RIGHTS research report

The RIGHTS consortium carried out a research activity with the aim to compare the experiences/expectations of seven European partner countries around Digital Storytelling (DS) and Global Citizenship Education (GCE). The idea was to help to map out the main methods guiding GCE in Italy, Bulgaria, Portugal, Spain, Norway and Switzerland, with a focus on the activities of those schools attended by 12 to 16 year-old students.

The main research activities were:

- Analysis of the national documentation on the subject and definition of key concepts on the topic of citizenship;

- European Union regulations;

- Facebook page experiment;

- Interviews with secondary school teachers.

What came out of the research activities is that: Global Citizenship Education does not have an official definition. It is a practice, which has been developed in Europe, and in several non-European countries starting from the need to grapple with some common challenges.

The research produced by the Rights project's partners, involving 7 European countries, delineates a highly varied portrait of the concepts, practices and objectives attributed to GCE. The definitions given by each partner, attached below, have numerous similarities and at the same time reveal considerable differences, related either to the meaning of citizen/citizenship, or to what is explicitly referred to as global citizenship/Global Citizenship Education. The overall picture of the standards and specific educational contexts of the seven countries covered presented some similarities. First, in none of the countries there is a specific teaching called "Global Citizenship Education". However, all the countries provide for one or more variously named types of teaching which refer to teaching about citizenship and human rights. Furthermore, it was noticed the amount of systems that, in defining the objectives and contents of the teaching, make clear the need to give it a "global" scope.

The different pedagogic systems all proceed from the common understanding that global conditions have changed and from the consequent necessity to provide students with new skills, so that they may face up to the challenges of their time with greater resources. The contents of the disciplines related to citizenship still vary from country to country, and though some themes recur, others seem to be dealt with only in some of the countries.

According to the researchers' analysis, the use of the DST method is still in its initial stages; in some contexts, however, reference was made to either some specific texts or Internet sites containing information on this methodology. Although in a couple of the involved countries some projects, entirely revolving around DST as the core of students and teachers' educational activities are allegedly being carried out, in other countries DST is mainly used in a synergy with other, more traditional educational and teaching activities. More precisely, DST is part of an education scheme, a useful tool in the summarising and/or final stages of workshops or learning activities actually based on other techniques and tools. In these contexts, DST is used as an instrument for fixing and preserving an education project on a digital support.

It must be pointed out, however, that material on DST is available in all countries, although the use of DST is still in its initial stage. Anyway, it is broadly acknowledged that the huge potential of DST should be developed in several and diverse educational contexts and according to different perspectives, due to its strong impact on adolescents, youth, and, last but not least, children, who were actually born in a highly technological social context.

To check the full report please click on the link: RIGHTS research report .