2 – Work file 2: Two categories of materials in EDC/HRE
Living Democracy » Textbooks » Educating for democracy » Part 2 – Teaching democracy and human rights » Unit 2 – Setting objectives and selecting materials » 2. Task and key questions for setting objectives and selecting materials » 2 – Work file 2: Two categories of materials in EDC/HRETeaching and learning without materials of some kind is impossible, as materials are the media that provide the subject matter, the topics, the information and data. Students develop their competences by activities, which means they “do something” with an object. What first comes to mind is perhaps the school textbook or a handout, and indeed they are important in EDC/HRE.
Two categories of materials in EDC/HRE
However, the specific profile of EDC/HRE is reflected by the wider concept of materials and media. The school textbook and the handout are examples of printed media. In interactive constructivist learning, a different category of materials is created by teachers and students. They are authentic, as they are first-hand materials, produced on the spot, in a particular situation, for the people present there and then. In EDC/HRE, therefore, teachers and students are not only users of materials, but also producers. Volumes II to VI of this EDC/HRE edition give many examples for this category of materials, very often created by students in settings of task-based learning or in projects, and the unit and lesson descriptions explore their rich learning potentials for the students.
A matrix of learning requirements and materials
The following matrix links some typical examples for these two categories of materials – delivered by media, and produced in the processes of interaction involving teachers and students – to different aspects of competence development in EDC. We do not recommend any kind of bias towards one type of material, but rather an integrated approach. However, teaching through democracy and human rights requires teachers to take the products created by students seriously.
| Aspects of competence development | Materials transmitted through media | Materials produced in processes of learning | |
| Materials produced by teachers | Materials produced by students | ||
| Students’ previous development | (Such media and materials exist, of course – for example, children’s books or films – but they are beyond the teacher’s scope of perception) | Preconcepts, previous experience and socialisation processes in the family or with peers, previously acquired information in and outside school | |
| Defining a topic, setting the agenda for a lesson or topic | Brainstorming and discussion inputs | ||
| Information |
Current news reports (printed media, TV, DVD, Internet) School textbook |
Lecture Provision of basic materials (such as flipcharts, markers, coloured paper) |
Student inputs (such as deconstruction of messages transmitted through media, summaries, follow-up homework, presentations, arguments in discussions and debates, comments, questions) |
| Analysis and judgment | Issues and controversies in politics and science (handout, school textbook) |
Instruction on key concepts Criticism demanding deconstruction |
|
| Skills training | Handout (training instructions) | Demonstration and coaching | Feedback |
| Participation and action |
Chairing of sessions |
Experience Questions, comments, insights, interests |
|
| Assessment and evaluation |
Test sheets Questionnaires Portfolios |
Observation |
Self-assessment Feedback Expression of learning needs |
