In 2002 RCEDC together with American Councils (ACTR)
participating in the international project "We study democracy at school" directed towards spreading of the successful
experience of teaching the students the citizenship skills and democratic procedures in
Russia.
Project manager is Elena Avinskaia, graduate of the ACTR program "Partner in
education"
Within the frame of the project we plan to create the complex experimental program of legal and civil education from 1 to 11 forms and its
approbation on the basis of school No 228, Saint-Petersburg.
School No 228 is a member of Association of the innovative schools of Russia
and during the years 2001-2002 conducted trainings and
seminars in civil education within the frames of The Democracy Works
program.
Education of the teachers will be divided to three cycles:
- mastering of the citizenship skills,
- mastering of the skills of work in the small groups,
- mastering of the discussion skills according the methods of "Parliament
debates" and "UN model".
Approaches that we suggest are directed to giving the students the possibility
to take part in the solution of important problems of class and school life.
For this the students organize Groups of Active Citizens which prepare their
own projects and proposals, suggest them for discussion at the
representative school session according the United Nations and You the People model.
The school Groups of Active Citizens activate the leadership skills of the students, improve interactions within the group, and establish creative
relationship between teachers and students.
The first stage of the project (September-October 2002) included 2-days training for teachers, for leaders of the school projects, and leaders of non-government organizations. There were 27 participants of this training who discussed the prospects of using the suggested methods in the school work. All the participants were assured of the prospects of cooperation and development of programs for the schools and local communities.
October 20 to 27, 2002 presentations of the Program were performed in the University of Pedagogical Skills, in the UN Development Center, and workshops were organized in the "Unison" primary school and in the City Palace of Youth Creativity. The decision was taken to develop a partnership between RCEDC and the City Palace of Youth Creativity.
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