This book presents a program of extracurricular activities “Our neighbor, the European Union”, which was developed by the authors’ team (A.Luhautsova, M.Boika, A.Kasianik and S.Laboda) with help of educators and trainers from NGO “Education Centre “POST”” and school teachers, who tested the suggested syllabus and materials in their teaching activities. The course is designed for students of 10-11th grades of educational institutions of the Republic of Belarus. The manual includes a detailed description of 36 lessons (36 academic hours).
Texts and handouts for students are presented in a convenient form; there are also links to additional information resources and addresses of web sites where it’s possible to update relevant information on the topic. In order to organize learning process more effectively, the authors advise to enrich teachers’ lectures, tests and individual work of students by way of active learning methods, such as discussion, simulation and role-playing games, different methods of working with text, as well as work in small groups and pairs. The book offers guidance on most suitable methods, as well as equips the teachers with the print-ready handouts in the enclosed CD-ROM.
When teaching about the history of the EU’s establishment, the authors suggest using an addendum called “The Architects of European Integration” ("Архитекторы европейской интеграции"). This text holds biographies of several “founding fathers” of the united Europe, among them being Konrad Adenauer, the first Chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany (1949-1963).