Teaching the EU: Fostering Knowledge and Understanding in the Brexit Age

“Teaching the European Union” is a term as elusive as the notions of “EU Studies” or “European Studies,” both discussed and debated by generations of scholars and practitioners. The case of the EU, and of the art of teaching EU-related content, is one of the most striking examples, where the emphasis on values and principles cannot be passed by indifferently. What is being taught and how it is being taught have a direct impact on the trajectory of the European integration process today and in the years to come. The objective of this introductory chapter is to offer a brief insight into the book’s context and the book’s relevance. Against this backdrop this volume’s content is outlined. A few points for the readers to consider follow.

This chapter explores the specificities of learning and teaching on European Union politics, in the context of higher education, and in particular to students who are not graduating in politics or international relations. It is the author’s contention that a core issue to tackle is motivation, that is, the answer to the question: “What is it that makes a student, probably a young person, want to learn about politics?” and, if the teaching–learning activity occurs in a context where the course is compulsory and motivation scarce, then “How to reach the student, in order to raise his/her interest on the topic?” The deep roots of the answers to these questions lie in issues of political socialization, political culture and democratic participation. Where such culture is already embedded, class work can be based mostly on tackling up-to-date topics of public discussion, and in the reinforcement of framework knowledge. However, when politics is not a topic perceived as relevant by the students, raising their awareness becomes the first task. This chapter describes teaching strategies that can act as triggers for involving students in debates on politics and for increasing their curiosity on issues concerning the European Union. In times of Brexit and multiple crises, this may become a tricky process, since a lot of information is available in the public space, but a substantial part of it is negative on the EU itself. Furthermore, in a context of ever-growing technological sophistication, the abundance of new tools also requires from the teacher new skills to reach the students. This chapter is constructed with reference to the relevant literature and on the basis of the author’s own teaching experience and ends with a reflection on the possibility of teaching a democratic political culture, notably on the matter of the European Union.

This chapter aims at contributing to the promotion of education for competent and responsible citizenship with regard to the European Dimension. It takes into consideration five points: (1) the expected profile of the active European citizen in a reliable European cooperation project; (2) the attitude of people in Europe to the European Union (EU) and to the other member countries, according to Eurobarometer and other surveys, keeping in mind the international scenario, and the internal cooperation among the EU states; (3) the situation of citizenship education, as reported by European and international studies as Eurydice (2017); (4) suitable innovative and technology-enhanced approaches to teaching and learning excellence, aiming at Education of Responsible Competent European Citizenship, including digital citizenship, focusing on knowledge, skills, attitudes, values of responsible citizenship in a democratic society, and developing thinking processes: information management, judgment and decision-making processes, working constantly under European point of view, strengthening contacts, and exchanges among EU member countries; and (5) non-formal and informal learning, influences from the family, the social environment and the mass media on the attitude of people in Europe to the European cooperation. Proposals are developed for improvement in the field of teaching/learning, teacher training, and communication, fostering interaction, engagement, and competent citizenship for the common future.

This chapter theorizes a proposal for applying the study of Brexit as a pedagogical strategy in an European Studies (ES) bachelor program, as a means to activate theoretical knowledge for different disciplinary and thematic fields of study about the European Union. The proposal uses the problem-based learning (PBL) approach as a pedagogical methodology and the bachelor of ES at the Faculty of Arts and Humanities at the University of Coimbra as a case study to rehearse teaching innovation. It is based on a theoretical part, conciliating PBL as a pedagogical tool in social sciences and humanities with the exceptionalism of Brexit within the European integration theories and the study of European policies to activate and question prior scientific knowledge, and on a survey to bachelor’s students and alumni on the pertinence of PBL and of Brexit as an empirical element for scientific knowledge in ES. As a result, specific proposals to use Brexit in PBL experiences in different disciplinary areas of ES are made, paving the way for a range of teaching and learning opportunities and challenges released by Brexit to make progress in the ES pedagogical framework.

