Dear Friends of ELIANT,
A draft proposal for a new skills agenda for Europe is currently being discussed in the European Parliament. The proposals being put forward by the European Commission in the chapter on digital skills, call for the development of "comprehensive national strategies for advancing IT skills."
IThis proposal however lacks any understanding for what the child needs in terms of media education. ELIANT is therefore actively supporting our fellow alliance partner – the European Council for Steiner Waldorf Education ECSWE, with their concerns! The sobering findings of the OECD study (2015) into the use of digital technology in the classroom, needs careful consideration. We believe that the ever earlier and ever more comprehensive use of digital media goes in the wrong direction. The many risks involved and the potential for addiction are not taken into account.
From the perspective of Steiner Waldorf education, the basis for media education lies in developing age-appropriate ways to encourage creativity, train the will and gain proficiency in reading, writing, arithmetic and independent thinking. These are the pre-requisites for ensuring that children and young people can gradually gain access to the digital world without being harmed. ECSWE is now actively campaigning for changes to the draft proposal and is in on-going contact with key parliamentary representatives.
We are therefore urgently requesting your help in gathering further signatures for our petition "no, to digitalised pre-schools – yes to constructive educational investment" by 20th May. You can view the current position here: www.openpetition.de
Young children need special protection. Our alliance partner the International Association of Steiner Waldorf Early Childhood Education (IASWECE) has taken on this task.
We will keep you informed about the next steps and would like to express our warm gratitude for all the financial support!
With best wishes
Michaela Glöckler
(for the ELIANT team)
