Teaching Eu Citizenship In Europe

This book examines the evolving relationship between the nation-state, citizenship and the education of citizens, exploring the impact European integration had on national policies towards educating its citizens and citizenship.

Citizenship can be defined simply as being a member of political institutions. Citizenship, the first evidence of which is encountered in ancient Greek city-states in history, is found in the Roman state constitutionally for the first time. National citizenship, which became more important with the importance of nation-states, was supported by the concept of human rights after the French Revolution. Events and phenomena such as Reform, Industrialization, Democracy, Globalization, Digitalization, International Trade and Migration have given different dimensions to the concept of citizenship. Today, all states have determined the rights and duties of individuals as their citizens in their constitutions and convey the rights and responsibilities of citizenship to the students in school education. Societies with good citizens who know their rights and responsibilities are thought to develop and advance more in any area.

On cover: Modern languages

Exploring a key aspect of European integration, this clear and thoughtful book considers the remarkable experiment with common rights and citizenship in the EU. Governments around the world traditionally distinguish insiders (citizens) from outsiders (foreigners). Yet over the past half-century, an extensive set of supranational rights has been created in Europe that removes member governments' authority to privilege their own citizens, a hallmark of sovereignty. The culmination of supranational rights, European citizenship not only provides individuals with choices about where to live and work but also forces governments to respect those choices. Explaining this innovation--why states cede their sovereignty and eradicate or redefine the boundaries of the political community by including "foreigners"--Willem Maas analyzes the development of European citizenship within the larger context of the evolution of rights. Imagining more than simply a free trade market, the goal of building a "broader and deeper community among peoples" with a "destiny henceforward shared"--creating European citizens--has informed European integration since its origins. The author argues that its success or failure will not only determine the future of Europe but will also provide lessons for political integration elsewhere.

This text provides guidance for teachers and schools seeking to encourage their pupils to see themselves as part of a European community. The contributors, who come from all over Europe, examine the values needed for teaching in pluralist societies and developing global responsibility in schools.

This book uses international collaboration between nine European countries to explore how teacher education systems across Europe perceive and act upon devolving democracy and democratic citizenship. Understanding these countries’ cultural approaches to individual and national priorities in education is essential in perceiving similarities and differences in the meaning of ‘democracy’. The book offers debate on the prospects for teacher education and the development of democratic citizenship in Europe based on historical, political, economic and cultural contexts and the Council of Europe’s (CoE) competences for democratic citizenship. With critical analysis and evaluation around the common theme of teacher education and its role in developing democratic citizenship, the book provides awareness and understanding of how teacher education responds to the Council of Europe’s (CoE) conceptual model of competences for democratic culture. 20 competences categorized as Values, Attitudes, Skills, and Knowledge and Critical Understanding are defined so they can be taught to enable learners to practice them in their daily lives as democratic citizens. This book will be of key interest to academics, researchers and post-graduate students in the fields of teacher education, educational policy and politics, and citizenship education.

The study makes an analysis of the legal framework which Member States must take into account when designing their policies on citizenship education. The Charter on Education for Democratic Citizenship and Human Rights Education of the Council of Europe and the international right to education are read in conjunction with EU law. Suitable content for the EU dimension in mainstream education is explored. A method for objective, critical and pluralistic EU learning is proposed, based on the Treaties and on case teaching (stories for critical thinking). Member States are invited to take more action to ensure quality education. The EU has the legal competence to support the EU dimension in education. In the present state of EU law, quality education is no longer conceivable without an EU dimension incorporated in various key competences. At present the author works at the implementation of the ideas developed in the book as an Affiliated Senior Researcher at Leuven University (Case4EU-project in Belgium and other EU Member States).

Outlines the key steps that have been taken over the past 40 years to develop a European educational philosophy and system and implement it within each of the present and prospective member states, and identifies the problems and issues that face those advocating further integration. Discusses pressure groups, cooperation and exchange, curricula, the role of languages, qualifications, mobility, and other aspects. Annotation copyrighted by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR