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The project is devoted to the development of democratic competences in schools through balancing feminine and masculine principles. It focuses on equality in the sense of respect for the fact that we are all different and can achieve the same thing in different ways, we just need to have equal opportunities to do so. Therefore, the activities in the project promote development of principles and values that tend to be neglected in education (emotions, relationships, cooperation, process focus, etc.), thus creating the balance needed for the development of all individuals.

The following key activities will take place within the project:

1) Training seminars for teachers – 4 training days, group reflection and individual interview
2) Activities with pupils – led by teachers, aimed at developing democratic competences
3) Guiding through the process of developing democratic competences – support in practical application, method sheets for teachers with prepared lessons will be created
4) Evaluation of activities – evaluation of the impact on individual schools

Brief content of activities for teachers:

• Introductory two days (18 hours) – Basics: women’s/men’s principles and values, principles leading to development of democratic competences (DC), strengths and weaknesses – how to work with them, how to use them. What suits me and what I would like to change.
• Reflecting on developments towards the school/class and sharing inspiration (4 hours) – Reflecting on practical application and implementing change.
• Follow-up two days (16 hrs) – Deepening: development of competences in practice – working with the class and its climate, conflict resolution, communication with colleagues, parents, etc. Use of strengths and new competences for development of DC in the school and classroom.
• Individual interview for each participant – consultation on development and practical application – individual topic.

In total, it is 40 hours of education under the guidance of experienced lecturers and therapists from Systemic Factory.

Teachers will also develop skills with their students in practical application. For this, method sheets will be available, where ready-made lessons will be prepared, for example on the following topics:

• equal opportunities (status of women and men, what barriers they have/not have, what can be done about it)
• benefits of the male and female principle (what boys and girls can do, what we can do together),
• self-knowledge (what I am good at, what others are good at, what we can do together),
• conflict prevention and resolution (how to treat others (girls/boys), how to say I don’t like something and still maintain positive relationships),
• communication (how to understand each other better, what helps us understand each other, what makes communication difficult),
• debating and controversial topics (rules of debating, benefits of debating, moral dilemmas),
• group dynamics (cooperation and its benefits, rules of cooperation, positive relationships).

For practical application, you can choose a traditional lesson with a combination of objectives, a form teacher’s lesson or a project day. The aim is to complete a minimum of 4 lessons with pupils.

A total of 10 schools will be worked with. We only have 30 places in the teacher program.

Project team: Michaela Jeřábková (jerabkova@ireas.cz), Marie Kudrnová (kudrnova@ireas.cz)