Estonia
2016 Report on the State of Citizenship and Human Rights Education in Europe
Questionnaire filled in by the Ministry of Education and Research
GENERAL QUESTIONS
Q1 Would you agree that citizenship and human rights education is a means to address…
a) … violent extremism and radicalisation leading to terrorism?
To a great extent
b) … integration of migrants and refugees?
To a great extent
c) … consequences of the economic crisis / austerity measures / social exclusion?
To a great extent
d) … the deficit of democratic participation of both vulnerable and non-vulnerable groups in society with the overall aim of building cohesive and equitable societies?
To a great extent
Q2 In your country, is priority given to…
a) … EDC/HRE at national government level
To a fair extent
b) … EDC/HRE at local government level
To a little extent
c) … EDC/HRE at educational institution level (school, college, university)
To a fair extent
d) … supporting training about EDC/HRE for teachers and school leaders
To a fair extent
e) … making resources / materials about EDC/HRE available
To a fair extent
f) … making financial support for EDC/HRE available
To a little extent
g) … supporting co-operation with NGOs, including youth organisations, in the field of EDC/HRE?
To a fair extent
Further comments
Much of the support is connected with other larger mechanisms. For example - one of the biggest goals in Estonian education policies is to make schools and kindergartens bullying - free. All supported bullying-prevention activities are not especially brought out as activities for EDC/HRE but certainly support the goals of EDC/HRE according to the Charter.
Q3 What is needed for citizenship and human rights education to receive a greater priority in your country?
a) Improved awareness of relevance of EDC/HRE for meeting the current challenges in our societies
To a fair extent
b) Availability of data on effectiveness of EDC/HRE with respect to meeting the current challenges in our societies, including examples of good practice
To a fair extent
c) Advocacy by civil society organisations
To a fair extent
d) Advocacy by prominent personalities
To a little extent
e) Increased visibility of EDC/HRE in the media coverage
To a large extent
f) Political will
To a large extent
g) Political pressure from regional and international institutions
To a fair extent
h) More resources allotted to EDC/HRE
To a little extent
i) Other
Please specify “other”
Further comments
Q4 In your country, are there any inconsistencies between...
a)…statements of principle (on the value of EDC/HRE in education for all people) and existing education policies?
Not at all
b)…EDC/HRE policies and their implementation in practice?
To a fair extent
c)…EDC/HRE policies and other policy sectors?
To a fair extent
Please describe the existing inconsistences:
Often there is lack of pedagogic awareness about hidden curriculum. It occurs when knowledge about active and responsible citizenship in democratic society obtained in civic lessons is not supported by school culture. EDC/HRE is often not valued in other policy sectors than education
Further comments
Q5 In your country, have strategic approaches / measures been taken to counter these inconsistencies, since 2012?
Yes
If yes, please specify:
Partially. Bullying free education is also priority within policies of inner security and justice - therefore activities which are targeted towards bullying-free education are also prioritisized in other national strategies than education. This cooperation supports EDC/HRE goals but it is not especially communicated as EDC/HRE activity
If no, please explain why not:
Further comments
Q6 Have concrete measures/activities been taken to promote citizenship and human rights education in your country since 2012, in accordance with the objectives and principles of the Charter? (NB: this includes work done in the framework of the UN World Programme for Human Rights Education and other relevant international programmes and initiatives)
Yes
If yes, please specify:
The most directly connected activity with the Charter is Baltic Academy, initiated in 2015 in cooperation with Latvia and Lithuania. Very well is accepted in Estonia Pestalozzi seminars and history education initiatives by Council of Europe, which also support achieveing the goals of the Charter. Estonian Ministriy of Education and Research and Ministry of Foreign Affairs also support UNESCO school Network
If no, please explain why not:
Further comments
Q7 Are there any measures/activities planned to promote citizenship and human rights education in your country, in accordance with the aims and objectives of the Charter?
Yes
If yes, please specify:
There is plan to create concept for HRE/EDC in 2017.
If no, please explain why not:
Further comments
Q8 Is the Charter…
a)…available in the language(s) of your country?
Yes
b)…available in the minority language(s) of your country?
Yes
c)…available on the website of the Ministry of Education or another relevant body?
Yes
d)… disseminated to the target audiences by other means?
