94411 - Citizenship Education and Active Participation

Learning outcomes

At the end of the course the student: - knows the theoretical foundations and reference models of active citizenship education; - knows good practices of educational interventions for the promotion of active citizenship; - is able to promote opportunities for participation in active citizenship practices in the community and globally; - is able to analyse the debate on the issues of empowerment and active citizenship as central problems of the complex and multidimensional changes of today's society.

Course contents

The course will be in the second semester and it will be in English. A B1 level of English is required. 

The course deals with the wide theme of the skills necessary to form citizens who are able to face the challenges of contemporary life and to meet and interpret forms of citizenship that are much broader than national or European ones, including global ones: a citizenship, therefore, aware and active, oriented to the values of civil coexistence and the common good, to the relationship with the environment according to sustainable approaches. In this perspective, active citizenship education is linked to the concepts of empowerment, the recognition of one's own and others' identity, autonomy, cooperation, the values of social solidarity and respect for the other, overcoming the discrimination of gender, to the possibilities of change. In particular, the course will present some fundamental concepts of citizenship education and active participation (identity, community, belonging, stereotypes/prejudges, to cite some of them) and, starting form these, we will focus on the role of the student and her/his active participation in civil society, school and university contexts as a "training gym" to exercise her/his citizenship rights and duties. In particular, the course will analyze manifestations of citizenship, media, and play in contemporary digital culture.

Readings/Bibliography

Readings will be available in the Virtuale Platform.

Glas, R., Lammes, S., de Lange, M., Raessens, J., & de Vries, I. (Eds.). (2019). The Playful Citizen: Civic Engagement in a Mediatized Culture (Vol. 1). Amsterdam University Press. http://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctvcmxpds (chapters' selection)

Hoggan, C., Hoggan-Kloubert, T., & Owen, R. (2023). Living democracy: social structures that promote civic learning. Adult Learning, 34(3), 168-180. Retrieved from https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/10451595221149765

Hoggan-Kloubert, T., & Mabrey III, P. E. (2022). Civic education as transformative education. Journal of Transformative Education, 20(3), 167-175. Retrieved from https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/15413446221103173

Teaching methods

The course uses an approach based on active and participatory learning. The teaching includes lectures, seminars and practical activities, included game based learning activities. Students will be required to play an active role through discussions, case studies, group work and research activities.

Class attendance is recommended.

Assessment methods

The final assessment is a written research paper (in English) about the course contents and the activities realized by students. All instructions on how to do this task are published on the Virtuale Platform. This written research paper, which must be submitted at least one week before the exam enrollment, will be discussed during the oral exam.

Criteria to assess this paper and its oral discussion will be:

- clarity in the presentation of the contents;
- ability to deepen and link the main issues;
- appropriateness in the use of specific terminology;
- critical analysis of the repercussions of the topics studied within socio-educational contexts;

-capacity to link theory and praxis.

A rubric of evaluation is available on Virtuale platform.

The maximum possible score is 30, the minimum to pass is 18.

If rejected at the exam, it is possible to have a second chance.

Inscription to the exam on Almaesami website.

 

Students with specific learning disorders and\or permanent disabilities: please, contact the office responsible (https://site.unibo.it/studenti-con-disabilita-e-dsa/en/for-students) as soon as possible so that they can propose acceptable adjustments. The request for adaptation must be submitted in advance (15 days before the exam date) to the lecturer, who will assess the appropriateness of the adjustments, taking into account the teaching objectives.

Teaching tools

Videoprojector, PC, videos, game boards.

Further teaching materials will be uploaded on Unibo platform.

Office hours

See the website of Elena Pacetti