Introduction: teaching and learning European politics in a time of crisis

Abstract

This book has been a long time coming. As with many academics balancing research, teaching and academic administration and citizenship, teaching is mostly something we do and often relish, but rarely have time to write about or reflect upon. Over the last decade, we have had the pleasure to meet like-minded colleagues from across Europe and the wider world, at teaching and learning sessions ahead of UACES conferences, in the buzzing EUROTLC biannual conferences, or in dedicated teaching and learning workshops across the continent. These discussions, continued in the pages of dedicated academic journals and blogs such as the Journal of Political Science Education or Active Learning in Political Science, have shaped how we teach every day.At the heart of this book is a commitment to active learning, born and fostered from our engagement with this community of teacher scholars. Active learning can be understood broadly as a learner-oriented approach, moving away from the more traditional 'signature pedagogy' of political science in European universities (Buckley and Reidy, 2014, p. 342) to a more balanced model where students also (or in some cases, primarily) '"learn by doing" and by reflecting on what they are doing' (Paschall and Wustenhagen, 2012, p. 513). This book owes a lot to this community. Some of them have joined us as authors for chapters, for which we are eternally grateful. Others have recommended their peers as authors, leading us to meet and learn from new colleagues. We hope you as a reader will learn as much from our authors as we did.The Guide to Teaching book series aims to provide instructors old and new with resources, support and inspiration. In that respect this book on Teaching European Union Politics is not different from its peers. We hope to be read by both seasoned teachers of the EU, newcomers and visitors from neighbouring fields. If you teach, or plan to teach European Union politics (or a neighbouring field), we hope this book can fuel your own (re)thinking about how to teach this topic. Some of the suggestions in this book require teamwork, and face-to-face environments, others do not, or can easily be adapted to the online teaching world or delivered individually. 1