An intern sharing her thoughts…
During my 2-month internship at CARDET, I got the opportunity to get a glance of multiple projects CARDET is working at. The portfolio of CARDET is truly wide and encompasses many topical fields. But one field in that portfolio is, in my opinion, more timeless than others and, therefore, standing out with its relevance – education. Getting to know my (interim) colleagues, I naturally asked them what is their expertise and what projects are they working on. “Education” was the word of that day.
I have to admit that my experience in the field of education is not abundant – I simply have been a consumer of education provided to me for twenty years and never thought of myself as someone who would be gifted enough to teach someone. And, no plot twist here, I did not teach anyone during my internship at CARDET. But I strengthened my persuasion of the importance of education.
Through participation in the InterCap project at CARDET, I got the opportunity to learn about educational methods that are relevant in the globalized world and societies. Within this interconnectedness, everyone has to deal with issues that are complex and tend to be simplified and misunderstood. Just try to think objectively about topics like sustainable development and migration and how they are related to each other. It is not easy, is it? There are many emotions involved and further mediated and stirred up by media and/or politicians.
To help to orient in such complex issues and prevent misunderstandings, the role of educators is a crucial one. A good educator can stimulate your brain to ruminate and think out of the box and develop critical thinking and media literacy – skills that are being frequently mentioned nowadays as pivotal. I am truly glad that there is a project like InterCap focusing on quality education with its goal to address issues that European citizens encounter.
