The European Union – Council of Europe Joint Project “Strengthening Democratic Culture in Basic Education” conducted a study visit to the United Kingdom (UK) on 13-17 May 2019. The visit aimed to provide an opportunity for the participants to observe the relevant practices in the UK and to exchange experience about the best practices regarding democratic school culture and related educational materials.
The Turkish delegation, headed by Mr Mustafa Safran, Deputy Minister of National Education, included members of the Democratic School Culture and Material Development Working Groups of the Project and policy makers from the Turkish Ministry of National Education. During the 5-day visit, a series of meetings were held with various educational institutions in London, Cardiff, and Edinburgh, including the Department for Education (DfE), Wales’ Department for Education and Skills, and Education Scotland, which also enabled the participants to compare the different educational systems in these three countries.
The delegation met Mr Nick Gibb, the Minister of State for School Standards, Kirsty Williams, Wales’ Education Minister, and representatives of various organisations, including British suppliers of textbooks, University College of London, WJEC, and the Scottish Parliament, providing an opportunity to learn about different aspects of education in the UK from different perspectives. In addition to these informative meetings, the delegation visited Addy and Stanhope Secondary School (London), Millfields Community Primary School (London), and Dunfermline Secondary School (Scotland) to directly observe the functioning of the schools with a focus on elements of democratic school culture.
A whole school model and relevant classroom-based educational materials are currently being developed by the Project consultants and the Working Groups under the Project. The results of this study visit will support the finalisation of these main Project outcomes, which are to be tested through pilot implementation during 2019-2020 school year.
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