LEARN ABOU YOUR RIGHTSLEARN FOR YOUR RIGHTSLEARN THROU YOUR RIGHTSBooklet on the Council of Europe“CHARTER on Education for Democratic Citizenshipand Human Rights Education”EDC/HRE CHARTER FOR ALL

ABOUT

FOR

THROUGH

WHAT CAN YOU FINDIN THIS DOCUMENT?

1. Why a Charter?

2. What are human rights?

3. What is democratic citizenship?

4. What is EDC/HRE?

5. How do you learn in EDC/HRE?

6. What are the essential values for living together?

7. How should the institutions offering EDC/HRE be like?

8. Who is EDC/HRE for?

9. Where does EDC/HRE take place?

10. What can we do together for EDC/HRE?

11. What can we do to promote EDC/HRE?

EDC/HRE will come up many times throughout this booklet. Remember it is the short for Education for Democratic Citizenship and Human Rights Education

Name: SvandísAge: 12Place: Reyðarfjörður, IcelandI like: computers and animals. Member of a youth organisation.

Name: JeyhunAge: 15Place: Baku, AzerbaijanI like: music and writing; I often write for my school newsletter.

Svandís

Jeyhum

Jeyhun and Svandís received a copy of the Council of Europe “Charter on Education for Democratic Citizenship and Human Rights Education”.

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Official documents are difficult to read, so they wrote down lots of questions, and put their answers together in this booklet. You will also find:

The most important ideasthey wanted to share

with other friends

Examples that helped themunderstand the Charter

Some other questions that made them reflect deeper

Ideas for taking action

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Education for Democratic Citizenship and Human Rights Education exists for you to:

LEARN ABOUT YOUR RIGHTS:You have got the right to know about your rights as a human being and about your responsibilities as part of the demo-cratic society you live in.

LEARN FOR YOUR RIGHTS:You also need to learn how to put these rights and responsibilities into practice.

LEARN THROUGH YOUR RIGHTS:While learning about human rights your rights should be respected, and you should have opportunities to express your opinion and take responsibilities.

The Council of Europe “Charter on Educa-tion for Democratic Citizenship and Hu-man Rights Education” is a document that was developed to make sure such educa-tion takes place. The Council of Europe is the oldest European organisation: it was created in 1949. It brings together coun-tries which share the values of human rights, democracy and the rule of law.

47 countries are members of the Council of Europe: from Iceland in the north-west, where Svandís lives, to Azerbaijan, in the south-east, where Jeyhun lives.

Do not confuse the Council of Europe with the European Union, which has got 27 member states!

The RULE OF LAW means that authorities in a country, such as the government, have to follow the law; they can not do what they want just because they are an authority. To know more about HUMAN RIGHTS and DEMOCRACY check chapters 2 and 3.

1. Why a CHARTER?

In 2010, all 47 member states of the Council of Europe adopted the “Charter on Education for Democratic Citizenship and Human Rights Edu-cation”. By doing so, the governments of these countries recognised the importance of this kind of education and agreed to follow the recom-mendations written in this document.

However, as you can imagine, in different coun-tries things are organised a bit differently. So eve-ry government can choose how to best work with Education for Democratic Citizenship and Human Rights Education, while respecting the laws and rules of that country and the main priorities for the people living there.

It is important to remember that the Charter is not a law, so governments are just encouraged but not legally obliged to carry out all the ideas the Charter gives.

Then it’s also up to all of us to make sure that the recommendations of the Charter are followed where we live.

In this booklet, you’ll find those recommen-dations and some ideas on how YOU can do something as well!

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Now that we know a bit better why and how the Charter was created, let’s have a look to what there is inside...

As its name shows, the Charter is about Education for Democratic Citizenship and Human Rights Education. But what exactly does it mean?

Human rights reflect what people need to live in dignity; that is, when human rights are not respected, people are treated as if they were not human.

What things do you need in order to live well, safe and healthy, and to grow up?

Do you specially need any of these things be-cause you are not yet an adult?

2. What are human rights?

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Do you know (through friends, books, TV, etc.) any situation where human rights are not respected?

