Practices and Strategies of Citizenship Education in Italy: State of the Art

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Practices and Strategies of Citizenship
Educationin Italy State of the Art
Building Democracy in Europe Through Citizenship
Education
2005 European Year of Citizenship Through
Education
Frascati 17th november 2005 - Villa Tuscolana
Hotel
Luciano Cecconi Università di Modena e Reggio
Emilia
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Table of contents

• INVALSI and Citizenship Education
• 2005 European Year of Citizenship through
  Education Italian National Plan
• Citizenship Education in the italian school
  curriculum
• Puntoedu Europa (INDIRE)
• Educating to Citizenship and Solidarity and
  Promoting Human Rights Culture a training and
  action research project
• Community-based activities (IRRE-USR)
• Association projects
• Exploratory survey of INVALSI

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INVALSI and Citizenship Education
CIDREE collaborative activities
Pupil Assessment in Citizenship Education
Purposes, Possibilities and Practices
2004-2006
Submitting institution NFER, National
Foundation for Educational Research (UK)
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IEA CIVIC
The most important student assessment study
concerning Citizenship Education in Italy is IEA
Civic, promoted by IEA in order to assess how are
the students prepared to take an active role in
democratic societies (1997-1999). The
international research report was presented in
March 2001. In Italy, the target population was
that of students in the 8th and 9th grade.
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INVALSI and Citizenship Education
Aims

• Explore the purposes of pupil assessment in
  citizenship education.
• - Identify the different types of pupil
  assessment (possibilities).
• - Highlight effective practices and strategies
  for assessing pupils learning and achievements
  in citizenship education (practices).

Participants
OKI, Hungary QCA, England SICI, Northern
Ireland SLO, Netherlands ZSE, Austria
NFER, UK (leader) ACCAC, Wales DVO,
Belgium INVaISI, Italy
LfS, Denmark LTS, Scotland MERA, Greece NCCA,
Ireland
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Preliminary remark
Italian projects and activities are currently
focussed mainly on action research and teacher
education projects.
The new curriculum (2004) start in current year
(2005).
Therefore, no relevant student assessment project
centred on Citizenship education has been
implemented in Italy yet.
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2005 European Year of Citizenship through
Education Italian National Plan
Goals

• Promoting models of democratic citizenship
  education among students and teachers
• Promoting practical active experimentation of
  citizenship models
• Increasing public awareness and cultivating
  community consciousness on the theme of education
  to democratic citizenship
• Promoting student participation in the Europe
  construction process
• Promoting teacher and student mobility, in order
  to foster understanding and exchange among young
  people from different countries

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Italian National Plan
Activities
two training teacher projects
1
2

• Citizenship Education and solidarity human
  rights culture
• Project concerning active citizenship for
  principals and teachers. Citizenship is
  considered by the Reformation a cross topic of
  the Education Offer Plan.

European Citizenship Education Seminar for lower
and upper secondary school principals and
teachers european citizenship is considered an
educational cross-curricolar topic according to
the european directives and provisions (European
Councils, European Ministry Councils) and the
principles of the European Constitution.
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Italian National Plan
Methodologies
The methodology provides the eLearning training
1
2
20 hours of on-line training with PuntoEdu Europa
and 20 hours of in-class training. The programme
is designed to train tutor-teachers to work for
regional education authorities.
A nationwide school organization that involves
local authorities, universities, associations and
private associations as project patners.
Training seminars Venice 2003, Taormina 2004,
Perugia 2005, Venice 2005, Sorrento 2005, Bologna
2006 (in progress).
Involved teachers 800 Involved schools 5000
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Italian National Plan
Campuses (diffused regionwide and nationwide)
introducing students to working on ECD -
Education For Democratic Citizenship - and EDH -
Education For Democratic Human Rights.
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Italian National Plan
"What Europe for young people?" a training
programme for 200 secondary school teachers on
the teaching of fundamental individual rights and
freedoms based the Charter of fundamental rights
of the European Union - Nice 7. Dec. 2000".
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Italian National Plan

• Integration of the Citizenship Education and
  solidarity human rights culture Project with
  Students in Europe Project.
• Goal creation of the regional task force on EDC
  (principals, teachers, students, parents etc.).

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Citizenship Education in new italian school
curriculum (2004) - (1)
Citizenship is now part of the National
Curriculum and it came into force as a statutory
entitlement in the study programs for primary and
lower secondary school (law No 53/2003) at the
beginning of the present school year. The N.C.
includes both citizenship and social education
(the word social synthetizes here a blend of
civic education, environmental education, traffic
regulations, health education, food safety rules,
and affectivity education). Specific guidelines
list knowledge and skills for each grade.
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Citizenship Education in new italian school
curriculum (2004) - (2)
Primary school (Within 5 Grade)

• Knowledge
• different Government Forms
• national and International Organisms of
  Government
• function of the laws in the daily life
• laws which regulate the national and
  international society

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Citizenship Education in new italian school
curriculum (2004) - (3)
Primary school (Within 5 Grade)

