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Description
30 years after the events of our the Velvet Revolution, the democratic principles still need defending.The society feel that their trust towards the representative democracy has been betrayed. The intent of our organisation is to establish a communication with the young generation,show them ways to treat the principles of democracy. We would equally like to encourage teachers not to give up on passing on the values of democracy.We want to provide
motivation for educators to enhance their teaching methods by utilising their personal experience from the Chamber of Deputies,or the municipality.
Summary of project results
The project focuses on a positive approach to teaching democratic values and active citizenship in the subject of Education for Citizenship and Foundations of Social Science. From our experience, we can see the different approaches of teachers to the treatment of topics. Therefore, we want to motivate teachers to teach these subjects in an attractive way.
If the teaching of democratic values to the younger generation is underestimated, there is a risk that society will continue to radicalize. Frustration and distrust in public affairs will deepen.
The 2016 Czech School Inspectorate Report
1. 75.5% of schools (primary and secondary schools) integrate democratic values into teaching
2. Only 54% of Primary Schools and 86% of Secondary Schools use basic documents such as the Constitution, Universal Declaration of Human Rights, etc. in teaching.
3. 85% of primary school teachers and 45% of secondary school teachers have never or rarely used basic documents in the OV
4. Attractiveness of the topic "Promotion of democratic values" in the framework of DVPP or methodological support-only 23% of primary school teachers and 29% of secondary school teachers are interested in the topic "Promotion of democratic values"
The recommendation of the EC Council (EU Bulletin C189 of 2018) shows that there is a continued need to promote it within Europe, and therefore also in the Czech Republic:
- the development of civic competences in order to raise awareness of the common values set out in Article 2 of the Treaty on European Union and the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union
-raising awareness among all learners and teaching staff of the importance of acquiring key competences and their place in society
A study by Masaryk University (Civic Education, 2013) shows that the Czech Republic is experiencing a crisis of confidence in representative democracy. Approximately 40% of people do not vote and those who do vote are beginning to lean towards radical parties. Civic education and the linking of formal and informal education can help to overcome this problem.
These and other analyses have led the NF Blue Fish project to the need to popularise the topic of democratic values among teachers.
1) Organization of meetings of young people (students) with representatives / deputies / senators in the authentic environment of the Prague City Hall / Chamber of Deputies / Senate - the aim was to teach young people to speak in public with premeditated arguments on the topic in an authentic environment, to get acquainted with the work of a deputy / deputy / senator and to discuss with them on a given topic, to realize what they decide, what powers they have, to gain insight into the work of a deputy / deputy / senator compared to the theoretical experience at school.
2) Organizing meetings of teachers - sharing experiences, discussing new methods of teaching within the humanities.
Over the 2.5 years of the project, we have been able to observe how the attitude of politicians, teachers, students towards our project has evolved. We managed to make the action „Dnes jsem jako“ ....,and the outcomes of these actions (resolutions, amendments to some laws) were presented to the relevant committees in the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate Politicians themselves started to offer to join the events or spontaneously came to see us.Students became more interested in public affairs and several students became our volunteers.
Some teachers have incorporated our events into their teaching and started using them in their "Foundations of Social Studies" classes, they also started to follow our foundation and follow other activities we do and started to apply for them.
In conclusion, we have a good impression of the whole 2.5 year project and it has met our expectations and the impact we wanted to achieve.
In some areas it has even been a pleasant surprise, especially during the covid crisis.
What we really appreciate is how we as a team were able to react quickly to the covid crisis.