European Trade Union Committee for Education

• View all news from ETUCE

Supportive policy frameworks developed with the involvement of education social partners, as well as a stronger cooperation between teachers, school leaders, education employers, parents and learners, are key factors for the implementing the democratic citizenship and inclusive education in Europe. These are the major conclusions of the Research Report ‘Challenges and good practices related to promoting citizenship and values of freedom, tolerance and non-discrimination through education’ prepared by Dominique Danau (SAGO Research) and Florence Pauly (P&F Consulting) in the framework of the EU CONVINCE project (EU Common Values Inclusive Education).

EU CONVINCE (2018 – 2020) is a joint project of ETUCE, EFEE (European Federation of Education Employers) and ESHA (European School Heads Association) co-funded by the Directorate-General Education of the European Commission. The project seeks to provide teachers, other education personnel, school leaders, as well as the education institution community as a whole with tools and methods to deliver inclusive quality education to all and better deal with citizenship related issues both in the classroom and in extra-curricular activities.

The research was conducted in 2018 and included the online survey among members of ETUCE, EFEE and ESHA with the view to collect their views on challenges and good practices in such topics as civic education, teaching in multicultural learning context, teaching sensitive issues, digital citizenship, and other. One of the main aim of the research was to match the challenges regarding these topics with the existing good practices. Therefore, the report also contains an extensive compendium of examples and good practices related to the implementation of democratic citizenship and inclusive education in Europe, collected through the online survey.

Together with supportive policy frameworks and stronger cooperation between school community actors, the key conclusions of the report include the following recommendations:

• Support to teachers, school leaders and other education personnel is crucial for them to be able to perform in a diverse education setting, better deal with controversial and sensitive issues and create a positive and safe climate in and beyond the classroom.
• Whole-school approach and democratic school culture are effective approaches in promoting democratic citizenship and inclusive education.
• Developing critical thinking and understanding are essential for children and young people to thrive in a digital world and key in relation to digital citizenship.

The research report and other valuable outcomes of the project, including the Joint Statement on Citizenship Education and EU Common Values and the upcoming Joint Statement on Inclusive Schools will be discussed the at the project’s Closing Conference in Warsaw on 14-15 November 2019.