"Educational city model: rebuilding the educational pact between schools and the community"

"Towards an education without borders"

The “Educational City” model was born in Buenos Aires and then expanded to multiple cities. In Italy, it was developed in Naples, Gela, and Porto Torres. The model gathers multiple stakeholders -teachers, students, NGOs, the private and the public sector- in order to address school drop-out and the demotivation of adolescents, by listening to them and accompanying them to become agents of change.

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Overview

Information on this page is provided by the innovator and has not been evaluated by HundrED.

Web presence

2022

Established

1K

Children

1

Countries

Target group

Community

Updated

May 2024

It is imperative that education places children at the centre, as active participants and real agents of social transformation. In order to achieve this, it is essential to create educational experiences that see the participation of young people, not as passive participants, but as active and involved, both in the theoretical and decision-making phase, and in the practical and decisive phase.

About the innovation

Why did you create this innovation?

The ‘Città Educativa’ educational model was created in response to the need of young people to rediscover motivation for their chosen educational paths; the need of institutions and schools to stem the problem of school drop-outs; and the almost total absence of youth participation in community life and active citizenship.

What does your innovation look like in practice?

1) "Preliminary training" on Scholas' methodology for university students and volunteers from the local community (associations active in the area, school teachers, active institutions).

2) "Scholas Citizenship" educational experience: a week in which the representatives of the schools involved try different social transformation practices, in two steps: 1.selection of the real problems of their community and 2. Search for concrete solutions through art and constructive thinking.

3) "Afternoon artistic and/or sports workshops", to continue in the long term with the commitment to finding creative solutions to the pains identified by the young people.

4) "Closure and celebration" A meeting to present the conclusions of each action:
● Teachers and students will present the developments of the projects from the problems identified during Scholas Citizenship;
● Participants in the sports/art workshops will present their tournament or artistic/cinematic creations.

How has it been spreading?

In Sicily, in Gela, we have the involvement of students from the city's five high schools, with teachers from all levels of education and volunteers from local associations, and starting with the sorrows chosen by young people, they have created various social pages (including ig. Gela in movimento), youth committees, cultural events and urban regeneration.
In Naples, the 4 main universities are involved, with students as educators of the youngest participants, 8 high schools, 4 middle schools, teachers of all levels of education, as well as the city municipality, about twenty local associations from various neighbourhoods of the city, where various initiatives have been realised in the squares and schools, with artistic and musical performances, a short film and an inter-school tournament

If I want to try it, what should I do?

In the various cities where the project has been implemented so far, whether from private or public initiative, the first step is to contact the Scholas Occurrentes Foundation (scholasoccurrentes.org), which will proceed to contact schools, universities, and colleges to create an educational network.

Implementation steps

Preliminary Training

The Scholas international team will train university students and volunteers as practitioners of the Scholas Occurrentes' methodology. The training involves a long-term commitment and consists of a theoretical part of learning and a part of implementation and follow-up of the field experience with the participants. School Teachers are trained in the Scholas and Service-Learning pedagogy, an educational experience that promotes active citizenship skills within the school.

Scholas Citizenship

It consists of two phases: 1. selecting problems and 2. finding solutions. During the week, participants -adolescents from different schools- engage in various practices of social transformation, starting with the identification of problems, going through field work and arriving at the elaboration of solution proposals through constructive debate. Participants who are passionate in art will be invited to express themselves, dealing with the identified issue, through theatre, painting or cinema.

Afternoon arts and sports workshops

Cinema: The path is geared towards the creation of a short film to rediscover beauty in day to day life and express it through a short film. Sports: The path brings together the technical-tactical and psycho-relational components that characterize the young person's sports experience reflecting on the values embebed in sports. Service Learning: Starting with problems identified during the Scholas Citizenship experience, students and teachers design and document actions aimed as a solution.

Closing and celebration

A closing meeting to present the conclusions of each pathway addressed:
● Teachers and students will present project developments starting from the issues identified during Citizenship and applying the knowledge gained in Service Learning;
● Film workshop participants will screen the short film created;
● Participants in the sports workshop will present their tournament.