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On Tuesday 15 th June 2021 the final conference of EAR project will take place.
The event because of the restrictions due to the pandemic organised by the University of Florence will be held online.
EAR Final Conference is an opportunity for teachers, students, researchers, and decision/policy makers to having illustrated the key features of the EAR Methodology, focusing on its value and challenges, to draft policy recommendations for EAR’s sustainability and its wider adoption.
In the framework of the Erasmus+ project EAR- Forming active European Citizens through the Dialectical Method and Theatre, we are inviting you to participate in a free online seminar for teachers. The main aim of the seminar is to empower teachers to use a combination of theatre techniques and Socratic dialectics in order to approach social issues inside their classroom.
The goal of EAR training is to enhance the citizenship competences of secondary school students through the dialectics, and theater and to achieve this goal one previous step is the training of teachers.
This training has been very welcomed by secondary school teachers and youth educators in our country. Our secondary schools have a high level of cultural diversity, and students with specific social and education needs, and teachers and educators don’t feel enough trained to face these challenges.
In Italy the process of teachers’ recruitment for EAR project started in May 2019 and it successfully ended in September 2019 with the involvement of 35 practicing teachers and 135 pre-service teachers. These latter were students participating to EAR within the framework of their Initial Teacher Training at the University of Florence. The training of the pre-service teachers took place at the University whilst the training sessions for practicing teachers have ben carried out in their respective schools where later the EAR methodology has been implemented, namely the “Istituto Comprensivo Empoli Est” in Empoli (a small town in the area of Florence) and the “Istituto Comprensivo Ghiberti” in Florence. The training of (future) teachers and the implementation of the EAR methodology in the classrooms with about 900 students (9-15 yo) dates back to October and November 2019.
The first edition of the Training of Teachers in Citizenship Education through the Dialectic Method and Theater took place in Portugal from 22 to 29 of June 2020. Due to the restrictions imposed by Covid-19 outbreak, the training took place online, having been organized in 15 hours that were distributed as follows: 3 synchronous sessions, the first and the third of an hour and a half and the second lasting two hours. That week, asynchronous autonomous work sessions were also planned to explore the platform and the materials provided by the trainer, such as the teacher’s log, observation schedule, educational scenarios, teachers methodological guide, worksheet with videos and other practical resources, etc. The training was attended by 49 participants, including teachers, trainers and school psychologists.
The Socratic method, also known as method of elenchus, elenctic method, or Socratic debate, is a form of cooperative argumentative dialogue between individuals, based on asking and answering questions to stimulate critical thinking and to draw out ideas and underlying presuppositions. It is a dialectical method, involving a discussion in which the defense of one point of view is questioned; one participant may lead another to contradict themselves in some way, thus weakening the defender’s point. This method is named after the Classical Greek philosopher Socrates and is introduced by him in Plato’s Theaetetus as midwifery (maieutics) because it is employed to bring out definitions implicit in the interlocutors’ beliefs, or to help them further their understanding.
The Eurydice Citizenship Education at School in Europe – 2017 report provides a comparative overview of national policies in the area of citizenship education across Europe, at a time when increasing demands are being made on education and training systems to promote this area of learning. It focuses on the curriculum content and organisation, the teaching and learning methods in and outside the classroom, the assessment of students, and the training and support for teachers. These issues are addressed in the four chapters, each of which is complemented by a case study on a recent policy initiative. The report is primarily based on qualitative data and covers 42 education systems. It draws on the existing regulations and recommendations regarding citizenship education in public sector schools and includes general education and school-based initial vocational education training programmes.
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The process of European integration has been based on key values such as peace, democracy, freedom and tolerance. However, these values are currently in risk because of socio-economic problems, violent extremism and a lack of trust in democratic processes. The role of education and training, and more specifically citizenship education is very important in addressing these challenges. However, as the Eurydice Report “Citizenship Education at School in Europe 2017” shows citizenship education is addressed mainly on a cognitive level as part of the curriculum both in relation with the teaching and in relation with the assessment (knowledge of the institutions of the political system, environmental awareness, analysis of issues discussed in the society etc).
This approach, as the report underlines, is mostly focusing on knowledge and skills rather than attitudes. However, in order to be able to address the deep challenges that Europe is currently facing is very important to focus on attitudes and engage the students actively and make them part of the whole process.
