Empower youth to debate across Europe! Erasmus Project

Project Title

Empower youth to debate across Europe!

Project Key Action

This project related with these key action: Cooperation for innovation and the exchange of good practices

Project Action Type

This project related with this action type : Strategic Partnerships for youth

Project Call Year

This project’s Call Year is 2018

Project Topics

This project is related with these Project Topics: New innovative curricula/educational methods/development of training courses; EU Citizenship, EU awareness and Democracy; Recognition (non-formal and informal learning/credits)

Project Summary

Debate education is crucial to develop various soft skills important for the development of youth as citizens and as a productive member of society: confidence, public speaking ability, critical thinking capacity, civic engagement and understanding of other citizens’ viewpoints are all enhanced. Education therefore needs to be cutting-edge and delivered by well-educated, qualified trainers. National debate organisations are currently at the vanguard of these provisions, but quality remains intermittent, training programs informal, best practice knowledge transfer minimal and official accreditation is sorely needed.

This project is administered by IDEA NL, an international NGO established in 1999 and based in The Netherlands that promotes the use of debate as a critical-thinking and citizenship building activity. IDEA NL cooperates in and coordinates an international consortium of national debate organisations, which promote these qualities amongst youth in their societies using innovative approaches and time-tested methods. [Partner organisations x,y,z] are drawn from this consortium. We are strengthened by two similar organisations who add unique perspectives to the mix. DDW from Germany runs its own national Trainer of Trainer program, and their prior expertise in setting up a program will provide invaluable in enhancing the best practices of all organisations.

This project will collect, analyse and build ahead on best practices of training educators and develop a training of educators curriculum through two transnational partner events. The contents of the curriculum will include a pedagogical philosophy, training in the subject matter of debate and public speaking, and the role of the teacher as mentor. Methodology will be actively developed and evaluated. Crucially, information and approaches about education is brought together by organisations with a multitude of experiences, allowing this Curriculum to effectively find best practices that cut across lines of class, the EU centre-periphery, and culture, so that youth from areas not traditionally benefitting from soft skills training and extracurricular education can benefit maximally. In between these partner events this curriculum will be tested by a year-long application and evaluation within the national organisations of partners. A crucial outcome will be to build an online interactive training database that trainers across Europe can use to share and discuss quality learning material and exercises. After revision this curriculum will be disseminated not just within our organisations but crucially also to youth work organisations in the countries we operate in through national trainer of trainer events. These events will lead to an official accreditation of trainers, allowing them enhanced access to formal educational institutions requiring accreditation, and guaranteeing an optimum and standardised level of quality in education for 11000 students.

The impact on students will be twofold. Qualitatively, they will receive a high level of debate education, enhancing all these valuable soft skills. Crucially, the experiences of the partner organisations with a wide varied of youth including youth-at-risk and the focus on not just content but also a mentor approach, will mean that students receive tailored trainings to their backgrounds and needs, and can work together with individuals they will perceive not just as educators but as role models. Quantitatively, the accreditation and professionalisation enhances the opportunity of debate and youth organisations to work together with formal education systems. Simultaneously the increase in trainers will enhance the capacities of all organisations involved. Thereby this enhances greatly the amount of students who can attain these valuable skills.

The educators receive a quality education and access to an interactive system that allows for continued updating of their knowledge based on the latest insights from other educators in the classroom through the online trainer database. This allows for direct hands-on practical experience from the classroom to be disseminated in a 21st-century way.

The standardised curriculum, the accreditation process and the increased network of the partner organisations – both through the intensified cooperation with each other, and with other youth organisations in relevant fields – will help make the project sustainable as it can be utilised to train trainers after the project is over.

In the long term this allows for the education of a large amount of engaged young EU-citizens who can voice their well-developed insights in a convincing and critical manner.

EU Grant (Eur)

Funding of the project from EU: 225194 Eur

Project Coordinator

INTERNATIONAL DEBATE EDUCATION ASSOCIATION & Country: NL

Project Partners

• MLADINSKI OBRAZOVEN FORUM
• Deutsche Debattiergesellschaft e.V.
• Eesti Väitlusselts
• Viesoji istaiga Neformaliojo svietimo debatu centras
• Debasu centrs
• ASOCIATIA ROMANA DE DEZBATERI, ORATORIE SI RETORICA
• Slovenská debatná asociácia