Citizenship Education in Times of Crisis Educación para la ciudadanía en tiempos de crisis (original) (raw)

Citizenship Education in Times of Crisis

2016

The European Union (EU) faces a deep crisis. Under the impression of economic troubles, wars in and around Europe (Ukraine, Syria) and an unprecedented immigration of refugees, political leaders try to muddle through the difficult times, while political extremists and anti-European forces suggest alleged solutions and divide the Union. In view of the crisis, citizenship education is often neglected, although it is a crucial measure for long-term stability, European integration and wealth. The education of young generations needs to be considered as a core challenge for the EU. It should provide political knowledge of history, institutions, actors and procedures of democracy in the nation states and the EU, democratic values and behaviour, skills to participate in a communicational public sphere. It should enable citizens to understand how democratic politics functions, what the core values of democracy are, how interests can be articulated and promoted in a European multi-level syst...

Citizenship and Educational Policies in Europe

If education is an investment for the future, citizenship education is an investment for the democratic future of Europe. The concept of citizenship has always been associated with a complex set of rights and duties explainable on the basis of a common membership recognized and shared. Democracy is not something taken for granted, nor an abstract concept. It requires investment and responsible actions of citizens in daily life. In an age where young people are deserting the polling stations and the public and political life, it is urgent to address the question of education for democratic citizenship, a long-term investment for the promotion of human rights, tolerance and cultural pluralism. This article identiies in European projects, the most advanced experiences of European citizenship. It is a rich and varied projects that show how schools across Europe can learn from each other and how the United States can mutually acquire information and suggestions in order to develop effect...

Learning for Active European Citizenship Starts in Schools

2013

Since the beginning of the modern state and the establishment of mass schools, education has been an important factor that contributes to the strengthening of the ties between political institutions and citizens. The role of education is strengthened by the belief that the lack of civil competences leads to apathetic behaviour of citizens, their low level of engagement and even to distrust of the functioning of democratic institutions. The lack of civil competences presents an obstacle for the active participation of individuals or even of countries engaged in the framework of international organizations. It is clear that only education cannot solve all issues related to the role of active democratic citizen, but it may contribute an important part. This article describes the native and citizenship education in the context of learning about the European dimension of citizenship in Slovenian schools.

Options for developing European strategies on citizenship education

European Educational Research Journal, 2021

This article explores the tools and strategic options for policymaking of two European intergovernmental organisations in the area of citizenship education. The first section analyses the policy tools used to date, whereas the second section presents current global, political and education-specific challenges in the field. The third section investigates options for how the two organisations might develop their policymaking in future years with a view to formulating recommendations to enable these organisations to make the best use of the policy tools and resources at their disposal. Overall, the article suggests that both the Council of Europe and the European Union are facing significant legal and resource restraints – to a greater extent where the Council of Europe is concerned and to a somewhat lesser extent for the European Union – that limit their capacity to shape and enforce citizenship education policymaking at national levels. Both institutions therefore rely heavily on inf...

RCP) Rethinking Critical Pedagogy Post-Covid-19 and EU: Education for what citizenship? 1

2020

This paper examines the origins of the European COVID19 crisis under the lenses of the EU debt crisis and its neoliberal management. It analyzes how the austerity measures have contributed to the breakdown of the capabilities of national health systems to deal with the Covid19 crisis, with special focus on hard-hit Italy and Spain. It then examines the EU Next Generation Recovery Plan and how national interests have influenced the debate on how this should be shaped. At the end, it considers the challenges for EU citizenship education under these conditions. It concludes that, if there is to be any future of the EU project, the injustices and inequalities that are created by the structure of EU need to be addressed. Education cannot alone overcome the sentiments coming from the broken promises for mutual prosperity.