• Skills
• showing our own opinions and trying to
  understand the other opinions
• accepting, helping and respecting the others
• engaging yourself in solidarity actions
• supporting the meeting and the exchange with
  experiences and various cultures
• working together for a common aim
• identifying situations of peace, war,
  development and regression in the world

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Citizenship Education in new italian school
curriculum (2004) - (4)
Secondary lower school (Within 8 Grade)

• Knowledge
• different Government Forms
• national and International Organisms of
  Government
• function of the laws in the daily life
• laws which regulate the national and
  international society
• national and international documents and
  organisms that protect Human Rights
• political and Economic organization of the EU
• organization of the work market on national and
  international basis
• the workers' Statute

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Citizenship Education in new italian school
curriculum (2004) - (5)
Secondary lower school (Within 8 Grade)

• Skills
• organizing a Municipal Council of boys
• organizing real and virtual visits to solve
  problems and use services
• examining in detail the organization of the
  Italian Republic through newspapers and mass
  media
• comparing the organization of the Italian
  Republic with other EU government forms
• recognizing, by newspapers and mass media,
  role, history and informations of
• worldwide and international organizations
• political and military coalitions

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Whats happening in Italy?
The European Pilot Project for the training of
teachers in European Citizenship Education.
The project, steered by INDIRE (National
Institute of Documentation for Innovation and
Educational Research), currently involves 1700
schools and will probably involve many more in
2006.
www.indire.it
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Whats happening in Italy?
The training programme comprises 20 hours of
on-line training and 20 hours of in-class
training.
www.indire.it
INDIRE has developed Puntoedu Europa, an on
line e-learning environment aimed at promoting
European and active citizenship among teachers.
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Puntoedu Europa
The program focuses on 5 thematic areas
1) European citizenship 2) Intercultural
education 3) Human rights and peace
education 4) Identity and belonging 5) Active
and supportive citizenship.
http//puntoedu.indire.it/europa/index.htm
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Puntoedu Europa content/1

• European citizenship
• Cultural and historical dimension of European
  identity before EU
• Towards a European Constitution significant
  values
• The EU institutional components
• European citizenship and world dimension

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Puntoedu Europa content/2

• 2) Intercultural education
• Intercultural exchange within the EU sharing
  universal values
• Why Europe? The meaning of European integration
  in a global and interrelated perspective
• Understanding cultural diversity to exchange
  views

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Puntoedu Europa content/3

• 3) Human rights and peace education
• Ethics and law building peace paths from a
  community dimension up to the EU and UN
• Fundamental individual rights within the EU
  system
• Why Europe? The meaning of European integration
  in a global and interrelated perspective.

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Puntoedu Europa content/4

• 4) Identity and belonging
• Cultural and historical dimension of European
  identity before EU.
• Identity and belonging shared symbols,
  contents, and spaces
• National Citizenship, European Citizenship, and
  World Citizenship
• Active citizenship and democratic practice
  European dimension and World dimension in the
  local experiences
• Learning to live together as European citizens
  knowledge and (life) skills.

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Puntoedu Europa content/5

• 5) Active and supportive citizenship
• Active citizenship and democratic practice
  European dimension and World dimension in the
  local experiences
• Learning to live together as European citizens
  knowledge and (life) skills.
• Towards a European Constitution significant
  values
• Global/local relationship and subsidiarity
  principle
• School, community, authority, institution,
  corporation and nation-based social networks.

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Educating to Citizenship and Solidarity
Promoting Human Rights Culture
Is a training and action research project
initiated in Italy in the year 2000-2001. The
project - initiated by Regione Veneto - involved
5 regional areas, but it has been implemented on
a national basis since 2003. About 3800 schools -
organized in networks and coordinated by 200
tutors - have been involved in the project since
its starting. Addressees of the project are
teachers of both humanities and scientific
subjects as well as coordinators of class
governing boards.
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Educating to Citizenship and Solidarity
Promoting Human Rights Culture

• The aim of the Educating to Citizenship and
  Solidarity Project is to let school networks work
  together with community groups, and local
  authorities and organizations, in order to
• Study their anthropological and cultural
  background to acquire deep and shared knowledge
  of human rights
• Promote active citizenship and encourage
  participation in local solidarity initiatives
  amongst students

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Educating to Citizenship and Solidarity
Promoting Human Rights Culture

• Equip people with the appropriate knowledge to
  create a community for the diffusion of
  citizenship culture
• Make links between explicit curriculum i.e.
  cross- disciplinary knowledge and skills - and
  implicit curriculum i.e. individual behaviours
  and school organization
• Build a national school network aimed at
  promoting meaningful and inclusive participation
  models.

