“The Image of the EU in the Post-truth Era“ Erasmus Project

Project Title

“The Image of the EU in the Post-truth Era“

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 Schools Only

Project Call Year

This project’s Call Year is 2017

Project Topics

This project is related with these Project Topics: Teaching and learning of foreign languages; EU Citizenship, EU awareness and Democracy; ICT – new technologies – digital competences

Project Summary

The Erasmus + project with the title “The Image of the EU in the Post-truth Era“ was a multilateral partnership, involving three countries: Spain, Croatia and Germany. Switzerland took part as an associated partner. It was run as a cross curricular project. The students involved in the project were mainly aged 14 to 17. They were the main target group during the project. At the same time and after its completion a great number of students benefitted from the project.

It was about developing media competencies in the post-truth era and was thematically tied to the representation of the EU in the media in the view of European Elections in 2019. By means of a critical, fact-based analysis of the EU, the development of media competencies were to be facilitated.

Developing different media competencies at school helped students in identifying trustworthy sources and verifying news. It also encouraged the students to think about the consequences of fake news and media manipulation.
Even though all participating schools had been developing media curricula for years, everyone realized that there was a special need to analyze and work on the problem of media misuse for the purpose of manipulation or misguidance.

Main objectives of the project:
The students were to acquire skills and knowledge that would enable them to act appropriately, autonomously, creatively and in a socially responsible manner in a media-based world.

Importantly, the students were to analyze the EU in critical fashion, especially during the election campaign, and recognize the importance of active participation in the political process in the EU.

The facilitation of media competencies were reached in an activity-oriented way using a kind of spiral approach.

During the first meeting the students, apart from a workshop on e-Twinning, were introduced to the history and structures of the EU. They attended a simulation game that was to show the complexity of decisions within the EU. They used the Internet to revise news about different European topics and to gain an understanding of how complex it is to verify them. At the end of the first meeting, the students visited some of the traditional media outlets in the area, thereby obtaining an insight into ways of doing research and documentation.
Examining the characteristics of news production in social networks and its potential for misuse for the purpose of manipulation and misguidance was an emphasis of the second meeting. Workshops with experts enabled the students to enhance their knowledge.

The third meeting had its main focus on the production of the students’ own media. All participants agreed on creating an own website and a blog which now contains articles on the European election and other European topics from the participating countries. Workshops with experts enabled the students to write catchy texts for their blog. Besides, a short film was produced that focused on the students’ ideas of European values. These media were the students’ action- and product-oriented implementation of what they had learned during the project. The students learned to generate reports based on verified facts as well as obtaining a critical, but informed position. In addition, they acquired media design competencies. Nevertheless, students and teachers alike observed the challenge of verifying facts and detecting fake, of analyzing how different political views influence the information that is published.

A simulation of elections at the Spanish school and junior elections at the German school proved to enhance an awareness of EU politics. Besides, the Erasmus+ students groups in each school presented their ideas at various school events.

Overall, we have drawn more attention to European Elections in the school community and also provided guidance on a well-founded individual vote of the students, teachers, parents and local people. The students have become aware of the fact that well-balanced media coverage will help to create an overall more positive perception of the EU.
The students proved to be well informed when they took part in a panel discussion on the relationship between Switzerland and the EU with local politicians and a journalist in Switzerland. This event showed how all students have improved their language skills and gained an awareness of how political decisions are communicated.

The links to the website and the blog have been published on the schools’ websites. eTwinning served as a medium of communication between the participating schools and for dissemination.

In each school community the project is incorporated into the schools’ program and curriculum. That way we can achieve a long-term awareness for our topic. Furthermore, our teaching material and the results of the project will be a basis for further work.
New teaching material has been developed (research and documentation, manipulation in social media and verifying facts), because these topics have not been the focus of current media education so far. This newly developed teaching material, as a product of our project, should be an important component of the future media curriculum of each participating school.

In general, all our products and results will remain available for everyone who is interested in them. Permanent availability and sustainability are ensured through the schools’ websites, via eTwinning and the Erasmus+ Project Results Platform, on the website www.studentsforeurope.net and the blog created by the Erasmus+ students.

EU Grant (Eur)

Funding of the project from EU: 71340 Eur

Project Coordinator

Gesamtschule der Stadt Brühl & Country: DE

Project Partners

• IES Binissalem
• Gimnazija Vladimira Nazora Zadar