Have you ever felt that your rights were not respected?

Find the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in

www.un.org/en/docu-ments/udhr/

Check in this interna-tional document if what you need is recognised as a human right.

Human rights are the same for all human be-ings, everywhere in the world and nobody can take them away from you. However, children have got special needs: they are more vulnerable because they are growing up and developing. This is why they have their rights formulated in a special way: children’s rights.

Human rights have been reflected in laws in different documents and throughout history. However, in 1948 for the first time, all countries in the world agreed in a docu-ment for reference: the Uni-versal Declaration of Human Rights

Human beings under 18 years old

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Democracy is one of the possible ways to organise a group of people; with this system people have got the power to decide on issues that are im-portant to them, such as the laws by which they want to live. In most cases, people do not take decisions directly, but do it by choosing people that will represent them and their ideas in the moment of taking decisions.

In countries with a democratic system, the constitution and other laws reflect the agreement among citizens – the people of this country - on the rules and values to be followed. Since rules are only agreed after negotiations among all citizens – or they represent-atives -, and they can be changed if it is necessary, democracy is only effec-tive if everybody participates.

In your school, team or club, is there any set of rules that all of you follow in order to work, live and do things together?

What rights and responsibilities have you got?

3. What is democratic citizenship?

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Both words together, as in democratic citizenship, refer to the important role that people in a com-munity or country need to play: take an active part in decisions affecting themselves and their com-munity.

Who created those rules?

Can they be changed? If so, how?

What happens when people don’t follow these rules?

But how? If I can't vote, I can't participate!

No, you didn’t get it! You can participate in other ways, not only by voting. Look at me! I'm going to this organisation where I meet other boys and girls my age and we decide what activities we want to do together: we often clean the forest at the outskirts of the city, and once we kept company to elderly people. We are doing something for our neighbourhood, so I think we are participating, it’s just a different way!

You're right! There is a park next to my school where we usually go during breaks; once the city hall planned to build there a block of houses. We were not happy at all, so a group of students and teachers wrote a letter against it. Everybody in the school and neighbourhood signed! We did not vote but made a change in the final decision: we still have the park!

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There are many ways for citi-zens to participate in a demo-cratic system. Choosing who they want to be represented in the negotiations about laws in the government - through elec-tions - is just one. Taking other actions to influence decisions - as in Jeyhun’s example - is very important too. Through associa-tions, youth organisations and non-governmental organisa-tions (NGOs), which are created and directed by citizens them-selves - not the government -, people also carry out activities that influence the life of the community - as Svandís ex-plained -. This is a way for peo-ple to get involved in issues that are important for them and to make changes in the society for it to become a better place; so they are participating too!

So, now that we understood what human rights and democratic citizenship mean...

In your country:

There is a parliament

elected by citizens

People can meet on the

street

In your country: People can demonstrate

to complain about things

they do not agree withPeople can create

associations or organisations

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The Charter is not about Hu-man Rights and Democratic Citi-zenship alone, but also about education.

Education is a right, but also a tool for making other rights possible.

Think of reasons why education is a human right.

4. What is Education for Democratic Citizenship and Human Rights Education?

Human Rights Education focuses on the respect of the needs of individuals and promotes that people are able to ensure that respect.

Education for Democratic Citizenship promotes people becoming active and responsible mem-bers of the community, always considering hu-man rights values.

Sometimes, at school or in an organisation, you’ve got the chance to discuss with your friends about a topic you’re interested in. There you can learn about the importance of expressing and defending your own opinions, because it’s your right; it doesn’t matter if you are the only one with that idea!

However, even if expressing what you think is your right, the amount of time you’ve got for speaking is usually limited and you can’t speak whenever you want, and you may need to raise your hand before you can say something... If we didn’t use this system, not all students in the group would have the chance to express their view. So it’s also up to each of us that everybody has the chance to speak!

