1,720,978 research outputs found
Service Learning: A Philosophy and Practice to re-Frame Higher Education
No full textThe paper aims to investigate the Service Learning model as a philosophy and a practice for reframing higher educatio
The Culture of Care Project: An example of service research that places the University at the service of the community
No full textmore relevant than ever in promoting initiatives that can offer a valid contribution to the community, building proposals to serve emerging needs and weaving profitable links with territorial contexts. This contribution presents the Culture of Care project, a service research project conceived of and implemented by the Melete center (Center of Ethics for Care) of the University of Verona, which was created to offer effective responses to the educational and training needs expressed by a movement of schools that took shape in the Italian context. This project has its roots in the pragmatist tradition, according to which the task of research is to provide something good for a community. To be relevant, research must investigate a significant problem, adopting a rigorous method that guarantees the reliability of the data to be returned to the community to disseminate evidence-based practices. Therefore, in accordance with the vision of a University that puts itself at the service of the community, the researchers of Melete proposed some meetings that were open to the municipal department and to schools of all grades of two Italian cities, in which the needs and/or desires for service were collected. Starting from the needs analysis, the necessity emerged of activating project proposals to promote the culture of care in the educational and didactic contexts of the requesting schools. Proposals focused on education for care were developed and co-constructed with the actors involved and divided according to specific contextual needs into three paths: ethics education (care for oneself and others), education for citizenship (care for the common good) and socio-emotional education (care for one's own and others' feelings). The proposals were designed and implemented according to the evaluative research approach. This aims to offer good experiences to the subjects involved while evaluating their effectiveness through rigorous qualitative research. According to the service approach, the activities conducted were documented in detail for lifelong learning training purposes and presented at a conference open to the territory. In this way, the research was put at the service of the political decision maker and returned to the territory so it could become a foundation for training and direction choices. The process of data analysis, still ongoing, displays the effectiveness of the project. Depending on the different proposals, it indicates an increase in the ethical, citizenship, reflective and socio-emotional skills of the students involved. The positive impact of the initiative also emerged from the positive evaluations of the teachers involved, revealed thanks to the qualitative analysis of the interviews addressing them at the end of the educational paths. In addition, the schools involved requested the continuation of the project, as did other schools nationwide. Moreover, a proposal was received from Melete to activate a collaboration to implement similar initiatives in the US and Australian contexts. This contribution is relevant because it exemplifies how the University, acting according to the service research approach, can become an engine generating new experiential, cultural and professional knowledge and practices, supporting the community to achieve a common good. Keywords: University, service research, evaluative research, culture of care, schools, ethics education, citizenship education, socio-emotional education
Dialoguing on friendship as political virtue: an experience of citizenship education for primary school children.
No full textFriendship is one of the objects of the second edition of the MelArete project, a program of ethical education designed by CRED (Education and Didactics Research Centre) of the University of Verona (Italy) to engage kindergarten and primary school children in reflecting on those virtues which are central for the development of citizenship. In this contribution, we will present some texts written by the pupils and the Socratic conversations about friendship, developed during the implementation of the program, in which the children were invited to define this concept. These conversations were recorded, verbatim transcribed and qualitatively analyzed following a methodological crossbreeding between the phenomenological-eidetic method and the grounded theory (Mortari, 2007). Also the written texts were analyzed following the same method. Findings bring to light what friendship is according to the participants and how they experience it. The results are finally discussed in light of the importance of such proposals in promoting citizenship education
Redesign pre-Service Teacher’s Training: A Systematic Literature Review on Service Learning Practice
No full textThis paper has a double purpose: to explain how a systematic literature review is useful in educational research and present the results of a systematic literature review on Service Learning (SL) in pre-service teacher‟s educatio
Skills and competences of sexuality educators. Evidences from a qualitative research in Italy
Full text linkThe research confirms the complexity of the competency
profile of CSE educators. Therefore, their professional development should include tailored designed multi-disciplinary training programs, with particular attention to the pedagogical dimension
DIALOGUING ON FRIENDSHIP AS POLITICAL VIRTUE: AN EXPERIENCE OF CITIZENSHIP EDUCATION FOR PRIMARY SCHOOL CHILDREN
No full textFriendship is one of the objects of the second edition of the MelArete project, a program of ethical education designed by CRED (Education and Didactics Research Centre) of the University of Verona (Italy) to engage kindergarten and primary school children in reflecting on those virtues which are central for the development of citizenship. In this contribution, we will present some texts written by the pupils and the Socratic conversations about friendship, developed during the implementation of the program, in which the children were invited to define this concept. These conversations were recorded, verbatim transcribed and qualitatively analyzed following a methodological crossbreeding between the phenomenological-eidetic method and the grounded theory (Mortari, 2007). Also the written texts were analyzed following the same method. Findings bring to light what friendship is according to the participants and how they experience it. The results are finally discussed in light of the importance of such proposals in promoting citizenship education