The pedagogical benefit of active learning environments such as simulations within University teaching is widely recognized and there is a burgeoning literature on their impact (Raymond & Usherwood, 2013; Schnurr, De Santo, & Green, 2014). Much of the empirical evidence to date has mobilized quantitative data drawn, for example, from Likert scale questionnaire responses. There remains an absence of qualitative studies that explore the in-depth views of participants involved in simulation activities and this chapter goes some way to filling that void. This chapter uses an expanded dataset comprising responses to open-ended questions gathered via a pre- and post-simulation questionnaire completed by participants at five secondary school-based EU simulations undertaken in 2017 and 2018 on the topic of the Brexit negotiations over the freedom of movement. It builds on earlier work which demonstrated that simulations can be an effective University outreach and recruitment tool to widen participation in and raise aspirations toward entering higher education (Heard-Lauréote, Bortun, & Kreuschitz, 2019) by analyzing the experience of approximately 100 secondary school participants who undertook the simulations. By exploring the educational value of EU simulations as perceived by participants, this chapter provides a snapshot of the pedagogical impact of this type of activity to the benefit of those devising such activities for delivery in the future.

This chapter focuses on the main challenges of teaching and learning European Union (EU) issues, bearing in mind that the future of the EU is far from being granted, the shock of Brexit, and the new technological innovations. The purpose is to design a methodology for teaching EU using knowledge management and design thinking procedures. Knowledge management refers to information selection, acquisition, integration, analysis and sharing knowledge that takes place in an environment dominated by social networks in which technological links play a major role. The design thinking procedures, as a collaborative methodology, create groups of students in the classroom. Each group should represent an EU member state. Once groups are created, the teacher must give them a task that may include a problem that the EU has had to solve during its history. Then, individual groups must be asked to design a solution. A consensus among all participating groups on the proposed solution should be reached. To design a solution, based on a mind map, groups should be working inside and outside the classroom using technological tools and interacting through social media. At the end of this process, students must play a Kahoot to fix and clarify the key concepts of each lesson. This process must be repeated for all the chapters of the EU syllabus. The syllabus is made up of key issues of the EU. Students should be taken to discover how EU affects their lives and to wonder how they would be without the EU.

This chapter explains the added value of learning the EU via interactive academic teaching and focused training provided by experts and practitioners. The EUMedEA Crash Course (CC) is an intensive training course mixing teaching, research and expertise funded by the European Commission via the EUMedEA Jean Monnet Chair. It was held for three editions (2016–2018) at the University of Catania. Based upon studying and sharing the expertise on crisis at the EU Mediterranean borders, this intensive learning experience allowed young and senior researchers to interact in a qualified academic context by looking at the on-field activities of the experts directly involved in the crisis management, in Italy or in other Mediterranean countries. The selected topic – crises at the EU Mediterranean borders and migration in particular – has involved an international group of instructors and researchers who profited of the expertise of those who experience practices on the ground. The EUMedEA CC tried to bridge the gap between academia and experts by providing excellence teaching, focusing on a various range of crisis managers willing to share their everyday business. New crises require new actors, strategies and instruments, thus new analytical tools to understand new and old practices to address crises in the Mediterranean area are needed. In sum, by providing an innovative teaching based upon experience on the ground, this CC has brought the EU as a crisis manager closer to European (young) researchers.

The European Union (EU) faces numerous political and socio-economic challenges, both of an external and domestic nature, which must be tackled by this international organization. Universities also have to respond to these challenges by proposing new curricula, including ones related to EU subjects, and new ways of transferring knowledge. This also means that the adopted approach toward teaching about the EU should be modernized and go beyond simple and straightforward teaching about EU institutions and policies. The objective of this chapter is to present an approach toward teaching EU-related subjects concerning entrepreneurship and management of EU funds in Poland based on the example of the University of Economics in Katowice. The following research questions were elaborated: How to boost the acquisition of skills related to entrepreneurship? What are the best practices that can be promoted? How can the discussed university expands its educational offer? Also with the use of EU funds that can be adjusted to the needs of the region and the expectations of the young people.

