myEUROPE has recently organised two training sessions on designing learning objects focusing on European citizenship. 40 teachers from all corners of Europe were invited to come to Brussels to learn more about learning objects (LOs) and how they can support teaching and learning in schools. Isabel Fonseca, one of the participating teachers, shares her views with us.
Celebrating in 2005 the year of European citizenship, the myEUROPE team has invited about 40 teachers, from most European countries, to come to Brussels. We were to attend a two-day working session on creating learning objects and Webquests. There were introduced three software tools, namely Multimedia Hachette, Netquiz and Hot Potatoes.
Some of the myEUROPE teachers and the office team during the first workshop, on 28-29 October 2005
Coming from different areas of knowledge, we were set the challenge of composing learning objects (LOs) or Webquests on European Citizenship. Apparently, each one of us will be able to freely create. It will be interesting to see what really matters, in this specific area, to each one of us.
How will we choose to compose our LOs is the main question. What do we feel, independently from our area, is needed to motivate European Citizenship? Perhaps each one of us is longing for some ideal, in order to unify and create a sense of belonging.
But are our purposes only knowledge? Knowledge without basic human rights can be quite menacing to humankind. Perhaps it would be advisable to acknowledge and take into serious account Europe's melting pot: "As Aristotle thought, people do not naturally or spontaneously grow up to be naturally excellent or practically wise. They become so, if at all, only as the result of a lifelong personal and community effort" (Moline).
Departing from the concept of citizenship as "the natives or inhabitants of a country", our task is much larger since we are on an European level. We should actually aim even further than the European level, since Europe's inhabitants are quite heterogeneous, in a world wide perspective.
What each one of us will consider as relevant to share and teach in this vast and varied European fellowship is the real challenge:
How can we share European ideals?
How can we transmit to so many cultural backgrounds a sense of belonging to Europe?
How can we work for inclusion in this enormous diversity?