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Human rights recognise the rights and freedoms you have got because you are a human being, and democracy is the system that makes it easier for them to be respected. When taking decisions, for example, even if the opinion of the majority is finally accepted, everybody’s ideas need to be listened to and considered, no matter if it is just a small group of people’s idea or more. So, since we live in a community, enjoying our own rights means also that we need to accept the respon-

sibility of respecting other people’s rights. So Education for Democratic Citizenship and Human Rights Education work hand in hand.

The relation is so strong that even if they have got a different focus (the individual or the com-munity), what really matters is that both types of education look for the development of de-mocracy, human rights and peace. That is why in this document we talk about them together as a single idea (and call it EDC/HRE because it is shorter!).

Thus, EDC/HRE refers to all those activities which aim to make people able to put their rights into practice and to defend them if they are not re-spected, as well as those of other people.

If people are able and ready to exercise their rights and defend their freedoms, as well as to take responsibilities in the community they live in, democracy and human rights will be a reality in their societies.

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EDC/HRE should be about: In EDC/HRE activities, all your learning needs, all aspects involved in learning, should be taken into consideration. We call that holistic education.

In order to make people able to defend and put their rights into practice, people need to use their heads, that is, to under-stand human rights and what democratic citizenship is.

It is also necessary to learn about how to put them into practice and participate, that is, the best way to put our hands in the service of human rights and democrat-ic citizenship.

But using your heart, feeling the essential values necessary for living together, is also very important.

things that are important to you

things you need as a person and within the group of people you share your life with (fam-ily, friends, organisation, class, neighbourhood, etc.).

Which are the topics you feel are important for you to learn?

5. How do you learn in EDC/HRE?

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understand your rights = learn about them

put your rights in practice = learn for them

feel the values of human rights and democracy = learn through them

There is a manual called Compasito that includes this kind of activities.

Ask your teachers or youth leaders if they know about it.

Have a look in:www.coe.int/compasito

Your government should make policies, that is, guidelines and rules, that reflect and promote these values in education. All people should also respect and promote them. But these values are not always so easy to achieve, are they?

How far are these values for living together re-flected and realised in your group?

You will find a thermometer next to each value. Make a cross in each of the thermometers accord-ing to your impression on how present these val-ues are in your reality (in your class, in your group or organisation, etc.).

Not present at all

Very present

Values for living

together

Respect and Value Diversity

Include everybody

Give Eve-rybody Equal

Chances

Respect Human Dignity

Live in Peace

6. What are the essential values for living together?

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Respect and value diversity

We live in a multicultural society, where people of different origins live together. Different origin may mean either belonging to a specific ethnic group, or being born in a different region or country, or having parents or grandparents that came from a different place time ago. This is why in our societies we can find many cultures, reli-gions and ways of experiencing and understand-ing life.

In fact, there are many elements that make us dif-ferent. However, it is important that we respect and value all members of our community, no mat-ter what our differences are.

Not present at all

Very present

What would you do when you meet a person you don’t know and who seems very di�erent from you?

A girl from Poland, who just moved in my town, joined my organisation. Back in Poland she also was part of an organisation, but she seems to have a very di�erent way of doing things, such as how she behaves in our meetings... Maybe it is how they do it there.

For sure I would be curious and want to know more!

Probably, but if you don't ask her, you won't know.

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What is the image the news give in my country of people from different origins?

It is important to exchange ideas with people who are different from us because that is the way to find all those things we have got in common as human beings and to learn from each other. Diversity makes our society richer. Imagine we were just identical to each other. Wouldn’t it be boring?

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Have you ever felt out of a group?

I once felt really excluded. I wanted to play football during breaks in the school, but since all players were boys, they didn't want me to join. Both girls and boys made fun of me because they said girls are not expected to play football. That didn't feel good at all.

I know what you mean. Once I could not join a school trip because it was too expensive for my family to pay for it. I felt sad, and after the trip, I could not take part in the stories my peers were sharing.

Include everybody

No

t p

rese

nt

at a

ll

Ver

y p

rese

nt

We need to make sure that nobody in our society is discriminated against because there is not a single reason why somebody should be excluded from our society: we are all hu-man beings!

We need to make sure that nobody in our society is discriminated against because there is not a single reason why somebody should be excluded from our society: we are all hu-man beings!

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Have you ever felt out of a group?

