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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 ?