North-South Centre of the
Council of Europe
Global Education online course: Democratic Citizenship
Welcome
Welcome to the information site of the online course:
Global Education: Democratic Citizenship
Offered by the North South Centre (NSC) and implementing partner (xxx)
This site outlines the main features of the course, including:

The aims of the course

What it is about and for whom it is created

Information about NSC and implementing partner (XXX)

Course didactical approach

The application and registration process and upcoming course dates
Joint Management Agreement between the
European Commission – EuropeAid Co-operation Office and the North-South Centre of the Council of Europe
c/o North-South Centre, rua de São Caetano, nº 32, 1200-829 Lisboa, Portugal,
Tel:+ 351 213 584 030, Fax+ 351 213 584 072
www.nscentre.org
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Course
This global education online learning course is designed for education practitioners,
social workers, youth activists, as well as policy and decision makers.
Please be aware that the course announced on this website regards an online
learning course and does not involve any travelling. However, in order to
participate, you need to have regular access to the Internet.
The course has been designed to complement the Global Education Guidelines, a
pedagogical tool for educators and policy makers to understand and implement
Global Education, and share with a wider audience concepts and approaches
promoted by the North-South Centre’s Global Education programme.
This course, under the title "Global Education - Democratic Citizenship",
provides an introduction to Democratic Citizenship education as part of the Global
Education context, and deals with its concepts, approaches, strategies and action,
by considering its interconnections between the global and local realities.
Content
This course explores the ways of addressing the issues in theory and practice,
reflecting on the ideal state considering the evidence from the reality, and
developing new ways of understanding and promoting Democratic Citizenship
education in the contexts of the participants.
The specific contents include:

Introduction to global education

Democratic Citizenship in the context of global education

Democratic Citizenship education

Mapping of existing Democratic Citizenship action at a local level

Dilemmas and challenges in Democratic Citizenship practice

Development of strategies for action

Reflecting on cross-cutting issues

Democratic Citizenship activities design

Democratic Citizenship action planning
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Specific aims of the course

To offer a platform to exchange ideas on democratic citizenship education

To reflect on the concepts related to global education, democratic citizenship
and democratic citizenship education

To develop a better understanding of democratic citizenship education in
practice

To explore the dilemmas and challenges in democratic citizenship education

To assist in developing activities

To connect local and international practitioners and other relevant actors in
the field

To strengthen the network of global and democratic citizenship education
practitioners
For whom?
The course in general is targeted at people working in or with Democratic
Citizenship education, either as part of international organisations, national
educational institutions or those working for national and local civil society
organisations. The course also welcomes students with a special interest in the
topic.
Course requirements:
Please note that all participants should:

be in command of the English language;

be able to spend a minimum of 10 hours per week on course work;