I once felt really excluded. I wanted to play football during breaks in the school, but since all players were boys, they didn't want me to join. Both girls and boys made fun of me because they said girls are not expected to play football. That didn't feel good at all.

I know what you mean. Once I could not join a school trip because it was too expensive for my family to pay for it. I felt sad, and after the trip, I could not take part in the stories my peers were sharing.

Are there people in my class or group who may be feeling excluded? Why?

Are there in your community people who are considered not to be part of that community?

Are boys and girls in my school or organisation treated differently?

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Give everybody equal chances

William, living in United Kingdom, has got cere-bral palsy which affects the mobility of all four of his limbs, and he cannot speak. William at-tends mainstream school where he knew a few children that attend a local youth organisation , so he decided to join in. Sarah and Ros, the youth leaders are more careful when planning the activities since he joined, but now it comes very natural to adapt traditional activities for him to be able to join. For example, “when the group asked for an obstacle course, it was or-ganised and the group divided into two teams. William’s team was challenged to get him round using a blanket while the other team nominated one of their members to be carried on another blanket. Luckily, William is fearless, and his team had to stop only occasionally as they and William were laughing so much”.

For more information: www.ifm-sei.org >“All Together” campaign

Since we are all human, we should make sure that we are all treated as equals and that we get the same chances to take part in the community we live in! Despite the differences in origin, families, beliefs, abilities or whether we are boys or girls, we are all equal in rights because we are all hu-man beings.

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Explore your neighbourhood

In a map, mark your favourite places. Go there and check if people with disabilities (mobil-ity, sight, hearing...) would have chances to go there easily and enjoy themselves there.

Think whether these people could live, work or play with comfort and safety in your neighbourhood.

No

t p

rese

nt

at a

ll

Ver

y p

rese

nt

Respect human dignity

What unites us despite all differences is human dignity. That is, we need to be valued as human beings, no more, no less; nobody should treat other people with cruelty or violence or address others in an insulting and offensive way.

When people do not feel safe in their school or group because stronger peers are scaring, per-secuting or treating them badly , their rights as human beings are not respected.

Bullying

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Does everybody feel safe in my school?

No

t p

rese

nt

at a

ll

Ver

y p

rese

nt

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Check whether there is a

local hotline/helpline

where people who are

under 18 who are being

bullied can call.

HELPLINE /

HOTLINE NUMBER:

OTHER CONTACTDETAILS:

Live in peace

Living together among all these differences is not always an easy task! If we apply all these values, we will reduce possible conflicts. But, if at any moment, differences cause disputes or problems we need to make sure these are solved without violence. Dialogue is an effective option since it respects human rights.

If human rights are respected by everybody, a world of peace will be more and more possible. Conflicts such as wars, bullying, or even using words that hurt people’s feelings are human rights violations and we should all fight against them in a peaceful way.

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In some secondary schools in Spain, there is a system for conflict mediation among peers: a neutral student supports the two people in conflict to find a positive solution for both sides in a non-violent way. With this system there are better relation-ships between students, there is no need for an adult and pun-ishments are avoided. All those students interested in becom-ing a “conflict mediator” write their name in a list. After several selection procedures, those who are chosen get training by professional mediators.

Not present at all

Very present

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How do you deal with conflict among the members of your group or class?

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Values for living together are mostly learnt through experience and examples, this is why it is not possible to learn democracy and human rights in an environ-ment that itself does not respect and promote them.

Would you say that you are experiencing the values of EDC/HRE in your environment (in the school, in the organisation, in the sports club, etc.), when looking back at the different marks in the previous thermometers? Always

Very often

Very rarely

Never

7. How should the institutions offering EDC/HRE be like?

This is why the Charter empha-sises that institutions engaged with EDC/HRE, especially schools and youth organisa-tions, should be organised respecting the values of human rights, but also in a democratic way.

If democracy is effective when everybody takes part, it is also important to get everybody in these places to participate in taking decisions on topics related with changes in our society, such as increasing diver-sity in our communities, and on anything relevant to the learn-ing process.

