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Description
The Velvet Revolution is undeniably bound to the ethos of active civil society, values of freedom and democracy, critical thinking, human rights, and the rule of law. The Velvet at Schools is a project aiming to bring an innovative approach to education about these values, modern history and current social challenges to fill the gap of the Czech educational system. It offers a comprehensive educational program comprising over 100 activities for teachers to order. On top of that, we encourage students to organize day-long festivals of freedom for their schoolmates. The goal is to ensure that students are not just passive recipients of the information.
The program offered in the Velvet at Schools 2.0 aims to not only fill the gap for the education of the future adult generation but also to bring students from different social circles together to overcome the division at the school-age in terms of social capital. The main innovation is the methodology created in cooperation with experts that will help approach non-grammar schools and will improve organizations'' long-term competencies. The Velvet at schools 2.0 emphasizes consistency - part of the project is a preparation of the year-round “Active Citizenship” based on the existing program. The AC covers recent history, issues of freedom and democracy, politics, and media literacy and takes place 5 times a year at 12 schools. This consistent form of education will motivate students to embrace topics of civil society and to become active citizens. 2.0 reaches out to non-grammar schools that do not regularly participate in civil society programs. This project runs in 2 cycles, organizes 24 festivals in cooperation with regional ambassadors and leads to 4 public events in each region organized collectively by 6 schools.
Summary of project results
Velvet at Schools 2.0 reached out to non-grammar schools that do not regularly participate in civil society programs. Research conducted for Czech Radio (2019) indicated that societal division in terms of individual social capital begins at school age. This division also extends to attitudes and values. By connecting different types of secondary schools and fostering collaboration among their students, we aimed to bridge these gaps. We intend to step out of the well-trodden and proven paths of grammar schools and include students from various social groups in our activities. Our efforts are not solely focused on modern history, but also on reflecting on current social issues. Therefore, we have expanded our program offerings for schools to include topics such as human rights, media literacy, mental health, climate change, and more.
The schools and students independently organized their own celebrations for the anniversary of November 17th. The Active Citizenship program covered recent history, issues of freedom and democracy, politics, and media literacy, and was conducted directly at schools throughout the academic year. We organized an ''Academy'' activity to bring together students involved in the project who were interested in organizing their own November 17th celebrations. We later expanded this activity to take place not only in the autumn but also twice in the spring, focusing on civic engagement and the European Parliament elections. The main novelty was the involvement of ambassadors from target regions, who were in charge of actively reaching out to schools and motivating other students to participate. Additionally, we updated all methodological materials for workingwith high school students. A total of 22 school festivals were held in regional schools involved in this project, along with several public events organized collaboratively by students from multiple schools.
Student ambassadors: We expanded our team by 10 ambassadors, who supported students in the implementation of the celebrations as the "local link" between us, the school, and the students. Students – active organizers of festivals and participants of Academy and Active Citizenship: Thanks to this project, we focused on students from all secondary schools.Other students also actively participated in the year-round Active Citizenship program and Academy. The community of students participating in activities throughout the year has significantlyexpanded thanks to this project, and we have successfully reached previously unengaged regions.
Students - participants: Who participated in one of the offered programs.
Teachers: We reached out to educators willing to incorporate themes related to revolution and democracy into their curricula. We helped them integrate project activities intotheir lessons, primarily targeting history and civics teachers, where these issues are discussed with students. Whenever possible, school principals were also involved.
Members of beneficiary’s team: 12 people under the age of 30 were trained at the beginning of the project in working with vocational schools and training centers. This teamdeveloped significantly over the two-year duration of the project. This experience has significantly enhanced our organization’s capacities, including acquiring experience in the administration of international funding and engaging effectively with a community of students and student ambassadors. For our project partner, Post Bellum, the project has contributed to the stabilization of co-financing for Velvet at Schools and the more intensive promotion of educational activites focused on the Velvet Revolution.