Educational Projects with the Theme of Europe at Bilin­gual Gymnasia

This article presents the results of a Czech-German research project fo­cused on the participation of bilingual gymnasia in educational projects con­cerned with European themes. A com­parative analysis was carried out with the aim of identifying the specific fea­tures of selected educational projects in terms of their aims, and potential to develop intercultural skills among stu­dents and promote co-operation with the local region, but also in terms of the perspective of the organising subject. In the Czech environment bilingual edu­cation is highly topical above all becau­se of the pilot testing of the Framework Educational Programmes for Gymnasia (academic high schools). In the multi­cultural society of Germany the theme comes up particularly in connection with the much discussed education of immigrants. Bilingual gymnasia in the Czech Republic and Germany have been implementing the Method of Content and Linguistically Integrated Learning (CLIL), which is often connected with educational projects focused on Euro­pean themes, in different ways. This is a phenomenon that is starting to have a significant effect on the orientation of higher secondary education. The article is part of an ongoing dissertation pro­ject - Bilingual Schools and European Projects.