L’approccio whole-school per l’educazione civica e alla cittadinanza: risultati di uno studio di caso multi-prospettico su partecipazione e relazioni a livello di classe e scuola

Journal title CADMO
Author/s Valeria Damiani
Publishing Year 2025 Issue 2025/1
Language Italian Pages 25 P. 57-81 File size 263 KB
DOI 10.3280/CAD2025-001005
DOI is like a bar code for intellectual property: to have more infomation click here

Below, you can see the article first page

If you want to buy this article in PDF format, you can do it, following the instructions to buy download credits

Article preview

FrancoAngeli is member of Publishers International Linking Association, Inc (PILA), a not-for-profit association which run the CrossRef service enabling links to and from online scholarly content.

The PRIN project “The school as a democratic learning environment: promoting civic and citizenship education through the whole-school approach” aimed to analyse the different dimensions of the whole­school approach at classroom, school levels and in relation with the local community. This paper presents the results concerning two WSA dimensions, namely student participation in class and at school and teacher-student relations (the classroom climate). These dimensions were investigated through a case study conducted in one primary and lower secondary school in Rome. The research adopted different tools such as questionnaires, interviews and focus groups. Data were analysed to show the multi­perspective character of the research, examining in synergy the point of view of the school head, the teacher coordinating civic education at school, the teachers and the students. The analysis of the data made it possible to highlight key practices and implicit assumptions that characterise the dimensions of the WSA relating to participation and classroom climate. Specifically, findings showed a discrepancy between teachers’ perceptions of participation at class and school level, compared to students’ perceptions, and a different way of understanding student involvement by primary and lower secondary school teachers. The contribution closes with some insights on further research and training interventions with schools and teachers.

Keywords: civic and citizenship education, whole­school approach, Italy, primary school, lower secondary school