This chapter investigates how and to which extent the European Union (EU)-related content is taught in Romania, by analyzing the school curricula and the teaching and learning methods at undergraduate level (primary and secondary school). It distinguishes between formal and non-formal education on European issues and emphasizes the role of teaching and learning the EU in building European identity and the sense of belonging to the EU. Both textbooks (as traditional learning tools) and various educational activities and learning methods using digital technologies (digital platforms, databases, simulations, games, etc.) are taken into account. The examples of non-formal activities presented in this chapter help to better understand the EU, its regions, its institutions, and their functioning. This chapter suggests the need to focus more the school curricula on skills training, participatory learning, education of values and attitudes, and less on mechanical transmission of information. The examples of good practice presented show the role of the European education, whether classical education or that one based on the use of new communication technologies, in the formation of an European consciousness, in the better understanding of the present by learning the past and in the development of participatory attitudes.

Hungarians’ degree of knowledge of the EU has been increasing over the years, despite the mainly sovereignty-based and Eurosceptic political communication and related political and media narratives in the last 10 years. Still, whereas Hungarians tend to be familiar with factual information on the European Union, they face more challenges trying to figure out how the EU actually works. This is related to the scarcity of this type of information both in public education and the media, which can obstruct not only the adequate understanding of how the European Union functions, but also the support for its policies. The objective of this chapter is to examine how the EU-related content is taught in Hungarian educational system. The discussion covers teaching in primary, secondary and tertiary education. The investigation is based on document analysis, such as the National Core Curricula, secondary school textbooks, baccalaureate topics, as well as completion and exit requirements for bachelor and master programs of higher education institutions.

Since the beginning of the twentieth century, modernization has been a defining concept for the politics of Turkey and is associated with the Western world. In this respect, EU membership has been a driving force for Turkey to reach its goal. As a candidate country in Customs Union with the EU, Turkey has to harmonize its legislation, judicial and administrative practices with the EU acquis. It brings fundamental changes and affects all layers of society, including public and private institutions, not only politically but also economically and socially. Accepting the EU acquis also requires human resources with sufficient experience and knowledge in the EU. However, teaching the EU is a complete challenge with its unique institutional structure, complexity of its policy areas, fast-changing legislation and case law. This chapter considers to what extent EU–Turkey relations have affected teaching EU in Turkey and some of the approaches which might be applied to overcome the main obstacles.

The objective of this chapter is to advocate a relevant and balanced curriculum of European Studies as a discipline that African and European teachers and learners can embrace. This will be achieved through critical documentary analysis of existing curricula on the subject as well as critique of relevant literature. Europe and Africa are the two most contiguous continents that share centuries of relations. Despite the existence of many forms of diplomatic relations, knowledge flows and exchange between the continents have been very minimal at best and apparently unidirectional. The troubled history of relations between the two continents continue to affect way knowledge production and curricular are defined. The gap in knowledge fosters mutual suspicion, distrust, and lack of cooperation. European Studies as a distinct academic discipline has recently made its way in the teaching and learning curricula of universities and research centers around the world. Some institutions in Africa are also introducing European Studies. A key aspect of European Studies vis-á-vis Africa is the content and quality of curriculum. The turn in discourses on decolonization and race relations in the world of the early twenty-first century makes this period a unique opportunity for the review of European Studies curricula in Europe and Africa. The authors find that deepening Euro-African relations will require a new curriculum that would reflect changes that have taken place over the years in Africa.

As the international context in which the EU operates evolves, the liberal conceptions of socio-economic and political cooperation are contested. Generational change in the EU member states drives a substantial change in citizens’ and politicians’ perceptions of the EU’s role in the world. It is not only the manner and the quality of political discourse that change as we speak. The fundamental values, principles and historically consolidated alliances and loyalties are questioned by new generations of voters and politicians who lost the feeling of duty, attachment and loyalty toward previous generations that are gone. This chapter reviews the key points raised in this volume to highlight that apart from teaching EU-related content, and for this matter, any content, today it is necessary to teach the students to think independently first.