The illustrated constitution for kids in every school
Thanks to the Brussels Donor Circle, we enjoyed enough funds to print a new run of the Illustrated Constitution, so that the constitutions reach as many places in the country as possible. But we don't want to just send them to schools. Our hope was to find locally those people of action who will tell us where the Constitution is most useful.
I attended meetings with active citizens from cities in the country: Bacău, Bârlad, Botoșani, Brăila, Buzău, Curtea de Argeș, Dej, Deva, Drobeta-Turnu Severin, Fălticen, Hunedoara, Huși, Pașcani, Petroșani, Râmnicu Vâlcea, Reșița, Târgoviște, Târgu Jiu, Turda, Vaslui and Zalău. We exchanged experiences and talked about techniques to make the illustrated Constitution a tool for change through civic education and community mobilization. The cities were chosen after discussions with sociologist Barbu Mateescu, who identified several priority areas where a greater emphasis is needed on education in a modern way and on cultivating the civic spirit.
Why this approach? The Illustrated Constitution is a handy tool for both students and teachers that makes civic education accessible and makes complicated concepts easy to understand. Through its unique presence in schools, we hope to bring up children's interest in the society in which they live, a first step in awakening civic consciousness.
Context: we already have the constitution illustrated and explained in the children's sense, which is part of a larger civic education project developed by us, initially with the help of the Romanian American Foundation, then from our own funding. Originally part of a comprehensive civic education kit for teachers, with innovative teaching methods and auxiliary explanatory materials (eg infographics or movies to watch in the classroom), the Illustrated Constitution is now requested independently of both parents and teachers.
