Democracy and tolerance are important values for Europe. Europe is not unique in this respect, but the European tradition and the foundations of the European Union emphasise democracy and tolerance as guiding principles of living together and organising society, public life and politics. The educational systems in European countries have an important role in cultivating these values of democracy and education.

After the terrorist attacks in Paris the ministers of Education formulated in the ‘Paris Declaration of 17 March 2015’ the “Declaration on promoting citizenship and the common values of freedom, tolerance and non-discrimination through education”. Eurydice (2016) presented an overview of education policy developments in Europe following this declaration. It shows that in most countries the attention in education policy to social, civic and intercultural competences has been intensified. The level of education that has been targeted the most is secondary education.

In this research project we investigate the educational policy in all 28 EU-member states and the practice in 12 selected countries on how secondary education pays attention to democracy and tolerance. The research project has been initiated and financed by the European Parliament’s Committee on Culture and Education. The study is a combination of research on educational policy and curriculum research. The policy has to be analysed at the level of the EU and on each national level. 

The study will be published in April and presented and discussed in the European Parliament in May.

The empirical part consists of two different studies. In the first study, an analysis will be made of the curriculum policy in all 28 countries of the EU. The research question in this study is: What is the curriculum policy regarding democracy and tolerance for secondary education? For each country we selected one academic expert. We developed a questionnaire and asked for quantitative and qualitative data on all aspects of above schemes. Each country produced about 10 pages of text.

In the second study, a more in-depth curriculum study has been done in 12 countries by the same experts. The main research questions are:

-        What is the curriculum policy regarding democracy and tolerance for secondary schools and what important changes have been taken since 2000? To which developments are the changes related, for example?

-        How do teachers deal with the topics of democracy and tolerance in their schools?

-        How can students be active in a democratic way in their schools?

In each case-study the national expert:

-        Analyse national policy and curriculum research;

-        Interview with national curriculum specialists;

-        Interview with an educational expert of a NGO active in the field of education for democracy and tolerance;

-        Interviews with four teachers about their practice of teaching about democracy and tolerance.

In the report an analyses of both studies will be presented and the reports of all 12 case-studies are included. The analyses has been done by the projectteam at the University of Humanistic Studies in cooperation with all experts.

In December 2016 we sent a first draft to the research committee of the European Parliament. We got feedback of 2 external academic reviewers and of the European Parliament. We are now working on finishing the report.

At this stage of the process we may not deliver already conclusions and recommendations.

In the symposium we will present:

1. The design and theoretical framework of the research
2. The outcomes of the policy study in all 28 EU-countries
3. The outcomes of the curriculum study in 12 EU-countries
4. As first example, the case-study of Finland
5. As second example, the case-study of the Czech Republic
6. The final conclusion and recommendations
7. We will invite as discussant one of the members of the European Parliament

Bevort A. & Veugelers W. (2016) Active citizenship compared in France and the Netherlands, The Journal Citizenship Teaching and Learning, Biesta, G.J.J. (2011). Learning democracy in school and society: Education, lifelong learning and the politics of citizenship. Rotterdam: Sense Publishers. Council of Europe. (2010). Council of Europe Charter on Education for Democratic Citizenship and Human Rights Education: Recommendation Cm/Rec(2010)7. Strasbourg: Council of Europe Pub. EURYDICE (2012). Citizenship education in Europe. Brussels: Education, Audiovisual and Culture Executive Agency. De Groot, I., Goodson, I. & Veugelers, W. (2014) Dutch adolescents’ narratives of their citizenship efficacy: “Hypothetically, I could have an Impact”, Educational Review, 66(2), 148-167 Peonidis, F. (2013). Democracy as Popular Sovereignty. Lanham, MD: Lexington Books.