Addressing current topical issues at school can be tricky. Teachers can be more than confident in teaching their own subjects but can remain uncertain when facing topical questions related to delicate or controversial issues at school. A delicate balance must be maintained between allowing everyone to express their opinion, without influencing students’ views, but ensuring critical thinking, preventing and managing conflicts that can arise from strong and often biased positions. Surely it is not easy but schools are not bubbles disconnected from the rest of the world and especially with adolescents it is common – and actually desirable – to talk about current topics to prepare students to the real world.
The Erasmus+ project DD@S will support teachers on all this, through a gamification-based learning platform to promote democratic methods of dialogue and conflict’s management at school.
We are developing, together with other organisations and schools, training modules for teachers and school leaders and during last May more than 60 participants and teachers from Belgium, Italy, Greece and Cyprus had the opportunity to travel to Greece, meet and find out more about the modules, test them and evaluate their efficacy for their needs and school contexts. Five modules with information and practical activities have been developed, presented and tested:
- Module 0: Introduction to democratic dialogue and communicating controversial issues at school
- Module 1: Discussing political issues with your students
- Module 2: Dealing with religious and ethical topics at school
- Module 3: Topics concerning vulnerable groups – e.g. migrants, refugees, people from disadvantaged environments, people with disabilities
- Module 4: Gender related discussions in class
Do you want to know more about the mobility experience held in Greece?
In the next months, info-sessions will be organised to present and test the e-learning platform to the public. If you are a secondary school teacher, an educator or a practitioner working for the promotion of the democratic dialogue, check out https://ddasproject.eu/ and our social channels Facebook and LinkedIn to get involved and learn more about the project.
DD@S – Democratic Dialogue at School is funded by the Erasmus+ programme of the European Union, Cooperation partnership in school education.
Partners
- Coordinator: Erasmushogeschool Brussel, Belgium
- Centro per lo Sviluppo Creativo Danilo Dolci, Italy
- Istituto D’Istruzione Superiore Einaudi Pareto, Italy
- Centre for Advancement of research and development in educational technology LTD (CARDET), Cyprus
- University of Nicosia (UNIC), Cyprus
- SYMPLEXIS, Greece
- Interorthodox Centre of the Church of Greece, Greece
- GO! technisch atheneum Zavelenberg Sint-Agatha-Berchem, Belgium
For more information visit our website https://ddasproject.eu/, follow us on Facebook and LinkedIn or contact Antonella Alessi: antonella.alessi@danilodolci.org.