MESSAGE FROM
PEER EDUCATORS Dear future Understanding Europe trainer, Have you ever asked yourself why active citizenship is not usually learnt at school? Is it because there is no time? No room in the curricula? Because teachers do not want to teach it to their pupils? Or that they wouldn’t know how to do it? What does it even mean actually? The answer we found is that active citizenship is not learnt at school, because it can not truly be taught, only experienced. With Understanding Europe, we do not claim to give young people a full picture of what active citizenship really is. However, we aim at sparking their interest in current issues and encouraging them to take an active role in shaping our society. We do so by providing them with tools to develop critical and independent thinking through non-formal educational methods and peerto-peer learning. After one UE Crash Course, high school pupils will not have become experts in EU affairs, nor will we. But if they leave the classroom with one question in mind they want to do research on, one new idea they will discuss with their friends or one piece of knowledge they will explain to their parents, our goal has been achieved. And in the process, we will have learnt as well, perhaps even more than the pupils we were intending to teach.
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Our mission is thus to provide a basic understanding of European politics to pupils and strengthen their political participation in Europe. We offer a space where pupils can question what they have heard in the news and debate with their classmates in an open, unbiased, safe and welcoming environment. We then aim to help them form an opinion of their own and empower them to make their voices heard. Being a programme organised for youth by youth, UE naturally finds the right balance between fun and academics. As peertrainers, we don’t enter the classroom as EU experts nor teachers, we come as ourselves and as their peers. We are simply young people who want to share our knowledge and passion about the EU in an interactive and interesting way. Our role is to facilitate their learning, unlock their potential, and guide them through their questions. We have to learn to leave our own biases, our own political opinions and judgements behind us and welcome whatever is waiting for us behind that classroom door. It is therefore first and foremost, for us trainers a learning experience and a lesson of humility. Then, being part of the UE team also means that you join a community of passionate and caring young people who are eager to challenge themselves, try and fail and try again, support each other and of course, have a blast!