No
If no, please explain why not:
Further comments
Q9 The Council of Europe has produced a number of tools and resources to promote and support citizenship and human rights education within and across the States Party to the European Cultural Convention. These tools and resources are available at: www.coe.int/en/web/edc/resources and at: www.coe.int/compass (Please indicate the usefulness, in your country, of the following Council of Europe tools and resources.)
a) Charter on EDC/HRE
Scarcely used
b) Strategic Support for Decision-makers: Policy Tool for EDC/HRE
Scarcely used
c) Democratic Governance of Schools
Scarcely used
d) How all Teachers Can Support EDC/HRE: A Framework for the Development of Competencies
Scarcely used
e) Quality Assurance of EDC in Schools
Scarcely used
f) School-Community-University Partnerships for Sustainable Democracy: EDC in Europe and the US
Scarcely used
g) Living Democracy' Manuals for Teachers
Scarcely used
h) A Compendium of Good Practice in HRE
Scarcely used
i) Compass, manual for human rights education with young people
Extensively used
j) Compasito, manual for human rights education with children
Moderately used
k) Human Rights and Democracy Start with Us – Charter for All
l) Curriculum development and review for democratic citizenship and human rights education
m) Multimedia Material (ex. video “Beat Bullying”, series of cartoons “Democracy and Human Rights at School”, video “Corporal punishment at school : how two parents decided to change things”)
Scarcely used
n) “Freedom(s) - Learning activities for secondary schools on the case law of the European Court of Human Rights
Moderately used
Other (please specify: ______)
Scarcely used Bookmarks
If these resources were useful, please specify:
The resources are extremely useful. There is still a lot of work to do to raise awareness towards high level competence in CoE in the field of EDC/HRE
If these resources were not useful, please specify:
Further comments
QUESTIONS ON SPECIFIC ARTICLES OF THE CHARTER
SECTION 1: GENERAL PROVISIONS
Article 3. Relationship between education for democratic citizenship and human rights education
Q10 Is there a shared working definition of citizenship and human rights education in your country?
Yes
In case if there is no shared working definition of citizenship and human rights education, please explain why not:
Please provide the name of the term in English and in original language as well as its definition and indicate the references and/or web link.
Inimõiguste haridus; Human rights education Kodanikuõpetus; Civic studies Ühiskonnaõpetus; Social studies (curriculum term)
SECTION 2: OBJECTIVES AND PRINCIPLES
Article 5. Objectives and Principles
Q11 In your country, to what extent do education laws, policies, and strategic objectives explicitly refer to citizenship and human rights education
a) … in formal education at pre-primary, primary and secondary level?
Extensively
b) … in vocational education and training?
Moderately
c) … in higher education?
Moderately
d) … in the training of education personnel?
Moderately
e) … in youth policy and non-formal education?
Extensively
In case if education laws, policies, and strategic objectives do refer explicitly to EDC/HRE, please specify:
EDC/HRE has brought out as an important policy tärget in Estonian Life Long Strategy. EDC/HRE targets are also described in Estonian Youthwork Strategy
In case if education laws, policies, and strategic objectives do not explicitly refer EDC/HRE, please explain why not:
SECTION 3: POLICIES
Article 6. Formal general and vocational education
Q12 In your country is education for democratic citizenship and human rights promoted as follows in schools and colleges:
c) cross-curricula approach
d) whole school approach
Please provide further details including web links where appropriate:
Further comments
Q13 If citizenship and human rights education is included in the curricula in your country, has it been subject to revision and updating since 2012 at...
a) … pre-primary education?
No
b) … primary school?
No
c) … lower secondary school (including vocational)?
Yes
d) … upper secondary school (including vocational)?
Yes
If no, please explain why not:
If yes, then what are/were the key challenges? How will they be / how were they overcome?
To define the core competencies which are most important for modern society. It can be found out through inclusive social dialogue (which takes time) and through different researches which monitor labor market; social attitudes; environmental issues et
To what extent was the revision and updating process inclusive and participatory?
Social partners always included in national curriculum regular revision process which occurs every 5 years
Further comments
Article 7. Higher education
Q14 To what extent is citizenship and human rights education provision promoted in higher education institutions in your country?
Moderately
If not at all or scarcely, please explain why:
If extensively, please explain why and provide examples:
Further comments
Article 8. Democratic governance
Q15 In your country, are there any education laws, policies and strategies that promote democratic governance in educational institutions, particularly schools, concerning…
a) … decision making procedures (e.g. governing bodies / school boards)?
Yes
b) … school culture / rules?
Yes
c) … pupil / student participation (e.g. school / student councils)?
Yes
d) … parental / family involvement in schools (e.g. governing bodies / school boards)?
Yes
e) …school / community links (in and out of school)?
Yes
If yes, please specify:
Estonian Basic and Secondary School Act gives quite wide responsibility for student and parent boards. They have right to be included in decision processes which influence school-level policies and every-day school-life generally. Inclusion and democratic school culture is also prioritisized in important legal documents such as the previously mentioned Act and also in National Basic School Curriculum and National Secondary School Curriculum. Student involvement in society as active citizens is one important part of citizenship education in Estonian National Curriuclums.
