Erasmus + KA 3 project Teachers4Europe – Setting an Agora for Democratic Culture
How readable are the EU institutions by its citizens? The complexity of the legislative process of the EU presents a barrier to citizens’ understanding of it; as a result, citizens feel far away from the decisions taken.
Who is elected democratically in the EU institutions? Who is not? Who proposes laws? Who votes them in – or not? What are the legislative processes of the European Union? What do we think of EU decision processes?
“The European Union is a magnificent adventure that has no equal in the world. But the problem is that its institutions are too complex and not well known. To be able to manage all the actors, EU citizens, 27 governments, commissions of technicians and officers… it is difficult to circumvent the need for the three central institutions (European Parliament, European Council and European Commission)… It is complicated to undo these, but there is a problem of communication mostly. Why not teach, in classrooms, even 30 minutes of curriculum for increasing knowledge of the EU?”
(Marion Van Renterghem, Interview on TF1 “Quotidien” 19/01/2022)
The Handbook does just that: it provides teachers with the resources they need to address the issue.
Today we highlight the activity “Legislative Process”, p. 51 of the handbook, that invites learners to reproduce in a small scale a legislative process of the EU, using roles in order to better understand it and to reflect on possible measures to make it better in the future.
The activity sets the scene for:
Student will adopt roles:
And go through a live legislative process. This role playing pedagogy is active, participative and lively to satisfy students’ curiosity and willingness to learn.
What will be learnt?
The debriefing of the activities will allow for students’ to become aware of the knowledge gained about the legislative process, but also critically reflect on the complexity of the decision-making process of the EU and explore ways that citizens might not feel so far away from the decisions taken.
To end the module an assessment activity is proposed to allow students to evaluate their learning. Peers can hold conversations to evaluate ‘where they are at’ concerning their behaviours in the group:
> To learn more about the legislative process: Ordinary Legislative Procedure (website)
> Bandmann, M, Viñes Jimeno, M., Mompoint-Gaillard, P. (2021). Legislative process. Handbook for Teachers Teaching European Values. P. Mompoint-Gaillard & M. Viñes Jimeno (Eds.). Teachers4Europe Erasmus + KA3 – policy-making – Setting an Agora for Democratic Culture.
To find out more about the Handbook for Teachers:
In this article we answer some questions regarding the decision to transform Learn to Change from an association to a collective.
In this article, we talk about what we mean by Collective – the new form chosen by L2C – and how you can join it.
Learn to Change’s members held a General Assembly in fall 2022, in which the decision was taken to transform the association into a less formal, and more agile entity. Therefore, we will change status, going from an ‘organization’ to a less formal entity that we name “The collective”
If you feel you are committed to the vision and mission of the association, then your place is here.
We are sure that becoming a member will benefit you in many ways. Read the product description for more details or click sign up now.