The Challenge of Democratic Education in the European Union

Abstract

hen East European countries joined the European Union, linguistic and cultural diversity increased, and generated new conflicts even as some attempt was made to use diversity to build a stronger democracy and develop Education for Democratic Citizenship (EDC). 2 In recent decades, such problems have been sharply exacerbated by the largest inflow of refugees ever to sweep over Europe. Languages are being promoted 3 while they pose a serious challenge when some people are denied the right to keep their na-1 This text is an updated version of a shorter paper published in Critical Essays on Contemporary European Culture and Society, ed. U. W. Beitter (New York, NY: Peter Lang Publishing, 2003), 42-52. 2 The Education for Democratic Citizenship (EDC) project was initiated in 1997. Its aim was to identify (a) which values and skills individuals needed in order to become actively engaged citizens; (b) how they can acquire those skills; and (c) how they can learn to pass them on to others. In 2010, the Council of Europe Charter on Education for Democratic Citizenship and Human Rights Education was adopted by the Organisation's 47 member states in the framework of Recommendation CM/Rec(2010)7. On 28-29 November 2012, in Strasbourg, France, over two hundred participants from all over Europe and beyond attended the Conference on "Human Rights and Democracy in Action-Looking Ahead: The impact of the Council of Europe Charter on Education for Democratic Citizenship and Human Rights Education." 3 As the European Year of Languages 2001 began developing projects in almost all European countries and in many cities, and European educational systems were asked to integrate the "European dimension" in their syllabi, the question of languages became more than ever a serious challenge in Europe. On the eve of the closing event of the Year, the Council of Europe Committee of Ministers decided to declare a "European Day of Languages" on 26 September each year, to celebrate linguistic diversity, plurilingualism, and lifelong language learning.