If no, please explain why not:
Further comments
Article 9. Training
Q16 In your country, is there a provision for citizenship and human rights education in initial teacher education, continuing professional development and other types of training for…
a) … teachers?
NoTo some extent
b) … school leaders?
NoTo some extent
c) … other education staff?
No
d) … youth leaders (in and out of school)?
No
e) … teacher trainers / trainers of trainers?
No
f) … parents?
No
If yes, please specify:
If no, please explain why not:
If to some extent, please specify:
There are some courses about ethics which involve also human rights and democracy education for teachers and for school leaders within initial training in universities
Further comments
Provide examples of good practice:
Article 10. Role of non-governmental organisations (NGOs), youth organisations and other stakeholders
Q17 To what extent, in your country, is there co-operation and support between the government and the following organisations and groups that foster citizenship and human rights education?
a) Non-governmental organisations (NGOs)
To a large extent
b) Youth organisations
To a large extent
c) Community groups
To a fair extent
d) Parents' groups
To a fair extent
e) Other (please specify: ______)
To a fair extentprivate sector
If not at all or to a little extent, please explain why:
If to a large extent, please explain the factors for success:
All abovementioned organisations are important social partners in educational policy making both at state and municipality level
Provide examples of good practice:
Estonia has the communication initiative "Interesting School" ("Huvitav Kool"), which is (above other useful aspects) also a mechanism for inclusion of different social stakeholders at every level. http://www.eksperimenta.net/collaboration/partners-and-supporters/huvitav-kool/
Further comments
Article 11. Criteria for evaluation
Q18 In your country, have criteria been developed to evaluate the effectiveness of citizenship and human rights education programmes?
No
Further information:
Please provide examples of how these criteria have been developed, reviewed and used:
To what extent have they been useful?
Provide examples of good practice:
Article 12. Research
Q19 In your country, to what extent has research been initiated and promoted on citizenship and human rights education to take stock of the current situation?
To a moderate extent
If not at all or to a little extent, please explain why:
What needs to be done to obtain stronger support for such research?
Influence political will somehow to support those researches
Further comments
Estonia participates in the IEA ICCS research
Article 13. Skills for promoting social cohesion, valuing diversity and handling differences and conflict
Q20 In your country, to what extent are educational approaches and teaching methods promoted that enable pupils/students to acquire competences to…
a) … promote social cohesion?
To a moderate extent
b) … value diversity and equality (particularly between different faiths and ethnic groups)?
To a moderate extent
c) … settle disagreements and conflicts in a non-violent manner?
To a large extent
d) … combat all forms of discrimination and violence (especially bullying)?
To a large extent
If not at all or to a little extent, please explain why:
What needs to be done to encourage more active promotion of such educational approaches and teaching methods?
Further comments
Estonian Lifelong Learning Strategy General Education Program has among others policy target to spread bullying prevention evidence-based programs at least in 90% schools and in 100% kindergartens.
SECTION 4: EVALUATION AND COOPERATION
Article 14. Evaluation and review
Q21 Has any action been taken or foreseen to evaluate strategies and policies undertaken in accordance with the aims and principles of the Charter?
No
If not, please explain why not:
It would duplicate the work of general external evaluation which also measures competencies and activities which support Charter´s goals.
If yes, please provide links to the relevant monitoring and evaluation reports:
What were the key conclusions?
Who takes part in the evaluation process?
Example of good practice:
Further comments:
Article 15. Co-operation in follow-up activities
Q22 In your country, have any co-operation activities with other countries been organised or planned in pursuing the aims and principles of the Charter?
Yes
If not, please explain why not:
Example of good practice:
Regional Baltic Academy which has been organised since 2015 in cooperation with the European Wergeland Centre.
What is required to encourage such cooperation activities?
A lot of encouraging communication at every level (media, P2P etc)
Further comments
Article 16. International and European co-operation
Q23 In your country, is there co-operation and collaboration on citizenship and human rights education with the following organisations / institutions?
a) Council of Europe (CoE)
Yes
b) United Nations system (UN) (including UNESCO and UN OHCHR)
Yes
c) Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE)
Yes
d) European Union (EU) (including European Commission)
Yes
e) Other international/ European organisations
Please specify 'Other international/ European organisations'
What are your expectations from such cooperation?
To import the best professional knowledge and skills in the country; share experiences; build up professional networks; if applicable - use extra grants for quicker progress.
To what extent are these expectations met?
Mostly very well
How could such cooperation be made more useful?
