Current issues in education

The European Forum for Freedom in Education (effe) takes up current issues in education. effe organizes conferences, colloquia and symposiums to bring people together to exchange ideas and to engage in discussions. effe facilitates exchange of ideas and "best practice" across Europe. effe offers expertise in various areas of education. effe initiates projects or helps you to find project partners across Europe.

 

Issues effe has taken a special interest in are equity in education, digital learning, togetherness as motivation and school autonomy as a prerequisite for inclusion.


Review of the EU Key Competences Framework

effe welcomes the initiative to review the 2006 Framework of Key Competences for LifeLong Learning. Two areas are particularly important for the future of education - the adoption of most EU member states of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

 

The required societal changes need new competences in order to achieve an inclusive and sustainable society. Leading European and international organizations repeatedly call for these changes and for the development of the related competences. But in both cases the very core of the needed changes remains still largely misunderstood.

 

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Right to learn - thoughts on digital learning

What do you think about digital learning? Do you believe that children and young people will benefit from digital learning? How will the digitalization of classrooms change learning processes and in which way does digital learning integrate with the development and needs of children and young people?

 

Who is developing pedagogical concepts for digital learning tools and environments and what is the motivation behind that? What is the role of the teacher in the digital classroom?

 

The paper of Ted Warren explores some of these questions. He urges parents and teachers to take responsibility for the learning processes of children and young people rather than to leave it to "the wizards of digital education" who promise they have machines with software that understands children and young people and will provide individualized learning processes.

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Review of the EU Key Competences Framework

effe welcomes the initiative to review the 2006 Framework of Key Competences for LifeLong Learning. Two areas are particularly important for the future of education - the adoption of most EU member states of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

 

The required societal changes need new competences in order to achieve an inclusive and sustainable society. Leading European and international organizations repeatedly call for these changes and for the development of the related competences. But in both cases the very core of the needed changes remains still largely misunderstood.

 

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School Autonomy - How do inclusive schools work best?

The European Meeting of Independent Education (EMIE) 2017 on "Right to eduction: Freedom of Parental Choice" took place in January 24, 2017 in Bruxelles. EMIE is an European Network, gathering all organizations and players from civil society concerned with non-state education. Part of the meeting was a hearing with the British MP Andrew Lewer. The contributions on school autonomy of all organizations who have attended EMIE 2017 can be found at the website of ECNAIS

 

Anne Charrière who represented effe at EMIE argues in her address to the MP that school autonomy is a prerequisite for inclusion, a view which is based on her experience from a study of three inclusive schools. She states that for inclusive schools to function properly, autonomy is needed at all levels: class level, school level, structural level, space and time organisation. Anne is a board member of effe and has written a master thesis on inclusive schools.

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Improving Social Equity Through Education

One of the biggest challenges facing education systems across Europe and further afield is how to improve outcomes - in the broader possible sense - for low achieving children and young people.

 

The purpose of the effe Symposium 2015 in Edinburgh was to bring together educationalists and policy makers from across the UK and mainland Europe in order to learn with and from each other in the task of bringing about change. 

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