Description
The national School of Democracy project seeks to develop and implement a system of supporting and certifying middle and secondary schools which will implement measures promoting student councils to ensure student participation in managing their schools. In phase I of the project, 20 student groups supported by tutors will implement measure required under the certificate. In parallel, there will be 2 schools from Iceland that will be going through the same process. Experience accumulated in phase I will be offered as good practice for other schools and will be used as input for a resource material to be distributed among a larger number of schools that will apply for the certificate starting in October 2015. Schools seeking certification will use online course and expert consulting to implement the essential measures. Subsequently, the status of student councils will be evaluated in the participating schools. Partners from the Czech Republic and Iceland will provide expert support to the project. The final conference and certification gala will be held in April 2016.
Summary of project results
"Student governments often provide the first opportunity for students to practically experience civic participation. The International Civics and Citizenship Education Study conducted in 2009 showed that students who participate in making decisions related to their schools will be later more active as adult citizens. The research done by the Coalition for Student Governments confirms that student governments in Polish schools generally do not fulfil their role, their functioning does not make it possible to increase civic participation of young people. Students perceive their governments as bodies representing them, forgetting that each student is a member of the student government. That is why they are reluctant to get involved in its activities. The aim of the project was to develop democratic principles and increase civic involvement of students aged 13-19 through providing opportunities for developing student governments in secondary schools. Thanks to the project implementation, almost 100 schools in Poland created opportunities for students to develop bottom-up activities addressed to their schools and to the student community, and to participate in making decisions related to managing their schools in cooperation with principals, teachers and parents. A certificate for schools was designed - a tool for supporting democracy among students. An Internet platform was launched with educational materials for conducting training on line. Project participants took part in training sessions and in study visits in the Czech Republic and in Iceland. The project was implemented in c.100 schools in Poland. The project beneficiaries were secondary schools students from all over Poland. The project partner, Samband Islenskra Framhaldsskólanema from Iceland provided expert support during consultations on the certification procedure and the criteria for the School of Democracy certificate. They also organized a meeting of experts in Reykjavik. Another project partner, CEDU - Centrum pro demokratické učení, o.p.s. from the Czech Republik, organized a study visit for representatives of Polish schools to get acquainted with several Czech schools awarded with the title “Skola pro demokracii""."
Summary of bilateral results
Inspiration and new ideas for organising schools that were presented in an expert meeting in Reykjavik were the key benefits of the partnership. Teams in 2 Icelandic schools were offered presentations about ""schools of democracy"" criteria and they used the criteria to review their own schools. Icelandic schools learned about school democracy in the Czech Republic (study visit) and in Poland (experts' visit to Iceland).