1. Introduction

Teachers who teach EDC/HRE classes can be perfect in their planning and lesson preparation. But despite the best preparation a lesson can go wrong if they forget to consider the students’ skills in certain techniques. This can happen to the best and most experienced teachers. A lesson can only work well if the students have a certain repertoire of methods and know how to use them.

From the experience gained in the various programmes for teachers of EDC/HRE all over Europe we decided to include this toolbox in this volume. This set of instructions, worksheets, instruments and checklists can act as something like a database to which students have access when they are not familiar with a certain method or technique.

It is the teacher’s task to explain when and how to use which tool. And it will also be the teacher’s task to decide when to present which tool to the students, whether the toolbox is a fixed instrument displayed in the classroom, easily accessible at all times, or whether the toolbox can also be used for homework.

The following set of tools can help the students with a number of different things, such as:

• how to gather and search for information;
• how to sort your information;
• how to produce creative work;
• how to present your work;
• how to work with other students.

Each tool starts on a separate page. It can be read individually by the students or – if the teacher so decides – together in pairs or small groups.