young european swiss | yes has been running the europe@school for many years. Representatives of yes offer a tailor-made programme for your school. The target audience are vocational and middle school students as well as students from the 8th school year (age 14) onwards.
The pupils should have the opportunity to inform themselves about the role of Switzerland in Europe. The pupils’ personal lives will be linked to Europe by means of various everyday themes.
Goals
With the europe@school project, yes wants:
- to encourage the participating pupils to exert critical, political thinking and to promote opinion-forming based on hearing all sides of an argument;
- to inform them about the relationship between Switzerland and the European Union;
- to encourage dialogue on the future of Europe and Switzerland’s relationship with the EU in workshops and simulations;
- to inform the participating pupils about our organisation and other possibilities for political participation.
In accordance with the individual curricula of different schools, the objectives can also be discussed and defined with the responsible teachers.
Programme items
The europe@school project comprises three programme items which can be selected and compiled by the schools themselves. This depends on the time frame and level of knowledge of the pupils.
- Workshops: The European concept and the role of Switzerland in Europe will be dealt with in theme-specific workshops. The topics will be selected on a pupil-oriented basis. A workshop usually lasts 2 lessons. However, the duration can be adapted to the timetable of the school.
- Panel discussion with famous politicians (incl. short preparation with the students) – 2 lessons
- Round of discussions with contradictory arguments between students and yes members – 1-2 lessons
The various programme items function on their own, all together as a whole or in their own chosen combination. The schools have the choice as to which programme items are to be carried out in their schools. There are various factors which play a role in the choice of the programme. The outcomes that the school expects from the project are decisive. If the school wants to focus on information gathering and explanation, the workshops are an appropriate tool. If, on the other hand, the school wishes to strengthen the pupils’ ability to shape their own opinion or to communicate this opinion, the panel or discussion round is a possibility.
It is recommended that the concept of Europe be dealt with beforehand in class. The more prior knowledge the pupils have, the more exciting and intensive the debates and workshops will be.
In the preparation phase as well as in the actual implementation phase, yes offers flexibility and adaptability to the schools. If there are special wishes or ideas, these can be discussed and implemented.
If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact us at school@y-e-s.ch at any time.