More information
Description
For years we have been running the Projektor nationwide programme based on student volunteering work, but recently we have observed a decline in the number of individuals willing to participate in such ventures. According to a 2020 study conducted by Centrum Badania Opinii Społecznej, as many as 43% of all students do not engage in any civic initiatives. According to the 2018 One Million Voices 2 report, this is due to associating such activities with politics and politicians whom young people do not trust. Such a low level of trust results, among others, from the lack of space for involvement, no opportunities to cut through with one’s own initiatives, and no sense of agency. The 2017 Eurydice Brief report indicates that citizenship education competencies include 4 fundamental areas: critical thinking, effective and constructive interaction with others, acting in a socially responsible manner, and acting democratically. In our activities, we will focus on critical thinking, treating it as a competence that is fundamental against other ones, namely constructive communication, as well as acting responsibly and democratically. Such a mindset is the key to mature participation in the democratic society. We will organise a course for students and teachers working with children to help them develop critical thinking skills. We will invite them to workshops to jointly design an educational model for developing critical thinking competencies in pupils. Lesson scenarios prepared will be tested by trained volunteers in 45 classes in various parts of Poland. We will monitor and evaluate the model, to formulate recommendations for the future. We will popularise the developed solutions by creating an educational clip for children and parents, organising 2 open webinars and a conferences for teachers, and publishing a report on the developed model and tools, along with expert articles on critical thinking in education and its significance in civic activities.
Summary of project results
The project was a response to the shortcomings of civic education, particularly in terms of developing one of the key competences - critical thinking, which is important in today''s world where information is widely available but difficult to assess for veracity and value. Lack of critical thinking skills can lead to the spread of false information, misinformation and manipulation.
We wanted to create a space for the exchange of experiences and best practices in critical thinking, to engage diverse groups in society such as teachers, students, educators, youth workers, contributing to building a community interested in developing this key competence.
Our first activity was to organise an opening and information meeting. This event aimed not only to present the project''s objectives, but also to mobilise potential participants to become actively involved.
Another important element was the preparation and delivery of two online courses on the ekampus.pl platform and Spotify. The first, ''Fundamentals of critical thinking'', enabled participants to learn about the fundamental principles of critical thinking. The second course, ''Critical Thinking in Education'', focused on the practical aspects of teaching critical thinking to children in grades IV-VI. The number of participants benefiting from these courses testifies to their popularity and the need for such educational activities.
We then moved on to the practical stage, which included the organisation of creative workshops. These intensive sessions were aimed at active participation in the process of developing an educational model. With a total of more than a hundred participants, including teachers, educators and students, we held discussions, exchanged experiences and created practical solutions.
The educational model that resulted from the above activities was developed and published in 2022. It provided the foundation for the project''s further activities and the basis for workshops for children in grades IV-VI.
In September 2023, we organised the ''Learning from Children'' congress. We planned it in an interdisciplinary way, combining elements of online lessons, panel discussions and onsite and online workshops. Online broadcast lessons, attended by more than 780 children, and panel discussions by invited experts played a key role. The Facebook broadcast of the event reached more than 5,000 views, demonstrating the strong public interest in the topic of critical thinking.
In addition, as part of the project, we carried out a number of activities to support volunteers running workshops for children. We developed special support materials and conducted online training for volunteers to best prepare them to work with children
The project involved different audiences:
● 71 teachers working in smaller towns and participating in online courses and 45 teachers attending preparatory meetings to organise activities for children;
● students interested in developing their critical thinking and wishing to broaden their skills and engage with children;
● educators from a variety of backgrounds: people employed in community centres, providing training and workshops and working at different levels of education than primary schools.
The beneficiaries of the activities were children from 68 classes IV-VI participating in workshops led by volunteers.
We consider the most important results of our activities to be:
● Increase in critical thinking competence: Research conducted during the project showed a significant increase in critical thinking competence among both the Academy participants and the children attending the workshops.
● Increased knowledge of critical thinking: Online courses and workshops have increased the knowledge of teachers, students and other project participants about critical thinking and its role in education.
● The creation of a community interested in developing critical thinking competences: The project created a platform for the exchange of experiences and collaboration between teachers, students and other educators.
● Development of an educational model: We developed an educational model that was tested and shared with teachers and those interested in developing critical thinking.
● Dissemination of the educational model and promotion of critical thinking, e.g. through the closing conference of the project "Congress Learn from Children"
● Volunteer support materials: The materials developed to support the delivery of the workshops helped volunteers to effectively communicate critical thinking to children.
● Publications summarising the project: publications including the educational model, expert articles and evaluation reports are a valuable source of information for teachers and other interested parties.
To disseminate the knowledge and experience gained in the project, the knowledge and competences of teachers were increased, they were inspired to introduce the subject of critical thinking in their everyday work during subject lessons and parenting hours.
We carried out communication and promotion activities informing about the expansion of the Academy''s groups of beneficiaries. 172 teachers signed up for the project (out of the planned 50). As some of our activities were no-cost, we enrolled 158 teachers into the project and 141 actually participated in our activities.
Based on the materials collected in the previous project, we produced 2 publications that enhance knowledge in critical thinking and media awareness.
We organised 5 open online events with a total of 612 individual participants (some teachers attended more than one webinar).
Subsequently, project participants implemented subject lessons and parenting hours in their classrooms - 89 teachers conducted 137 lessons for 1,704 pupils from primary schools across Poland.