Critical Democracy
Using Critical Thinking as an Educational Tool to Build a More Democratic, Inclusive and Sustainable Society
Our Project
DeCRIT is an Erasmus+ project developed under Key Action 2: Cooperation for innovation and the exchange of good practices, and, more specifically, under Key Action 201: Strategic Partnership for School Education in the field of educational innovation.
DeCRIT aims to create high-quality Intellectual Outputs which can help bring Critical Thinking to the centre of innovative educational methodologies:
IO1 – an innovative TRAINING CURRICULUM to help teachers promote critical democracy in educational contexts.
IO2 – an E-LEARNING “MOOC” PLATFORM to show and implement critical thinking skills in teaching-learning processes.
It is developed by a diverse consortium of European institutions under the coordination of Spanish high school IES Legio VII (León, SPAIN).
Critical Democracy
Why “Critical Democracy“?
Democracy is something that we usually take for granted, as though it were just an unnoticed, all-embracing shelter where citizens find refuge. Within this present-day European society, however, confronting views on education, politics, immigration, technology, freedom of speech or climate change pose a challenge for European democracy, which makes it crucial for citizens to develop specific competences, as well as mental and attitudinal strategies, in order to think and act in a more critical way, thus achieving an increasingly healthier democracy.
DeCRIT is based on this need to encourage Critical Thinking among students and young people in general, understanding it as a nuclear strategy or meta-competence required to encourage personal development, foster social inclusion and enhance the acquisition of other specific transversal skills required for democratic engagement and active citizenship.
Goals
To provide TEACHERS and EDUCATORS with the appropriate skills to innovatively use critical thinking as a cross-curricular strategy in their daily activity.
To provide STUDENTS and young people with the appropriate skills to use critical thinking as an essential life competence within the framework of innovative learning methods.
Priority 1
Supporting individuals in acquiring and developing basic skills and key competences
Priority 2
Social inclusion
Priority 3
Common values, civic engagement and participation
Expected Impact
Thanks to the nature of its tangible results, as well as its exploitation and dissemination plan, DeCRIT’s impact is envisaged as follows:
- Long-term involvement of a huge number of beneficiaries (around 5000 students / 200 teachers) in Critical Teaching-Learning Methodologies.
- Significant acquisition of intrapersonal and interpersonal competences.
- Widespread practice of democratic values and active citizenship through critical thinking in teaching-learning processes.
- Creation of permanent transnational networks to foster the exchange of knowledge on educational innovation.
- Improved acquisition of competences for life-long learning.
- Awareness-raising on the need to create more open training curricula suited to present-day educational and social needs.
- Contribution towards European 2020 and 2030 strategies, promoting equality, inclusion, interculturality or sustainability awareness.
- Large-scale dissemination of project outputs and results.
“The eyes sees only what the mind is prepared to comprehend”
Henri BERGSON
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