is useful for schools to co-operate with external partners?
What can external partners offer students and school staff?
What kind of co-operation could there be between schools and external partners?
Who should be responsible for co-operation between schools and external partners?
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