ewec - Curriculum
ewec is a European learning programme that combines political education, feminist theory, intercultural learning and democracy training with a strong gender perspective.
The political participation of women and an enhanced visibility and influence
of women’s contribution to the future of Europe needs political educational
projects that empower women from all over Europe! ewec wants to be such a
project and is developed as a learning experience for women from different
backgrounds, professions and age groups who want to:
• contribute to the shaping of the future of Europe
• change something – locally and on a European level
• get a broader and more Euro-pean perspective
• strengthen their leadership capacities
• improve their knowledge of European history, reality and institutions
• train in intercultural communication and dialogue
• acquire and deepen knowledge of feminist theory and practice
ewec draws on the experiences of women’s educational projects and institutions from several European places whose experience and expertise need to be honoured as an important source of inspiration for the development of the ewec curriculum and modules.
General Aims
• To strengthen women’s political participation in Europe• To increase women’s understanding and their potential to influence the interrelation of politics and economics in a Euro-pean context
• To enable women to benefit fully from gender mainstreaming policies
• To consolidate women’s leadership capacities
• To improve the knowledge of European history, reality and institutions
• To train women in innovative forms of intercultural communication
• To spread knowledge of feminist theory and practice and their contributions to shaping the future of Europe
• To strengthen the transformative power of women
Target Group
ewec wants to attract WOMEN:• with a strong desire to increase their political participation at a European level
• who have been or want to be involved in NGOs, women’s organisations, educational projects, political parties or institutions, or similar fields of activity
• who seek qualified training with a strong focus on strengthening women’s European perspective and their influence at an European level
In order to participate in the programme basic computer literacy and access as well as an intermediate command of English are necessary.
Methodology
The very experiences as much as the interests of each woman participating in the ewec course are at its heart and form the starting point for all further learning processes. Using the knowledge of the group as much as the expertise of facilitators, lecturers and participants, all the modules of the course will be organised according to the principles of empowerment and exchange, applying new methods of teaching and harnessing the creative power of women.Facilitators and lecturers will lead, monitor, animate and coach participants and are expected as much as each individual participant to contribute to creating the optimum learning atmosphere.
Time is regarded as an important factor in the learning process. What one
can learn depends on the time and energy that can be devoted to it.
Spending time on issues is as important as being together as a group; personal
growth and content learning are meant to be closely linked in this course.
Learning to dialogue is seen as one of the core competencies to be enhanced
through the course.
All of the learning process aims to enable partictpation as a crucial capacity
in every democratic process. Participants will be asked to take responsibility
for their own development and the course is meant to further self-reliance
and initiative as well as strengthening confidence and trust.
E-learning Elements and Tutorial Groups. Two e-learning processes at set
times will be facilitated:
E-learning phases related to the individual modules.
• Preparatory work to be done before the module.
• Some virtual assessment after each of the modules to be done on an assigned
date.
Tutored e-groups
• All participants will be part of tutorial groups (of 5) with the goal of
guiding everyone through the educational process.
• Each group will be facilitated by a tutor; in addition to this some of the
lecturers will be available for online tutoring with regards to the content
of the individual modules at defined times (usually three to four weeks after
the modules).
• On top of this each participant will get at least three sessions of personal
coaching towards the end of the course.
A general virtual home base and meeting area/s for all participants will be
established, and learning material will be provided at a resource library
within the website.
Learning Diary – Weblog. A third e-learning option will be provided through encouraging all partici-pants to keep an online weblog-based “learning diary“.
The Project and Diploma Work.
Each participant has to deliver a pro-ject in the widest sense initiated in
her context and linked to her expe-riences. The project needs to link theory
and praxis and has to be connected to the overall theme of the course.
Such a project could be a possible solution for a current social, economic
or political “problem“ within the participants’ immediate context.
It could also be the planning of a educational event or political action or
a European networking project.
Each project will be supervised by one of the tutors, with the additional
knowledge of individual experts provided for where appropriate.