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Ask your teachers or youth lead-

ers about the criteria to become

a member of your organisation or to be a student in your school

Check if these criteria are respectful towards the values of

living together we just saw in the previous chapter

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Is the list you wrote in chapter 5 - on important topics for you - taken into consideration in your school and or organisation?

How are my opinions regarding what or when certain activities will be happening in the school/youth organisation taken into consideration?

Who should have a say on what you should learn?

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When we say everybody, we mean everybody: your teachers and youth leaders, your families and other people working on education – such as those making the laws in education -, but above all, you (as a student or as a member of an organisation).

Check if there is a student council in your school.

If the answer is YES:Check what is its main taskIf the answer is NO:Contact your national student

council to help you create one (find the information in www.edufile.info).

Check if there are similar structures in your organisation.

A student council (association or union) is a structure for students only, through which they can become involved in the affairs of the school, working together with school management, staff and parents for the benefit of the school and its students. Student councils are very important structures that allow students to participate in having their views and concerns heard at school level. In 9 countries in Europe, student councils can not only express their opinions, but also vote in the school board, which is the main decision-making body in the school.

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But participation does not come alone and everybody needs to take responsibilities too.

So, let’s not forget the government! Your govern-ment also needs to both be involved in the deci-sions and take responsibil-ity for that.

Moreover, schools and youth organisations give us a great opportunity to put theory into practice! We can make democracy and human rights real by tak-ing decisions in our group or class in a democratic way and by respecting each others’ rights daily.

In Hampshire County Council in the United Kingdom there is a whole-school approach based upon the Children Rights Convention, called “Rights, Respect, Responsibility”. In the class students create charters on rights and responsibilities that both students and teachers sign, and a lot of importance is given to the students participation in the learning process.

The way education is put into practice should reflect the values of human rights and democracy

How are decisions taken in my group or class?

Can I find an example of how I respect others’ rights in my daily life?

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We've seen how schools and youth organisations should be like. But is it EDC/HRE only for children and young people?

No way! In the previous chapter we saw, everybody should be involved; EDC/HRE is also for every-body and at any time!

Everybody should have the chance to learn about, for and through democracy and human rights, even your parents, but even more your teachers or the youth leaders in your organisa-tion. Your government should make sure these chances exist.

EDC/HRE is for everybody and all recommendations mentioned in the Charter should be taken into account by everybody.

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8. Who is EDC/HRE for?

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Some peers in my school realised that some older students were bul-lying younger ones. They prepared a theatre play to show why this happened and how much it was against the rights of those peers being bullied. They performed in front of most of our classes, for both students and teachers, and we saw how we could all help to pre-vent that from happening again.

Check if they also learnt these things at some point in the past. When? How?

Check how your youth leader prepares EDC/HRE activities.

Check how your teacher prepares EDC/HRE lessons.

If you are involved in EDC/HRE with your peers, explain somebody else how you prepare these activities.

Check if they are familiar with “Living Democracy” manuals (you can find them in: http://www.coe.int/t/dg4/education > Education for Democratic Citizenship and Human Rights > Resources > Teacher Manuals I-VI)

Many times it is school. However, so far, we have also mentioned youth organisations as impor-tant places where EDC/HRE takes place. But are these the only places where people can learn things from?

Education can happen in many different places EDC/HRE should be taking place in all of them.

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What place comes first into your mind with the word EDUCATION?

9. Where does EDC/HRE take place?

Complete the list: school, youth organisation, student council, sport

club, neighbours, library, internet....

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Your government should make sure that EDC/HRE is included in what you learn from pre-primary school to secondary education. It is very important to include EDC/HRE in university too, especially for those study-ing to become educators (teach-ers, youth workers or youth leaders).

Will human rights and democratic citizenship be included in some form and at some stage in your school years?

__ YES __ NO

If the answer is YES: Your school is aware of the importance of EDC/HRE!

Talk about it to other friends that attend a different school and ask whether it is the same for them.

If the answer is NO: You can start talking about these activities immediately with your teachers or friends!

Write a letter with the rest of your class to the Ministry of Education asking to include EDC/HRE in the curricula (this is the official word for the elements that should compulsory be taught at school).

