Fostering citizenship education and European values through eTwinning for future teachers
European conference for initial teacher education 2024
Date: 28 – 30 November 2024
Venue: Novotel Budapest Centrum
Address: Budapest, Ntak Sz 22041413, Rákóczi út 43-45, 1088 Hungary
Introduction
“eTwinning for Future Teachers” brings together initial teacher education (ITE) institutions that include eTwinning in their teacher education activities. The aim is to introduce teacher educators and student teachers to the full eTwinning experience so that they can benefit from an international and professional community, with the opportunity to implement innovative pedagogical methodologies with their peers.
Background of the conference
Article 2 of the Treaty on European Union states that the Union is founded on the values of respect for human dignity, freedom, democracy, equality, the rule of law and respect for human rights, including the rights of persons belonging to minorities. In 2023, the Council Conclusions on the contribution of education and training to strengthening common European values and democratic citizenship, acknowledged, among others, that eTwinning and the European School Education Platform contribute to the reinforcement of the common European values and EU democratic citizenship.
Focusing on initial teacher education (ITE), eTwinning for future teachers supports collaboration between ITE providers and schools, which has proven to be crucial for the integration of diversity into educational practices of ITE programs (European Commission, 2017). In addition, a dedicated study on the impact of eTwinning in ITE highlights the contribution of eTwinning in fostering a sense of citizenship at both national and European levels by promoting student teachers’ intercultural, multilingual and interpersonal competences in a multinational and diverse learning environment (European Commission, 2023).
Nevertheless, certain barriers have been identified among Member States with regards to teachers’ intercultural and democratic competence development (European Commission, 2020), including the lack of:
adequate educational policies and legal frameworks;
- policies for including obligatory intercultural education in ITE;
- professional development opportunities for teaching intercultural and democratic competences;
- methods for developing intercultural and democratic competences in ITE;
- peer-learning, networks, working groups in school, experiential learning, collaboration, the challenging assumptions, and learning communities.
In this context, the current conference aims at showcasing concrete practices that address these barriers and provide innovative solutions to promote citizenship education and European values in ITE. The conference will feature a range of sessions, including keynote speeches, panel discussions, and workshops that will:
present good practices from teacher educators that have successfully incorporated citizenship education and European values in their eTwinning projects; offer insights into enhancing intercultural and democratic competences in the ITE curriculum; introduce various innovative methods (see above) for promoting citizenship education and European values via eTwinning; emphasise the role of international cooperation in enhancing ITE via shared learning and the development of common European values.
Goals of the conference:
- To examine the role of eTwinning for future teachers in promoting citizenship education and European values within the context of ITE.
- To explore innovative pedagogical approaches for integrating eTwinning into teacher education curricula to enhance future teachers’ competences.
- To discuss the challenges and opportunities of integrating eTwinning projects into university courses and initial teacher training programs.
- To identify good practices of eTwinning projects that have effectively promoted European values among future teachers and teacher educators.
- To foster peer learning, collaboration and networking among teacher educators for implementing impactful eTwinning projects in ITE.