The project aims to introduce the dialectical method in school education as a key feature that promotes the active participation of students in a democratic society with the support of theatre techniques. The dialectical method is not only promoting the critical thinking of the students but it allows the connection of everyday life with wider concepts and notions (such as humanism, justice, freedom etc) that are fundamental. This is extremely important especially for today’s society that because of the social media is providing a great quantity of information together with a very limited capacity for the understanding and analysis of the information.
The dialectical method has been established by Socrates and it is about posing critical questions in order to underline the social contradictions. This series of questions clarifies a more precise statement of a vague belief, logical consequences of that statement are explored, and a contradiction is discovered. Its ultimate goal is to free the people from false impressions related with social reality. In our time these false impressions are created through fake news etc. The dialectical method is at base a discourse between two or more people holding different points of view about a subject but wishing to establish the truth through reasoned arguments. It may be contrasted with the didactic method where one side of the conversation teaches the other.
In modern times, Hegelian dialectic, usually presented in a threefold manner, is comprising three dialectical stages of development: a thesis, giving rise to its reaction; an antithesis, which contradicts or negates the thesis; and the tension between the two being resolved by means of a synthesis. Paulo Freire, a Brazilian educator and philosopher who was a leading advocate of critical pedagogy and best known for his influential work, Pedagogy of the Oppressed, has tried to apply the dialectic method in the education. According to Freire, through the dialectical method, the students undertake from the beginning the role of the “creators” and they try to reach the essence of the knowledge through the help of critical thinking. Freire claims that the essence is not in learning knowledge by heart but in the process of acquiring the knowledge. The whole process of acquiring knowledge includes a dialectical movement from action to reasoning and from the reasoning related with the action to a new action. The acquisition of knowledge through the dialectical method requires two interdependent contexts:
i) The general context of authentic dialogue between the students and the teachers as equal subjects in relation to knowledge
ii) The specific social reality in which students and teachers are living
The partnership had all the necessary expertise on the methods that are being transferred. All the partners are coordinators of other projects (in the framework of the Erasmus+ or the Creative Europe programme) related with social inclusion. Most of them have worked also in the field of citizenship education. The University of Florence which is going to coordinate the development of the part of the methodology related with the dialectical method has all the necessary expertise in order to develop a relevant and academically sound methodology. The Centre of Higher Education in Theatre Studies is a reputable organization in Greece experienced in the use of theatre in education and is able to transfer its expertise in the consortium.
Capacity in upscaling
The partnership included various stakeholders that were able to upscale the method in various levels. It included academic organisations (the University of Florence) which on the one hand works with teachers and schools and on the other hand is able to disseminate and upscale the methods on an academic level and through academic work and publications. Mentortec is an organization that is expert in the field of training of teachers and continuous professional development and able to transfer the method in a greater scale. WUSMED is also an organization that is specialized in innovation in training and the development of teachers’ competencies with networks not only in Spain but in the whole Mediterranean region. Acta theatre is also working in various levels for the promotion of social inclusion in education through theatre, it has already developed, through previous cooperations, methods and networks related with this objective which could be used for the upscaling. Action Synergy finally has a long record of cooperation with schools and development of networks for the promotion and upscaling of education practices.
Moreover, almost all the project partners were already coordinating other projects in the framework of Erasmus+ KA3 programme related with the upscaling of good practices, fact which gives them a significant expertise in this issue.
Finally, the list of the project associate partners includes public organisations, schools, regional authorities etc. which are key actors for the mainstreaming and upscaling of the results of the project.
Reaching the grass root level
The partners had substantial experience in reaching the grass root level. The University of Florence is constantly organizing teacher trainings and the Educational department is one of the greatest teacher training organisations in Italy. Mentortec and WUSMED are working as part of their regular work on the field with teachers that want to be trained in new and creative lessons. Acta works in the field of supporting the social inclusion in many levels including education. Action Synergy has successfully completed many projects related with innovation in teaching and training and has important networks with schools and teachers since they deliver teacher training as part of their normal activities. Also, many schools and “grass-roots” level organisations participated in the project as partners.
Make an impact on a larger scale
The project included organisations that are able to extend the impact of the project on a larger scale. The University of Florence is able to transfer the results of the project at a policy level being one of the main institutions responsible for teacher training. They can also transfer the results of the project in the academic level and in the scientific community. WUSMED is also able to transfer the project results through its networks throughout the Mediterranean region.
