Promoting citizenship educatiOn at school to buiLd Inclusive Societies Erasmus Project

Project Title

Promoting citizenship educatiOn at school to buiLd Inclusive Societies

Project Key Action

This project related with these key action: Cooperation for innovation and the exchange of good practices

Project Action Type

This project related with this action type : School Exchange Partnerships

Project Call Year

This project’s Call Year is 2020

Project Topics

This project is related with these Project Topics: EU Citizenship, EU awareness and Democracy; Civic engagement / responsible citizenship; New innovative curricula/educational methods/development of training courses

Project Summary

“P.O.L.I.S. – Promote citizenship education at school to build inclusive societies” is promoted by the Istituto Magistrale S. Rosa of Viterbo, in collaboration with 5 schools from Norway, Lithuania, Turkey, Malta and Greece.
The project aims to contrast the widespread disengagement among young people and the absence of a shared, and therefore respected, set of rules in different aspects of social life. To achieve this, partners will create a set of learning units on active citizenship education aimed at showing the direct and negative effects of disaffection, to support students’ reflection on the importance of being active citizens. POLIS will address the issue of youth disengagement from 6 different angles, each one assigned to a partner, creating a Learning Units (LUs) compendium for active citizenship with non-formal learning methods (ie. Role-playing games and experiential learning in situation) to demonstrate concretely the possible consequences of disengagement and support students’ reflection on the importance of being active citizens. The topics covered are:
– Sustainable citizenship and respect for the environment – Norway
– Digital citizenship and critical thinking, ability to understand and defend against fake news online – Lithuania
– Promotion of peace, tolerance and respect – Turkey
– Inclusion and diversity, human rights – Malta
– Importance of youth representation in decision-making processes and stakeholders. The tangible sub-product of this topic is the training and appointment of “Local Leaders” among the participating students – Greece
– Shared rules within the school to enhance the school environment. The tangible sub-product of these LUs is the launch of the POLIS Regulation – Italy.

For each topic 6 LUs will be developed through innovative teaching methods learnt during the first joint staff training event (JSTE). The LUs production will coordinated by the country responsible for the topic but elaborated collaboratively by all partners, to deepen the international dimension of the output. The responsible countries of each topic will host a mobility during which the 6 LUs created on the subject of competence will be tested on an international pilot class of 24 pupils of the 6 nationalities. Our main output will thus be enriched by the feedback received during the implementation of the LUs at an international level. Preparation for each mobility and follow up/evaluation of the the experience will be carried out through eTwinning, where the assessment of the activities will be organized upon return.

Target groups are:
– Students aged between 15 and 17 who, although with a good academic performance, show disaffection, disengagement and disinterest in school life and in the community in general. This choice is the most suitable to achieve the expected learning outcomes as the potential expressed by this kind of students for didactic commitment can be, thanks to the awareness developed with POLIS, extended to participation and active citizenship.
– The law and language teachers, in addition to the teachers belonging to the Erasmus + working group, where present, and teachers of various disciplines involved by the LUs such as ICT (for the topic Digital citizenship), Sciences (for the topic Sustainable Citizenship and respect for the environment), Human Sciences (for the topic inclusion and promotion of human rights).

These targets will participate in:
2 joint staff training events, one in Italy (October 2020) and one in Malta (May 2022)
6 student exchanges, for 4 students and 2 teachers, in Malta in January 2021, Lithuania in March 2021, Norway in May 2021, Turkey in October 2021, in Greece in January 2022 and in Italy in March 2022.

At the end of the project the following tangible outputs will be realized:
– POLIS Handbook, published in the form of an open educational resource, which gathers the 36 Learning Units, focused on 6 different aspects of the construction of active and aware citizenship, tested during the short term pupils exchanges and produced in a collaborative way between various partners;
– the launch of the POLIS Regulation, a set of shared rules for the peaceful coexistence within the school environment, conflict management and mutual respect, which students will elaborate during the project activities and which they will vote at the school assembly at the end of the project. The direct role of pupils in drafting of the rules will provide for a greater convinced adhesion to them;
– the training and appointment of at least 12 “Local Leaders” (2 per partner). These are students with leadership skills who will carry out the task of disseminating their experience as peer educators and promoting a greater commitment of young people to res publica affairs.

All these outputs are likely to generate a deep and sustainable impact on individuals, as well as on organizational and local level, also thanks to the careful dissemination plan prepared by the partnership members.

EU Grant (Eur)

Funding of the project from EU: 193011 Eur

Project Coordinator

ISTITUTO MAGISTRALE SANTA ROSA DA VITERBO & Country: IT

Project Partners

• Metis videregående AS
• Alytaus Putinu gimnazija
• St Benedict College Secondary School
• KARTAL YILDIZ AHMET ARAYICI ANADOLU LISESI
• 4o EPA.L. ATHINAS