Active citizens: a task for schools
According to the young Finnish politician Li Andersson, promoting people’s participation in society is a task for schools. For her it is important to use understandable language when speaking about active citizenship.
Sustainable citizenship as practice
A discourse of “citizenship-as-achievement” affects education for sustainable development. The authors shift the focus from competences that citizens must acquire to democratic educational practices.
Fourth Way Futures
Focus on testing and ranking is bad for schools. Andy Hargreaves and Dennis Shirley propose an alternative, the "Fourth Way". Active citizens taking part in education planning are central to the Fourth Way.
Goodbyes and new openings
It is now nearly seven years when I had the privilege to become the editor-in-chief of our LLinE journal. Taking charge of the journal was in many ways a smooth process, thanks to the grounding work of my predecessor professor Kauko Hämäläinen from the University of Helsinki. I would also like to recognize the pivotal
Learning motivation – European problem?
Interview with Jamila, a young woman from Kabul about learning opportunities in Afghanistan. I am sitting in the GIZ office in Kabul, the headquarters of the huge project on reforms of vocational education and training in Afghanistan run in almost 60 schools all over the country. One of the members of the local staff
Good practices: Short workstays abroad combat exclusion
As the American drama film Precious (2009, based on the 1996 novel Push by the former social worker Sapphire) makes clear to a wider audience, much of what we believe in as standards of communication may not exist for young people who live in poverty, far away from social inclusion, solid education and regular work.
TED talks – inspiration or stand up?
Chances are, if you haven’t heard them, you will have heard of them. TED talks are lectures featuring high profile speakers, broadcast on the internet for free. The topics of the talks range from science to culture and societal issues. The talks are part of a special, privately-owned brand of event, the TED Conference, which
“Living in the dark…” European voices about work
Every unemployment statistic has a human story behind it. Here, four young Europeans talk about their relationship to work. Of the crushing lack of future prospects. Or, in abundance of work, of the voluntary decision to work less. “Just scraping along” Maria Salzano, 26, Naples, Italy Master in Biotechnology, unemployed I am Maria, 26 years
A Nordic perspective on youth unemployment
This article was originally published in Elm's predecessor media, LLinE. Introduction Youth unemployment has increased dramatically all over Europe since the financial crisis of 2008 although at different levels and speed in the individual countries. Rising youth unemployment in particular creates a strong feeling of urgency among all political leaders. Experience shows that young people
Need of enhancing core skills: the Greek case
In Greece, strong families may replace those social networks that might be helpful for employment. Source: Wikimedia Introduction Youth unemployment in Greece has increased dramatically the last four years (2008-2012). From 1985–2008, the rate of unemployment was between 25%–35% and was steadily higher than the EU19 average (OECD, 2009, p.12). However, in 2012 the unemployment
