I, Citizen to Be

Abstract

<p>The educational system today is facing a growing pressure and demand to prepare youth to adapt and thrive in an increasingly complex social reality and to become active citizens and contributing members of society able to deal with unparalleled social challenges of the 21st century. The low level of social awareness and civic engagement among the youth in the region remains a source of concern. School education is falling short of bringing desired learning outcomes, while among early teenage learners social and citizenship studies and educational resources are particularly underdeveloped.</p> <p>Our objective is to provide a state-of-the-art cross-disciplinary course “I, Citizen-To-Be” for early teenage learners aged 11 to 15, enabling to enhance the quality of citizenship education in Lithuania, Latvia and Poland. Through a novel phenomenon-based approach, our ICT-based course will offer the foundations of social and civic knowledge, skills and attitudes necessary to develop into the 21st century’s active and responsible citizens. The course will integrate the essentials of civics, economics, ethics, psychology, sociology, politics and other social studies.</p> <p>We believe that when young people have the knowledge, skills and confidence to understand the functioning of society and their own role as citizens, to participate in social and civic life, their lives and society improve. We also believe that equipping youth with the requisite knowledge, skills and confidence should start early and continue in a structured and consistent manner throughout school education.</p>