have basic ICT skills and a minimum of internet access.
By whom?
The course has been developed in partnership between the North South Centre
(NSC) and xxx (xxx).
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North-South Centre's mandate is to provide a framework for North-South cooperation to increase public awareness of global interdependence issues and
promote policies of solidarity in conformity with the aims and principles of the
Council of Europe: respect for Democratic Citizenship, democracy and the rule of
law.
The implementing partner (xxx) ….
Costs
The North South Centre will provide scholarships of 400 euro, corresponding to the
course value. The scholarships will be granted to selected applications on the basis
of quality of the application.
Please be aware that an application should consist of the online form and the word
document.
For more information please go to the application page (http…)
Dates
Spring
Summer
Autumn
The possibility to register for these courses will open one month prior to the
starting date. For more information please go to the application page
If you would like more information do not hesitate to contact the North-South
Centre or the implementing partner (xxx).
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Didactics
This course favours collaborative learning. Participants are requested to actively
contribute to the courses in form of discussions, asking critical questions to fellow
participants and to the coaches, suggesting useful sites or cooperating with others
in the completion of the assignments.
Participants are co-responsible for the exchange of knowledge and the level of
interaction. This process is facilitated by the daily availability of the three (3)
coaches who guide participants through the learning process within your online
learning community.
Every week there will be different assignments. The assignments aim at reflecting
the content provided and stimulating discussion for a further deepening of the
content. Parallel to the assignments, the 'Forum' provides an explicit space for
further debate, questions and exchange of knowledge.
The course is offered and supervised entirely on the Internet in English language.
Participants enter the course with an individual password, and attend at their own
convenience, pace and level of intensity during the running of the course.
Weekly assignments and intensive discussions form a central part of the course to
promote knowledge exchange and knowledge sharing among the participants,
coaches and external experts involved.
1.
Introduction
to
Global
Education:
Democratic
Citizenship
Education Basics
The first module looks at the foundations of global education. It starts with an
overview of global education, leading to the positioning of Democratic Citizenship
education as part of the global and local processes. It also offers an overview of
Democratic
Citizenship
and
its
place
in
a
globalized
world,
where
interconnectedness is an integral part of today´s learning and living. Finally, this
module explores the glocal (global-local) dynamics, methodology and approaches to
Democratic Citizenship education.
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2. Understanding Democratic Citizenship Education in your glocal
context
The second module of this course addresses the needs for an improved
understanding of one´s own context in order to be able to assess the necessities
and the goals for a Democratic Citizenship education. Through a mapping exercise
and an analysis, participants will be exploring the different actors, existing actions
and approaches used in practice and the interconnections that exist in between
them. Based on this, they will be able to identify the main challenges and reflect on
the dilemmas in and for Democratic Citizenship education.
3. Developing strategies for action
The third module of this course examines the possible levels of interventions by
helping to develop the adequate strategy for action in the field of Democratic
Citizenship education. It also tackles the cross-cutting issues related to Democratic
Citizenship education, its relation with human rights education and intercultural
education, as well as offers an opportunity to experience a negotiation on
implementing a Democratic Citizenship education curriculum as a policy.
4. Developing Democratic Citizenship Education activities
The fourth module of this course focuses on the practical aspects of Democratic
Citizenship education by focusing on activities design and action planning in the
different spheres of action, such as the formal, non-formal and informal education,
advocacy and / or policy development. It also includes the evaluation and a debate
on the follow up to the course.
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PARTNERS
The North South Centre
The mandate of the North-South Centre of the Council of Europe is to provide a
framework for European co-operation designed to heighten public awareness of
global interdependence issues and to promote policies of solidarity complying with
the Council of Europe’s aims and principles, respect for Democratic Citizenship,
democracy and social cohesion. The North-South Centre’s work is based on three
principles: dialogue, partnership and solidarity. Governments, parliaments, local
and regional authorities and civil society organisations constitute the partners in
this quadrilogue approach and are involved in the Centre’s activities. The Centre
carries out studies and organises debates, workshops and training courses. It acts
as a catalyst by facilitating meetings between actors from different horizons and
countries, working on issues of common interest and encouraging the formation of
networks.
The North-South Centre’s activities involve two lines of action:

raising European awareness of issues of global interdependence and
solidarity through education and youth programmes;

promoting North-South solidarity policies in conformity with the goals and
principles of the Council of Europe through dialogue between Europe, the
Southern Mediterranean countries and Africa.
The implementing partner (xxx)
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European Commission
This online course is made possible through the Joint Management Agreement
between the European Commission & the North-South Centre of the Council of
Europe. This three year Joint Management Agreement signed between the
European
Commission
(Europe
Aid)
and
the
North-South
Centre
aims
at
strengthening global education in the new member States of the European Union
and candidate countries, as well as promoting Africa-Europe youth co-operation in
the context of the EU-Africa Strategy, targeting civil society actors and local
authorities.
The North-South Centre is responsible for the implementation of the project in close
collaboration with non-state actors and civil society platforms, such as CONCORD
and the European Youth Forum. The Global Education on-line training course is
developed in the framework of this joint management agreement.
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EVALUATION ELEMENTS
1. General Overview of the Activity
2. Course outline Global Education: Democratic Citizenship
3. Facilitation of the course
-
Registration and administration;
-
Technical assistance to participants;
-
General assistance regarding the learning process;
-
Tutoring;
-
Reviewing assignments;
-
Suggesting reading materials;
-
Identification and development of specific discussion topics;
-
The
general
profile
of
the
selected
(geographical/profession/gender);
-
Evaluation of competences development
4. Overall course evaluation
-
Overall impressions based on participants’ feedback;
-
Knowledge, competences and skills;
-
Communication;
-
Methodology and exercises;
-
Coaching;
-
Suggestions for improvement
participants