COMENIUS: EUROPE IN THE CLASSROOM

John Amos COMENIUS was a Czech teacher, educator, and writer. He served as the last bishop of Unity of the Brethren, and became a religious refugee and one of the earliest champions of universal education, a concept eventually set forth in his book Didactica Magna. He is considered the father of modern education. He lived and worked in many different countries in Europe, including Sweden, the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth,Transylvania, the Holy Roman Empire, England, the Netherlands, and Royal Hungary.

Comenius: Europe in the classroom

The Comenius Programme focuses on all levels of school education, from pre-school and primary to secondary schools. It is relevant for everyone involved in school education: mainly pupils and teachers but also local authorities, representatives of parents’ associations, non-government organisations, teacher training institutes and universities.

Part of the EU’s Lifelong Learning Programme, the Comenius actions aim to help young people and educational staff better understand the range of European cultures, languages and values. They also help young people acquire the basic life skills and competences necessary for personal development, future employment and active citizenship.

The programme addresses issues strongly related to current discussions and developments in school policy: motivation for learning and ‘learning-to-learn’ skills, key competences, digital educational content and inclusive education. 

Goals

Comenius aims to:

·         Improve and increase the mobility of pupils and educational staff across the EU;

·         Enhance and increase partnerships between schools in different EU Member States, with at least 3 million pupils taking part in joint educational activities by 2010;

·         Encourage language learning, innovative ICT-based content, services and better teaching techniques and practices;

·         Enhance the quality and European dimension of teacher training;

·         Improve pedagogical approaches and school management.

Priorities

The programme is currently focusing in particular on:

·         Motivation for learning and learning-to-learn skills;

·         Key competences: improving language learning; greater literacy; making science more attractive; supporting entrepreneurship; and reinforcing creativity and innovation;

·         Digital educational content and services; 

·         School management; 

·         Addressing socio-economic disadvantages and reducing early school leaving; 

·         Participation in sports; 

·         Teaching diverse groups of pupils; 

·         Early and pre-primary learning.