More information
Description
According to the international studies on civic engagement, Polish youth has broad and rich general knowledge, as well as good understanding of history. However, our observations confirm that practical knowledge and activities related to defending human rights, participating in protests, or grassroots initiatives are far less often considered by the Polish teenagers as markers of a good citizen. Lubelskie Voivodeship is a leader among the regions with low civic engagement of the youth. From our conversations with school principals and students from primary and secondary schools in our voivodeship we have learned that there exists a serious need to engage the young people in civic initiatives and to teach them about local traditions, so they can continue to build out their local identity. We will address these needs by engaging students and teachers from 10 schools in small towns in Lubelskie Voivodeship. We will organize travelling retreat for teachers on motivating the youth to engage in civic initiatives, organizing local events and on the methods for nurturing regional traditions. We will also have workshops for the youth focused on collaborating with the local community and creating initiatives in their immediate environment. The young participants will enter a competition for a photograph or a short clip promoting local initiatives relating to tradition, such as uncovering old customs, collecting local histories, or recipes from the elders in the community, or renovating forgotten monuments. As a conclusion of the project, the youth from each town will organize a “Day of the Local Homeland,” during which they will present their ideas to the rest of the school community and other guests. All the participants will be invited to a conference in Lublin where they will learn about each other’s ideas and present them to school principals, NGOs, and representatives from the Board of Education.
Summary of project results
Studies on knowledge and civic attitudes show that Polish youth have rich historical and notional knowledge. However, we have concluded based on our own observations that practical knowledge and activities directly involved with defending basic human rights, participating in civic protests, or grassroots initiatives were rarely perceived by Polish teenagers as characteristics of a good citizen. Lubelskie Voivodeship has one of the lowest levels of civic engagement among youth. Our conversations with school authorities and students from middle schools and above in Lubelskie Voivodeship showed that there exists a significant need to engage youth in civic activities, as well as to familiarize them with local traditions and help develop their local identity.We have responded to those needs by engaging students and their teachers from 10 schools and small towns in Lubelskie Voivodeship. We have organized workshops for 20 teachers focused on motivating the youth into civic engagement, organizing local events, and methods of preserving regional traditions. We have also conducted workshops for students focused on working with their local communities and grassroots organizing. Students participated in a competition for the best photography or short video promoting the region. With the shools'' suport, students from 10 selected small towns implemented local initiatives focused on preserving traditions, followed by “Local Homeland" day at each school where the work was shared and displayed. To complete the project, we have organized a conference in Lublin. All the participants were invited and had an opportunity to share their work, present it to other participating schools, NGOs, and representatives of the board of education and get to know each other. We have also published a pamphlet with all the ideas and initiatives presented by the participating youth on how to preserve local traditions, along with class scripts for teachers. During teachers'' workshops we asked our participants to fill out surveys. Results show that all the teachers involved believe they have expanded their knowledge on extracurricular civics. Similar attitudes were noted among students, who claimed they have learned a lot about preserving their local traditions.
.
.