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Other institutional activities
Comenius projects (Socrates)
2002/03 2003/04 2004/05
150 596 674
year
projects
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Other institutional activities
Comenius and Leonardo da Vinci projects
DG for International Affairs of School Education
of Italian Ministry of Education, University and
Research
8 balkan countries
6 italian schools projects
as silent partners
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Community-based activities
Regional education authorities (USR) and Regional
Educational Research Institutes (IRRE) organize
community-based citizenship education
activities. Community-based citizenship education
activities are primarily action research
laboratories targeted to teachers and
trainers. So far, the most popular issues have
been
Human rights
Right to healt
Environment
Languages
Voluntary work
Interculturality
Peace
Principle of legality
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Association projectsCISP
The International Society for the Development of
Peoples (CISP) is a no-profit organisation
implementing humanitarian aid, rehabilitation,
development, and applied research programs in
about 30 countries throughout Africa, Latin
America, Asia, Eastern Europe, and the Middle
East. In Western Europe, CISP is responsible for
Information, training, and education programs
centred on Interculturality and solidarity.
Together with two NGOs - Italian Foundation for
Voluntary work (FIVOL) and FOCSIV - and Pavia
University, CISP created the European School for
Advanced Studies in Development Co-operation. The
school offers an internationally recognized
Master and also collaborates in the
implementation of Puntoedu Europa (INDIRE).
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Association projectsFOCSIV
Volunteers in the world (FOCSIV) is active in
promoting Peace Education campaigns and
Citizenship Education activities
Educating to Citizenship and democracy in a
national, european and world perspective
World citizens for a world of peace
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Association projects Athenaeum
Athenaeum is an association actively involved in
encouraging human rights education. Athenaeum
is currently collaborating with the Ministry of
Education in an Experimental Project aimed at
training high-school teachers on human rights
education, with particular reference to the
Charter of fundamental rights of the EU.
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Cittadinanzattiva
Cittadinanzattiva is an association concerning
the civic partecipation that works in Italy and
Europe for the promotion and protection of
citizens and consumers rights. It publishes,
every year, the Report Book of Citizenship
Education Best Practices that contains
informative schedules about the most important
activities carried out in schools.
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Adotta un diritto
A project of the Regione Emilia Romagna that
involves the Ministry of Education (MIUR),
Regione Emilia Romagna, Regional education
authorities (USR), Regional Educational Research
Institutes (IRRE), the University of Bologna,
PuntoEdu and the public Liceo specializing in
classical studies E. Fermi in Bologna.
The website of this project contains the
documentation made by schools about Citizenship
Education.
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Exploratory survey of INVALSI/1
Practices of citizenship education in italian
schools in the last years research tracks
by Paolo Calidoni, University of Sassari, 2005
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Exploratory survey of INVALSI/2
practices and experiences in italian schools. The
report presents the main changes that are rolling
on in italian schools.

• Field of study

Questions of the study
indicators from the area Curriculum Teaching and
Learning of the Tool for quality assurance of
EDC in schools.
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Exploratory survey of INVALSI/2
Selected indicators

• 1. Is there evidence of an adequate place for EDC
  in the schools goals, policies and curriculum
  plans?

2. Is there evidence of students and teachers
acquiring understanding of EDC and applying EDC
priciples to their everyday practice in schools
and classrooms?
4. Does the schools ethos adequately reflect EDC
principles?
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Exploratory survey of INVALSI/3

• Sources

national and international documents on EDC
experiences schools documents from the web and
from the data bases of the INDIRE (GOLD, POF)
insitutions and associations web sites.
Methodology
documental analysis the interpretation of the
data is based on indicators of the EDC Pack (Tool
for quality assurance of EDC in schools).
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Exploratory survey of INVALSI/4

• Evidences

In italian schools EDC seems to be

• an educational principle firmly sustained
• a teaching content relevant in specific
  educational activities
• carried on already from pre-primary schools
  developed by the whole school within compulsory
  education mainly an initiative of one or few
  teachers in secondary school, added to social
  studies classes

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Exploratory survey of INVALSI/5

• Evidences

In italian schools EDC seems to be

• developed thanks to the meeting and melting of
  different interests
• from inside (specific problems or care)
• from external institutions (ministerial or
  international, mainly european)
• from external organizations and groups (local
  authorities, non-profit organizations, lobbies)
• focused on the development of an active,
  participate, overnational citizenship that leads
  to a social and political status more than a
  legal one

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Exploratory survey of INVALSI/6

• Evidences

In italian schools EDC seems to be

• crosscurricolar and interdisciplinary activity
  in pre-primary and primary schools while in
  secondary schools it often moves from one
  specific subject to the others (pluridisciplinary
  approach)
• carried on by active teachers working together
  and with experts and militants from outside the
  school
• developed through active teaching/learning
  strategies including discussions, teamworks,
  workshops, researchs and scientific, literary and
  artistic productions (monographs, exhibitions,
  shows, multimedia), simulations and fieldworks

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Exploratory survey of INVALSI/7

• Evidences

In italian schools EDC seems to be

• aimed to the dissemination, implementation and
  sharing of values and awareness, information and
  knowledge of citizenship the practice of skills
  and competences is focused on specific activities
  or on daily life
• evaluated more by qualitative appreciations on
  the experience, its contents and values, than
  using structured and formal instruments