Il Metodo Fenomenologico Empirico (MFE) e la sua applicazione in una ricerca educativa
No full textL’articolo presenta un metodo di ricerca innovativo e rigorosamente fondato che si presta particolarmente agli studi empirici in ambito educativo: il Metodo Fenomenologico Empirico (MFE). Dopo aver descritto le basi teoriche e le azioni euristiche del metodo, ne viene mostrata l’applicazione nell’ambito di una ricerca educativa finalizzata a promuovere l’etica per la cittadinanza presso una scuola primaria. L’attenzione è concentrata all’impiego del MFE per l’analisi dei dati relativi a un’attività di conversazione socratica, e ne viene argomentata l’efficacia nel valutare gli esiti dell’attività implementata. L’articolo mira quindi ad offrire un contributo utile a rispondere al bisogno sempre più rilevante di identificare metodi opportuni per verificare la qualità degli interventi attuati nelle scuole, individuandone punti di forza e criticità. Vengono discusse le potenzialità del MFE sia in riferimento al miglioramento delle pratiche educative e didattiche sia nella formazione e valorizzazione della professionalità docente
Il laboratorio LeCoSe: Learning Community Service
Full text linkIl progetto del laboratorio LeCoSe (Learning Community Service), che il Dipartimento di Scienze Umane dell’Università di Verona, Corso di laurea magistrale a ciclo unico in Scienze della Formazione Primaria – ha attivato con l’Ufficio Scolastico Territoriale di Verona e le scuole del territorio, pone alla base dellle sue finalità di ricerca e formazione il Service Learning, un contesto di apprendimento ispirato al principio dell’experiential learning e al principio del valore formativo e culturale del servizio. La scelta del modello risponde principalmente a tre scopi - l’esigenza di orientare i processi formativi degli studenti, preparandoli a incontrare le complessità reali della scuola; - l’oggettiva richiesta di aiuto da parte del mondo della scuola, che si trova ad affrontare sfide inedite; - il desiderio di un ripensamento del ruolo dell'Università quale sede di formazione, in questo caso di insegnanti di scuola dell'infanzia e primaria
The 'Caring' Approach: A Theoretical Basis for Comprehensive Sexuality Education
No full textThe paper presents a theoretical and empirical research to frame Sexuality Education (SE) within an
innovative reference: the Theory of Care.
SE is recognized by the world's leading health and educational institutions necessary to promote the health
and full development of young people. The most recent research recommends a model called
Comprehensive Sexuality Education (CSE), a curriculum-based approach that goes beyond a strictly
health risk prevention vision to include the cognitive, emotional, physical and social aspects of sexuality.
In 2024, Italy is one of the very few European countries that have not yet made SE mandatory in schools:
current initiatives are fragmented, while Italian students, who understand the value of SE, consider the
context school to be most appropriate. In response to this gap, the EduForIST project “Development of
technical-practical tools for carrying out educational and training activities in the field of sexuality,
relationships and prevention of STIs (Sexually Transmitted Infections) in the school setting” was funded
from 2019 to 2025. This interdisciplinary project is carried out at the national level, with financial support
from the Ministry of Health. The project adopted the CSE perspective; however, it recognized that it lacked
a radical theoretical foundation. SE is first and foremost a pedagogical action: therefore, it requires a
pedagogical wisdom capable of grounding actions that should not be mere informative or preventive
interventions, but real opportunities for the formation of the person, including in the dimension of being that
is their sexuality.
The EduForIST project has found in the philosophy of care the theoretical frame of reference to ground
CSE on a rigorous basis. The proposal presents a phenomenology of human being and their sexuality
and a phenomenology of the educative act, conceived as an act of care. In Aristotelian terms, care is
the practice that aims at the flourishing of the human being in all its aspects: consequently, a "caring
CSE" can be understood as an act of care that contributes to the full flourishing of people, including in
its sexual dimension. The importance of the theoretical model is confirmed by the qualitative empirical
research carried out in the project. Indeed, the educators who implemented the activities were asked to
write a daily reflective journal and/or summarize what happened in the classroom and their own
reflections on it through a SWOT analysis. As a result, 48 documents were collected that provide insights
for improving the design and implementation. The journals and the SWOT analysis were analyzed using
the empirical phenomenological method, an innovative reading of Husserl applied to empirical research,
since the data consist of a lived experience of the subject, the deep meaning of which can be grasped
through the epochè and the search for the essence.
Through a gradual coding of the texts and the construction of hierarchies of essences, we noted how
educators recognized the "caring" approach of CSE as capable of fostering a meaningful relationship
by meeting the needs and desires of young people and building a constructive relationship with
educational agencies (school, family, communities).
The relevance of the research lies in the combination of theoretical and empirical statements around a
fundamental element of innovative educational practice: the caring approach
Comprehensive sexuality education in Italian secondary schools: the EduForIST national project
No full textThis article outlines the co-construction, implementation and evaluation process of a pilot CSE intervention conducted in Italian secondary schools in 2023 as part of the EduForIST project
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