Democracy for all, all for Democracy

Our goal was to establish a shared culture of democracy. We wanted to leverage everyone's experience and broaden our activities. Our democracy e-book is a dissemination tool that will serve as a s...

Our goal was to establish a shared culture of democracy. We wanted to leverage everyone's experience and broaden our activities. Our democracy e-book is a dissemination tool that will serve as a support for implementing a new policy in our high schools. We wanted to develop our students into citizens capable of understanding the democratic system in which they operate and encourage them to be socially and civically engaged. Since France has a more limited experience with Erasmus, the goal was to develop multicultural projects in high schools and mobility programs. Working with students of different levels and diverse social backgrounds helped promote respect, equality, and combat discrimination, in line with our objectives. We wanted to move away from the traditional teaching environment. Workshop hours in France (see Digipad), mobility programs, and icebreaker activities contrasted with traditional classes. We created informal learning environments and encouraged peer-to-peer learning through the exchange of knowledge and information. We were able to develop digital skills and make our students more independent.

The project was based on collaborative planning from the outset. The various mobility sessions facilitated joint project monitoring. A collaborative, student-centered approach: our project relied on the active collaboration of the students. The various workshops gradually led to the final project. Our successive meetings allowed us to evolve the project and redefine our priorities. Each mobility session enriched the project's development by providing new insights. In short, each mobility session was not just a step, but a unique and thoughtful contribution to the project. Each page of the TwinSpace is the result of collaborative work that gradually led to the final draft of the charter. Throughout the project, our students acquired knowledge that enabled them to develop a shared perspective and work together to achieve their goal. We implemented the democratic principle based on the active involvement of students in decision-making, giving them a role as actors and the opportunity to take initiatives (empowerment).

Creation of the final product, the constitution, in 4 stages: 1. In Portugal, video production: interviews with students from the host high school to gather their perceptions of democracy in a given school. These interviews helped create a list of themes or "topics." After discussions, our students determined the themes. Then, each country developed its own themes based on the "topics." 2/3. Knowledge contribution: The mobility experiences in Greece and France prompted reflection on the student's place in a democratic system at high school. They also contributed to deepening knowledge about democracy, particularly: participatory democracy, engagement, and the origins of democracy. 4. Final collaborative drafting in Turkey: drafting the various pages of the charter in multinational groups. Each team is responsible for thematic proposals from a country and makes a selection. Then, all the students determine the topics deemed most relevant. Each group creates a cover, followed by a vote. Other results:  collective creation of virtual post-its on a netiquette  logo