Summer 2012, 2013, 2014 – Workshop 2: “Teaching the EU in Texas High Schools.”
The Center will sponsor annual workshops for secondary school (high school) teachers on how to integrate EU issues in their curriculums. The Center will provide administrative support as well as the venue.
Target Audience: Secondary school teachers of all disciplines. The workshop will vary from year to year. All high school teachers from Texas are eligible and will be encouraged to attend. We are targeting approximately 30 high school teachers per workshop.
Fulfillment of Objectives for Workshop 2:
Information, Dissemination and Measurable Criteria Aspect:
All workshop materials will be available on the internet so that the secondary school teachers can use the information throughout their school year.
We will measure the success of these workshops both on the number of participants and on their satisfaction. All participants will be asked to take a voluntary survey indicating the level of satisfaction with the project.
Our external evaluator, CTL, will oversee the measurement and evaluation process to determine the efficacy of these workshops and suggest how to improve on them through continuous monitoring and adaptation.
Objective 2: Promote greater understanding of the EU and EU-US relations among regional outreach constituencies.
This event will involve secondary school teachers by allowing them to prepare their classes in a way that involves EU issues.
The workshops will provide curriculum development exercises.
The workshops will provide information materials on the EU.
EU Visit Program
The EU Visit Program, which takes place typically in mid June and will be organized by the designated Network Coordinator, will focus on the dynamic changes taking place in today’s integrating Europe and the future of the transatlantic relationship. Three UT undergraduate students and two Texas high school faculty will be selected to participate in the visit program, and they will join students and faculty from across the US for a four-day visit in Brussels where they will meet both US and EU officials, touring the city and the major EU and international institutions based there. The itinerary will include site visits to the European Commission, NATO headquarters, the US Mission to the EU, and the European Parliament. All UT undergraduate students and faculty in Texas high schools in fields of study related to the EU and contemporary Europe will be eligible to apply to the EU Visit Program. UT undergraduates who can demonstrate in their letter of applications that their senior capstone projects or senior theses will focus on the EU or EU-US relations will receive priority. In this way, the Center aims to strategically tie the EU Visit Program to curricular development and overall undergraduate degree planning focused on Europe.
All UT undergraduate students and Texas high school teachers will be required to submit a “Statement of Purpose,” an approximately two-page statement addressing why it is important for them to study the EU and how a visit to Brussels will enhance the applicant’s undergraduate education or high school teaching practices in the area of contemporary Europe, transatlantic relations, and the EU. All UT undergraduate students must also submit with the application an unofficial UT transcript, as well as official transcripts from any other colleges or universities attended before transferring to UT. Furthermore, all UT undergraduate students must have one academic letter of recommendation from a UT instructor; all Texas high school teachers must have a letter of support from the principal. Applications will be publicized and made available in February by CES; completed applications will be due in the office by mid March; and the EU Center of Excellence selection committee will notify applicants of the results in April.
Target Audience: 3 UT undergraduates and 2 Texas high school teachers.
Fulfillment of Objectives for EU Visit Program:
Objective 2: Promote greater understanding of the EU and EU-US relations among regional outreach constituencies and increase awareness of the EU among undergraduates.
High school teachers will experience Europe and EU in a manner that will allow them to renovate their classes in light of their observations.
The visit will allow secondary school teachers to develop information materials on the EU.
The visit will target undergraduate students who focus on the EU in their overall degree plans, as evidenced particularly in plans for final senior capstone projects and/or senior theses, and in a manner that supports curricular development. We are thus tying the visit to undergraduate research.