1.1 A new kind of citizenship requires a new kind of education

Rote-learning oriented models that are simply reduced to instruction are insufficient in creating the kind of active, informed and responsible citizenship that modern democracies require.

What is required are forms of education that prepare learners for actual involvement in society – forms of education that are as much practical as theoretical, rooted in real-life issues affecting learners and their communities, and taught through participation in school life as well as through the formal curriculum.

The role of the active citizen corresponds to that of the active learner. The concept of constructivist learning provides support for learners who face problems that are new to them. In school, the teacher may already have found an optimal solution. Later, when dealing with the challenges addressed above, the future generation will act as pioneers.

The need to provide such learner-centred teaching presents important challenges for the teaching profession. It means learning new forms of knowledge, developing new teaching methods, finding new ways of working and creating new forms of professional relationships – both with colleagues and with learners. It emphasises teaching based on current affairs over the understanding of historical systems, critical thinking and skills teaching as well as knowledge transmission, co-operative and collaborative working rather than isolated preparation, professional autonomy instead of dependence on central diktat. It requires a change in how we perceive learning, from an idea of learning as teacher-centred to learning through experience, participation, research and sharing.

A didactic, teacher-led, textbook-dominated, knowledge-based orientation has to be replaced by one emphasising student involvement, a broader range of teaching methods and a more skills-based approach. That is what this EDC/HRE edition attempts to contribute to.