Introductory note:

To be European is like living in a big house next door to people from other regions/countries with other cultures, different ways of life and  languages. However, as it is the case in in any other house, the different rooms may have different shapes, sizes, designs, colours, and lay-outs. There may be connecting doors or simply those which open to corridors where eople might meet. There may also be comunity rooms.

Ideas for the workshop

At the workshop in Otzenhausen we’d like to ask the participants (pupils/students and teachers) to build a “House of Europe” according to their experiences, dreams and visions based on shared values as they are for instance expressed in the European Constitution.

The front door as the entrace to the house is communication. For communication we need a common language, which is understood and spoken by everybody. The individual, regional languages form parts of the various rooms.

Tasks for students and teachers

Before the workshop:

In lessons or projects depending on  the facilities of each individual school, students should

deal with the following aspects and questions:

1. 2005  - The Year of European Citizenship
2. My region: What is typical? What does the term culture mean whith regard to my region/country?Are there traces of other cultures? …..
3. Which elements/characteristics of my region should be included in the “make up” of my room? (Bring along items to Otzenhausen which represent your region and which will help the other participants of the workshop to get to know your region better and help to understand you.)

At the workshop

Pupils: Build the European House in groups of 5 or 6 (cross-national groups).

Teachers: Deal with the following questions:

-         How can we create greater awaremness of similarities and differences? Which subjects are suitable for achieving this aim?

-         How can we help and support the pupils/students top develop into self-confident, fearless  personalities?

-         How can we ensure that every pupil gets the chance to participate in some kind of exchange?

o       Which types of exchanges can we realize?

o       Organizational aspects

o       Financial aspects

o       Integration of exchanges into every day school life

o       …….

-         How can we create a network in which students can lay hands on a joined project, i.e. become engaged in a charity project (® Bottrop Workshop: proposed electricity project)