Continuing education of civics teachers for teaching the European Union

Results of the Jean Monnet project PEB

Bibliographic Data

ID13010076
AuthorsMonika Oberle (0000-0002-4166-1062, Institute for Political Science, Georg-August-Universität Göttingen, Germany, corresponding author), Johanna Forstmann (Institute for Political Science, Georg-August-Universität Göttingen, Germany)
Year2015
Volume14
Issue1
Pages56-71
Publication date2015-04-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueCitizenship Social and Economics Education (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 2047-1734 • E-ISSN: 2047-1734
PublisherSAGE Publishing (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.1177/2047173415583588
OpenAlexW2417072577
LanguageEN
Citations received2
References cited21

The European dimension is of salient importance for understanding and shaping politics especially, but not only, in Europe. The European Union by now has become a compulsory content of civics classes in secondary schools throughout Germany. For teachers, however, teaching this topic is connected with manifold difficulties, for example, due to the complexity and dynamics of European integration, the (perceived) distance of European Union politics, and popular prejudices. European Union content and didactics are not always included in teacher training; moreover, civics is often taught by teachers who have not been trained in this subject. Thus, special continuing education for civics teachers with regard to teaching the European Union is needed. In the context of the Jean Monnet project Politiklehrerfortbildung zur nachhaltigen Vermittlung Europäischer Bürgerschaftskompetenzen [Civics teachers’ continuing education for sustainable teaching of European citizen competencies] ( http://peb.uni-goettingen.de ), 180 teachers participated in nine continuing education courses throughout Germany. The training courses were developed at Göttingen University and designed to update both teachers’ knowledge on European integration (focus: Treaty of Lisbon; the ‘Euro Crisis’) and their capacity to convey European Union knowledge and competencies to pupils. Practical experiences in various methodological approaches were integrated into the training course as well as a visit of a member of the European Parliament. The courses were accompanied by an empirical study with pre-, post- and follow-up-tests (standardized questionnaires, both paper and pencil and online; pre/post sample N = 179). This contribution introduces several key results of the accompanying study regarding the European Union-related characteristics of participating teachers (e.g. the relation between European Union knowledge and attitudes towards the European Union, controlling for background variables such as gender and school type), the current practice – including goals, approaches, methods and problems – of teaching the subject of the European Union from a teachers’ perspective and the effects of the teachers’ continuing education series Politiklehrerfortbildung zur nachhaltigen Vermittlung Europäischer Bürgerschaftskompetenzen

Civics · Context (archaeology · European integration · European studies · European union · Geography · Mathematics education · Pedagogy · Political science · Sociology · German legal, social, and political studies · Innovative Teaching Methodologies in Social Sciences · Psychology · Sociology and Education Studies

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