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Youth organisations and NGOs play an important role in EDC/HRE for many reasons: they work on social problems , nowadays they are doing much on the specific topic of EDC/HRE and very often provide the space where you can practice human rights and democracy.

Since education is many times misinter-preted as only school, it is important for EDC/HRE that your government recognises also the educational value of youth organisations and NGOs, and sup-ports them when it is needed.

Are you member of any youth association, students organisation, youth club or sports club? Do you participate in activities as meetings, camps or trips with your peers?

---- YES ----_NO

As we saw in chapter 3

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But that is not all: we also learn from daily experience, from our environment and from the people we live with. This is why, when trying to work with EDC/HRE, it is important to involve those people, institutions and places not men-tioned above but that have an influence on us; your peers and your parents are especially relevant in this task.

If the answer is YES: Tell your friends more

about this! Youth associations play an

important role in promoting EDC/HRE.

If the answer is NO:

_ Ask your friends, teachers or relatives if they know any association or activity group where you could do something!

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How important it is for you what your peers tell you?

What kind of books do you like reading in your free time?

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Do you believe everything that you see on television? Why?

Go back to the list in the previous page on

places and people you can learn things from

and complete if you missed any.

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All people, places and institu-tions we saw in previous chap-ter should support each other in the task of promoting EDC/HRE to make the most of it. Very interesting and positive examples come up when this happens. Check if there is such a

programme, or a similar

one, in your school as well

Check if there is a local

branch of Amnesty International or other

NGO doing similar activities inside schools.

Amnesty International is a human rights NGO. Since many years the organisation’s volunteers go to schools and have meetings with students about human rights

10. What can we do together for EDC/HRE?

Parents' association exist all over Europe. These groups of mothers, fathers and tutors try to improve the collaboration between school and the families, especially regarding your learning.

Ask your parents

whether they are

involved in any

association or working

group inside the school

or your youth

organisation and what

they do there.

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4646

A “Living Library” works like a normal library where readers come and borrow a ‘book’ for a limited period of time and after reading it they return the Book to the library. There is only one difference: the Books in the Living Library are hu-man beings! They belong to groups who are often discriminated because people for being different or for the job they do, and because people have got ideas about them which are often not true. Books and readers speak to each other, so readers have the chance to get to know the real human beings behind those ideas.The initiative was started by a youth organisation from Denmark but now it is being organised in many countries. It started using the space of a library, but nowadays this experience is used also in festi-vals and even in schools!

As the many examples in chapter 6.

You will be able to read more in http://humanlibrary.org/

More in : http://www.eycb.coe.int/eycbwwwroot/hre/Don’t judge a book by its cover! The Living Library. Organiser’s Guide

47

Suggest to your school or youth association

to organise a “Living Library”.

Read on how to do it in

http://www.eycb.coe.int/eycbwwwroot/hre/

Don’t judge a book by its cover! The Living

Library Organiser’s Guide.

Governments have got a special role when it comes to working together, as they are the ones who make decisions for the whole society: they should work closely with other people and institutions in the country, as well as working with govern-ments in other countries.

In fact, things also happen beyond the borders of your country! EDC/HRE activi-ties, as the ones we just saw, can start next door and grow bigger, from your neighbourhood, to your city, you region or your state, and even bigger up to the whole world! This is how things are sup-posed to be. This means that you may learn from your peers, just like even your Minister of Education sometimes learns from other countries’ ministers.

Any better proof than this Charter? As mentioned at the beginning, the Charter is the result of international cooperation between the 47 countries of the Council of Europe!

Collaboration in EDC/HRE among people with different roles in education, different places and institutions should be encouraged.

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Why do you go on school trips or exchanges abroad? Is your school twined with another school from a different country?

Have you heard of any other kind of international experiences or exchanges outside school?

