Building European Identity through Spirit, Sense and Meaning

Author(s):

Pia-Maria RabensteinerEero Ropo

Conference:

ECER 2010

Network:

10. Teacher Education Research

Format:

Paper

Session Information

10 SES 03 B, Research on Programmes and Pedagogical Approaches in Teacher Education

Paper Session

Time:

2010-08-25

14:00-15:30

Room:

AUDITORIUM XII, Päärakennus / Main Building

Chair:

Isabel Rots

Contribution

Purpose of this study is to describe the experiences collected from intensive short European multinational courses in which students from different countries participate. The research question is if and in which form intercultural learning can ensure sustainability and how this kind of education benefits students in their personal, social and cultural identity construction as European teachers.

The BEAM Erasmus course, which is in the focus in this study, deals with the following topic areas. The subject areas - including e.g. one´s own identity, the personal role within a society, discussions concerning rules (challenging of rules), understanding and acceptance of different individual and cultural approaches and raising awareness of the necessity of building up mutual understanding – aim to guarantee a solid basis for a peaceful coexistence within a united Europe.

Values, habits, attitudes, actions have also to be scrutinized and reflected. Students have to be confronted with Citizenship Education and the discussion about appreciation, human dignity, human rights and children´s rights. A democratic cooperation in school can be experienced by students as a way of life and life principle that guides everyday school-life as a vivid and integral component (Himmelmann, 2006). Democratic action is indispensable (Georgi 2008), (Rabensteiner & Ropo 2009). Pupils, students and teachers simply have to know how individuals and groups within a society learn to democratically create and govern their coexistence.

It is supposed to be helpful to know about the implementation of models of progressive education, about the alternative and meaningful use of child- and sense-orientated teaching- and learning methods, about how to differentiate and use individualisation methods, about the handling of individual freedom and responsibility and also to get acquainted with new methods of evaluation (Dewey 2008). (Frankl 1985, 2000), (Skiera/Mohr 2003)

What should a student and future teacher know more about education in the 21^st century? Key components are the profound knowledge about the peacemaking value of language and its cultural background, as well as the development of the ability for tolerance and mutual acceptance including the question of integration / conclusion (Pirstinger 2007).

The exact study questions are:

a) What kind of motives the students who applied for participation in this intensive programme have to participate.

b) How do students describe their learning processes related to identities, values, habits, customs and behaviour of their everyday life.

Method

120 students and 30 lecturers from 12 nations and the conjoint work towards one main goal – CONNECTING EUROPE is the concept of a European intensive-programme with partners from Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Latvia, Norway, Spain and the United Kingdom. Curricula of all partner institutions include European Dimension in Education and Teaching to different extents and scopes. All students are becoming teachers studying in higher education institutions and universities. Data has been collected with questionnaires and portfolios in which students have written narratives. Data are both qualitative and quantitative. Open interview questions were formulated in order to receive open and individual views and motives for participation in the intensive programme, identity, life-related values, democracy, intercultural learning, individual perceptions of “democracy-learning” as well as implementation of “European Dimension” in school-practice. Data will be analyzed narratively.

Expected Outcomes

Expected results would benefit future work in organizing European cooperational course modules for students. Initial results show that students have had positive experiences about intensive cooperation with students from different cultures. Particularly, this kind of study might help us understand the complex formation processes of personal, social, cultural identity. It is interesting to find out what kind experiences concerning European identity/European awareness are most significant for students. We may try to find out answers to questions: •With which knowledge/expectations do students come to the intensive-programme concerning values, democracy-learning, intercultural learning? •How/in which form does a growth in knowledge, practical handling, self-competencies, social-competencies, professional competencies, competencies in conflict resolution become apparent? It should manifest itself through a combination of theoretical/practical experience. •How do students describe their own awareness of different cultures when it comes to habits, values, behaviours? •What do students think about their learning results and how do they describe them? Detailed results of empirical part (in which form the intensive programme contributes to “walk the talk” of a European Dimension in Education and Teaching, in which form students implement gained knowledge and skills in their everyday life) will be reported in the final paper.

References

BARTNITZKY, Horst, BRÜGELMANN, Hans, HECKER, Ulrich, …(Hrsg.) (2009): Kursbuch Grundschule. Grundschulverband. Frankfurt am Main DEWEY, John (2000): Demokratie und Erziehung. OELKERS Jürgen (H.): Beltz Taschenbuch 57, Beltz Verlag: Weinheim und Basel. DEWEY, John (2008): Democracy and Education. Wilder Publications FRANKL, Viktor (1985): Man´s Search for Meaning. Washington Square Press FRANKL, Viktor (2000): Man´s Search for Ultimate Meaning. Basis Books: New York. FREINET, Elise (1981): Erziehung ohne Zwang. Der Weg Celestin Freinets. Verlag Klett Cotta: Stutt¬gart. GEORGI, B., VIOLA (2008): The Making of Citizens in Europe. Verlag Bundeszentrale für politsiche Bildung. Bonn GLASER, Barney G., STRAUSS, Anselm L. (2005): Grounded theory. Huber Verlag: Bern. PIRSTINGER, Susanne (2007): Von den Sprachen des Kindes zu den Sprachen der Welt. BMUKK. Österreichisches Sprachen-Kompetenz-Zentrum. Graz RABENSTEINER, Pia-Maria (2009): "Citizenship Education" - A Challenge for the European Society. In: RABENSTEINER, Pia-Maria, ROPO, Eero (eds.): European Dimension in Education and Teaching. Vol 1.: Towards European Idea in Education (pp. 99 – 112) RABENSTEINER, Pia-Maria (2009): What worth do values have for us? In: RABENSTEINER, Pia-Maria, ROPO, Eero (eds.): European Dimension in Education and Teaching. Vol. 2: Identity and Values in Education (pp. 51 – 65) ROPO, Eero (2009): Identity Development as a Basis for Curriculum Development. In: RABENSTEINER, Pia-Maria, ROPO, Eero (eds.): European Dimension in Education and Teaching. Vol. 2: Identity and Values in Education (pp. 20 – 34) ROPO, Eero, VÄRRI, Veli-Matti (2003): Teacher Identity and the Ideologies of Teaching: Some Remarks on the Interplay. In TRUEIT, Donna, DOLL Jr. William E., WANG Hongyu, PINAR, William F. (eds.): The Internationalization of Curriculum Studies. Selected Proceedings from the LSU Conference 2000. Peter Lang: New York (pp. 261 - 270). SANDER, Wolfgang (Hg. 2005): Handbuch politische Bildung. Bundeszentrale für politische Bildung. Schriftenreihe Band 476: Bonn. SKIERA, Ehrenhard, MOHR, Arno (2003): Reformpädagogik in Geschichte und Gegenwart: Eine kritische Einführung. Oldenbourg Verlag.

Author Information

Pia-Maria Rabensteiner

University College of Teacher Education / Pädagogische Hochschule Kärnten / Viktor Frankl Hochschule

Teacher Education

Klagenfurt

Eero Ropo

University of Tampere