See, Understand, Challenge – Be a Change Agent! (LS-PL-237)

Art? Democracy? Participation? Can they all come together? Yes, definitely. Through this learning scenario, students get to know about the possible ways of being active in their local, national and European community and express the need of participation through Art.

Very simple but important!

That is why one can say this learning scenario is very simple but important! It is of great significance to have the possibility of expressing your own thoughts, opinions and attitudes. Unfortunately, sometimes as teachers we do not grab a real chance we have. Now you can try to find a way for secondary students everywhere to reflect on their participation in local life and to prepare them for taking responsibility for the future.

See, Understand, Challenge!

First of all, students see and understand their own role and its importance. Moreover, they can glimpse the mechanism and the way democracy works in European countries.  Then, learning from one another they can try to find and share examples of good participation in some local, national and European actions.

Express participation through Art!

At last, students show, through some kind of art, what participation means for them. The final work of art can be used at school as a kind of promotion of the idea.

The possible ways to implement

This scenario could be used by teachers of all subjects as its main aim is to make students aware of the importance of active participation in political life and make them familiar with all those actions they can take part in even they are not adults yet.

For the first time, it was used with 14-15-year-old students, however, it could be suitable for all secondary students, particularly for those who are almost 18 and even for some groups of adults! Teachers do not have to spend a lot of time preparing for the lesson. However, they could find,
on the Europeana Portal, some resources more suitable for their own country.

If you want to learn more about this learning scenario you can download it below:

Did you find this learning scenario interesting? You might also like:

• Communism vs. democracy by Maria-Isabela Miron
• Europe and us by Loredana Popa
• You are welcome by Nieves Crespo Gutiérrez

The featured image used to illustrate this article has been found on Europeana Collections and belongs to the public domain.