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30 young people from Greece, the Netherlands, Romania, Slo-venia and the UK met in Slove-nia, together with their educa-tors, for a week-long youth exchange. During this week they explored issues of discrimination and prejudice in past and pre-sent Europe by sharing their own experiences and learning about other examples in the history of Europe. They also developed their skills to engage in their realities to fight against discrimi-nation. The project could take place thanks to the Youth in Action programme.

http://ec.europa.eu/youthYouth in Action Programme. This programme offers you a great chance for interna-tional activities when you are over 13.

Cooperation at different levels, such as internationally, is very enriching.

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Training teachers and youth leaders

Evaluation

Research

Sharing positive experiences

Informing everybody

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Well, you can already find some ideas in this booklet.

And in the Charter, there are several more! And as we have already seen, all these things will work bet-ter if different people and institutions are involved. They have to happen at different levels, including international work.

11. What can we do to promote EDC/HRE?

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Training teachers and youth leaders

Training teachers, youth lead-ers and other professionals in education is one of the most important steps to improve and develop EDC/HRE. If people who are in charge of working with you on these topics are not well prepared, the results can be very negative for the learn-ers. This is why governments should make sure that there are training plans for them, no matter if they are profession-als or volunteers, together with enough money and enough people to make these trainings happen. Training should not stop with just a course before becoming a teacher or a youth leader; they should also take regular training to keep up-dated.

Ask your educators if they have got regular training

Have a look on the Internet together with your youth leader on training opportunities for him/her in the Youth sector page:

www.coe.int/youth Have a look on the Internet together with your teacher on training opportunities for him/her within Council of Europe's Pestalozzi Programme for the Training of Education Professionals:

www.coe.int/t/dg4/education/pestalozzi/

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ResearchEvaluation

There is a lot of interesting information that can be gathered regarding EDC/HRE: what topics are important, experiences, methods... This informa-tion can be later used to measure how well EDC/HRE is developing in a place. If the results of research are compared to others, then different people can learn from one another and we all have got more tools to measure the development of EDC/HRE.

Reflecting upon how an activity has worked is a basic step to improve what did not work well for next occasions and repeat what was useful. Since participation of learners is a core idea in EDC/HRE, the opinion of those who have taken part in EDC/HRE activities should be considered.

Write a letter asking the

Minister of Education in your

country how he/she checks on

what schools are doing on

EDC/HRE

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The UNSS (Union of secondary school stu-dents of Serbia) organised a research process within the project “New Model of School Students Council”, which was looking for a better working model of students councils in Serbia. One of the tools used in the process was a questionnaire which was filled in by 8 500 students and 2 000 teachers. They were asked what was good, what was bad in councils and what should be done in order to improve the situation. One of the ques-tions was whether students should vote in the school board. More than 85% of students and more than 50% of teachers answered YES. These results of the research helped a lot to convince the government for including this change in Serbian law on education.

If something great happens to you, for sure you'd like to meet your friends quickly to tell them about it.

Yeah, and this is also the case with human rights and democracy. More and more people should know about them!

Sharing positive experiences

Sharing good experiences and practices on EDC/HRE can only be positive! It can avoid repeti-tion of experiences that do not work, and it can inspire other people to repeat experiences that work well in many places.

If your school or organisation has got a newsletter or a web page, use it to write about good experien-ces in EDC/HRE in your class or group.

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55

Which of all the positive experiences you read in this document do you remember best? Why?

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Informing everybody

The fact of you reading this booklet now has to do with this idea! The more people know about the Charter, the more chances for EDC/HRE to im-prove.

How did this document reach you? Where did you find it?

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The Organising Bureau of European School Student Unions (OBESSU) to-gether with the European Students Union (ESU) organised the campaign “Light on the Rights” to make students rights written together under the “Declaration of School Students Rights” widely known. In order to do so, a “Bus tour” was organised: a van with the image of the campaign and members of OBESSU travelled across Europe stop-ping in countries where the member un-ions are; there they were received with celebrations these national Unions had prepared. It was a great opportunity for all secondary student unions in Europe to present themselves and to promote students rights in their countries .

With this booklet we wanted both to inform you about the Charter and to share with you some examples of positive experiences in EDC/HRE!

Now it's your turn to spread the ideas inside the Charter!

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What message would you like to share about the Charter or EDC/HRE with your friends?