1 item added to your cart
Over 40 years of educating about law, democracy, and human rights
Street Law / Newsroom / Street Law teachers travel to Macedonia for International Deliberating in a Democracy conference
by
Lake Ohrid, Macedonia
September 10, 2009 | Lake Ohrid, Macedonia
This July, Street Law, Inc. participated in the fourth annual International Deliberating in a Democracy (DID) conference. More than 80 educators from 12 countries gathered in Lake Ohrid, Macedonia, to work together to improve the discussion of controversial issues in the classroom.
Participants were treated to a presentation about beautiful Lake Ohrid by Milcho Georgievski, an art historian and senior curator at Icon Gallery in Lake Ohrid. He presented the history of the area and the significance of its being named a World Heritage Site. Discussion followed on the efforts underway to protect the lake and its environs against pollution and other destructive forces. Afterwards a deliberation was facilitated asking the question: Should our democracy adopt a cap-and-trade system to limit greenhouse gas emissions? The discussion was extremely lively, given Macedonia’s status as a developing country and its need for more industry in order to continue its economic development.
The DID web site has 23 lessons on current and controversial issues available to teachers, and three new issues for the 2009-10 program year were announced at the conference. The participants were enthusiastic as they reviewed the lessons being developed on marriage and the state, parents and children, and privacy. All these lessons are available for free at: www.deliberating.org.
One of the most stimulating parts of the conference were the new program initiatives presented by participants, including enhancing deliberation lessons with student advocacy projects, adapting deliberation lessons for lower level readers, and bringing deliberation to underserved populations.
The conference hosts—the Macedonian DID team—put together an outstanding social program. Conference participants took a field trip to a small village where they experienced traditional Macedonian food and music, a boat ride on Lake Ohrid, and a tour of the area’s 13th century churches. Participants developed new friendships and partnerships that will enable and enrich continued classroom-to-classroom communication.
Next year’s Conference will be hosted by the Richland One School District in Columbia, SC.
DID is a collaborative program of Street Law, Inc., Constitutional Rights Foundation, and Constitutional Rights Foundation Chicago. Funding is provided by the United States Department of Education’s Civic Education Program in the Office of Safe and Drug-Free Schools. To learn more about the project or to view the lesson plans, please go to www.deliberating.org
Source: (Reproduced with permission)
Deliberating in a Democracy
Topic: Civic & Law-Related Education
Topic: Democracy/Human Rights
Print Facebook Twitter LinkedIn
Street Law, Inc. 1010 Wayne Avenue, Suite 870Silver Spring, Maryland 20910
(301) 589-1130(301) 589-1131 faxclearinghouse@streetlaw.org
Privacy PolicyTerms of Use