Further comments
Q24 In what ways is / can the Charter review process be of support to the countries? [Please rank from 1 (not useful)- 5 (very useful)]
a) An encouragement / motivation for stronger action and higher quality
3
b) An opportunity to promote good practice
4
c) A support tool for dialogue with other countries and within the country
4
d) Access to expertise from other countries and from international institutions
5
e) Other
Please specify other
Q25 What are your expectations from the Council of Europe? [Please indicate the current level of satisfaction from 1 (not useful) - 5 (very useful) for each expectation]
a) An encouragement / motivation for stronger action and higher quality
b) Opportunities for sharing and cooperation with other countries
c) Provision of a shared framework of reference / common standards
d) Impetus for dialogue and cooperation within the country
e) Authoritative encouragement to ensure respect of commitments
f) Technical advice / technical assistance
g) Access to the network of key actors in the member states through the Committee of Ministers, Parliamentary Assembly, the Congress of local and regional authorities and the INGO Conference and the HR Commissioner as well as various monitoring bodies (such as ECRI) as a means of raising visibility of EDC/HRE
h) Other
Please specify other
Q26 What are the key challenges to the promotion and development of citizenship and human rights education in your country? (Please indicate the level of impact of each challenge)
a) Lack of priority among decision makers (other areas given more priority)
High Impact
b) Lack of awareness/interest/support among education professionals
Medium impact
c) Impact of the economic crisis/recession
Low impact
d) Reduction/cuts in funding
Medium impact
e) Decentralised education system
Low impact
f) Changing political context (e.g. change of government)
Medium impact
g) Reduction of support networks (NGOs, parent and youth groups etc.)
Medium impact
h) Lack of public interest and support
Medium impact
i) Lack of media interest and support
Medium impact
j) Lack of support from European organisations (Council of Europe, EU etc.)
Low impact
k)Other
Please specify other
Further comments (half a page maximum):
FOLLOW-UP QUESTIONNAIRE
There are plans to repeat this questionnaire in 5 years’ time to get a further sense of the progress of the States Party to the European Cultural Convention in pursuing the aims and principles for citizenship and human rights education promoted by the present Charter. It is also proposed to design the questionnaire focusing on particular areas.
Q27 What particular areas should the follow-up Questionnaire focus on for the next review cycle? (Please indicate the level of priority for each area)
a) Formal general (pre-primary, primary and secondary school) and vocational education
High
b) Higher education
Medium
c) Pre-school education
High
d) Democratic governance of educational institutions
High
e) Training (initial and on-going)
Medium
f) Role of non-governmental organisations (NGOs), youth organisations and other stakeholders
Medium
g) Criteria for evaluation
High
h) Research
Low
i) Social cohesion, valuing diversity and handling differences and conflict
High
j) Evaluation and review
Medium
k) International and European co-operation
Medium
l) Other
Please specify other
Q28 How can this questionnaire be improved in order to ensure that the data collection is meaningful and useful in terms of encouraging further progress in citizenship and human rights education?
Q29 To what extent the process of preparation of the reply to this questionnaire was constructive and participatory? [Please rank from 1 (poor)- 5 (excellent)]
3
Further comments:
FOCUS GROUP 2016: PARLIAMENTARIANS
NB: The questions below are to be addressed to the Education Commission in the National Parliament or other similar bodies
Please indicate which body has been contacted
The member of cultural commission from Parliament
Q30 Would you agree that citizenship and human rights education is a means to address…
a) … violent extremism and radicalisation leading to terrorism?
To a great extent
b) … integration of migrants and refugees?
To a great extent
c) … consequences of the economic crisis / austerity measures / social exclusion?
To a great extent
d) … the deficit of democratic participation of both vulnerable and non-vulnerable groups in society with the overall aim of building cohesive and equitable societies?
To a great extent
Further comments:
Q31 What legislation has been adopted in the last 5 years or is in preparation, with a view to support and promote citizenship and human rights education?
Civil Partnership Act (legalization of gay marriages) Amendment of Constitution (lowering the age for voting down to 16 in local election; will be implemented in 2017 local municipalities election)
Q32 What are the thematic areas of education of particular concern to your Committee in this respect?
Bullying free education system is one of the main priorities
Q33 Do you have any further comments to make not provided elsewhere? If so, please use the space below.
Q34 Further comments on citizenship and human rights education in the country:
Other contributors contacted by the respondent, including representatives of:
1. Ministries:
Ministry of Interior Ministry of Culture
2. Research institutions:
University of Tallinn
3. Education professionals:
Mare Oja PhD
4. Civil society organisations:
Mondo Estonian Refugee Council Estonian Human Rights Institute
a. Teachers organisations:
Estonian Association of History and Civic Teachers
b Youth organisations
Estonian School Student Councils' Union
c Children organisations
d Parents organisations
5. National human rights institutions
6. Parliaments
7. Local and regional authorities
8. International institutions
9. Medias
10. Others