  1. Anderson, D.L., Graham, A.P., Thomas, N.P. (2019), “Assessing student participation at school: Developing a multidimensional scale”, International Journal of Student Voice, 5 (1), pp. 1-23.
  2. Asquini, G. (a cura di) (2019), La Ricerca-Formazione. Temi, esperienze, prospettive. Milano: FrancoAngeli.
  3. Bäckman, E., Trafford, B. (2007), Democratic governance of schools. Strasbourg, Council of Europe.
  4. Barber, C., Clark, C. H., Torney­Purta, J. (2021), Learning Environments and School/Classroom Climate as Supports for Civic Reasoning, Discourse, and Engagement. In Lee, C. D., White, G., Dong, D. (Eds), Educating for Civic Reasoning and Discourse. National Academy of Education, National Academies Press, https://naeducation.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/NAEd-Educating-for-Civic-Reasoning-and-Discourse.pdf.
  5. Braun, V., Clarke, V. (2006), “Using thematic analysis in psychology”, Qualitative Research in Psychology, 3 (2), pp. 77-101.
  6. Carretero, M., Haste, H., Bermudez, A. (2016), Civic education. In Corno, L., Anderman, E. M. (Eds), Handbook of educational psychology, 3rd ed. New York: Routledge, pp. 295-308.
  7. Cohen J., McCabe E. M., Michelli N. M., Pickeral T. (2009), “School climate: Research, policy, teacher education and practice”, Teachers College Record, 111, pp. 180-213.
  8. Council of Europe (2009), How all teachers can support citizenship and human rights education: a framework for the development of competences. Strasbourg: Council of Europe, https://rm.coe.int/16802f726a.
  9. Council of Europe (2018), Reference Framework of Competences for Democratic Culture, https://www. coe.int/en/web/campaign-free-to-speak-safe-to-learn/reference-framework-of-competences-for -democratic-culture.
  10. Day, C., Gurr, D. (2018), International Network as Sites for Research on Successful School Leadership. In: Lochmiller, C. (Ed), Complementary Research Methods for Educational Leadership and Policy Studies. Cham: Palgrave Macmillan, pp. 341-357.
  11. Dewey, J. (1922), Human nature and conduct: An introduction to social psychology. New York: Henry Holt and Company.
  12. Dodman, M., Cardarello, R., Damiani, V., Ciani, A. (a cura di) (2025), La RicercaFormazione. Impatti, strumenti, fattori. Milano: FrancoAngeli.
  13. Ehman, L. H. (1980), “The American school in the political socialization process”, Review of Educational Research, 50 (1), pp. 99-119.
  14. Eurydice (2017), Citizenship education at school in Europe. Brussels: European Commission.
  15. Freedman, S. W., Barr, D. J., Murphy, K., Beširevic, Z. (2016), “The development of ethical civic actors in divided societies: A longitudinal case”, Human Development, 59, pp. 107-127.
  16. Geboers, G., Geijsel, F., Admiraal, W., ten Dam, G. (2013), “Review of the effects of citizenship education”, Educational Research Review, 9, pp. 158-173.
  17. Grazia, V., Molinari, L. (2021), “School climate research: Italian adaptation and validation of a multidimensional school climate questionnaire”, Journal of Psychoeducational Assessment, 39 (3), pp. 286-300.
  18. Knowles, R. T., Mccafferty­Wright, J. (2015), “Connecting an open classroom climate to social movement citizenship: A study of 8th graders in Europe using IEA ICCS data”, The Journal of Social Studies Research, 49 (4), pp. 255-269.
  19. Losito, B. (2021), “Educazione civica e alla cittadinanza. Approcci curricolari e didattici e ambienti di apprendimento”, Scuola democratica, special issue, pp. 189-201. Mager, U., Nowak, P. (2012), “Effects of student participation in decision making at school. A systematic review and synthesis of empirical research”, Educational Research Review, 7, pp. 38-61.
  20. Scheerens, J. (2011), “Indicators on informal learning for active citizenship at school”, Educational Assessment, Evaluation and Accountability, 23, pp. 201-222,
  21. Schulz, W., Ainley, J., Fraillon, J., Kerr, D., Losito, B. (2010), ICCS 2009 international report: Civic knowledge, attitudes and engagement among lower secondary school students in thirty-eight countries. Amsterdam: International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement (IEA).
  22. Schulz, W., Ainley, J., Fraillon, J., Losito, B., Agrusti, G., Friedman, T. (2018), Becoming citizens in a changing world. IEA international civic and citizenship education study 2016 international report. Cham: Springer, https://link.springer. com/book/10.1007/978-3-319-73963-2.
  23. Schulz, W., Ainley, J., Fraillon, J., Losito, B., Agrusti, G., Damiani, V., Friedman,
  24. T. (2025), Education for Citizenship in Times of Global Challenge: IEA – ICCS 2022 International Report. Cham: Springer.
  25. Sinclair, R. (2004), “Participation in Practice: Making it Meaningful, Effective and Sustainable”, Children & Society, 18 (2), pp. 106-118.
  26. Sorzio, P. (2006), La ricerca qualitativa in educazione. Roma: Carocci.
  27. Thapa, A., Cohen, J., Guffey, S., Higgins­D’Alessandro, A. (2013), “A review of school climate research”, Review of Educational Research, 83 (3), pp. 357-385. Torney­Purta, J., Amadeo, J. (2011), “Participatory niches for emergent citizenship in early adolescence: An international perspective”, The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, 633, pp. 180-200.
  28. Torney­Purta, J., Lehmann, R., Oswald, H., Schulz, W. (2001), Citizenship and education in twenty-eight countries: Civic knowledge and engagement at age fourteen. Amsterdam: International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement (IEA).
  29. Hart, R. A. (1992), Children’s Participation: From tokenism to citizenship (Rep. No. 4). Florence: UNICEF ICDC.
  30. Holdsworth, R. (2000), “Schools that create real roles of value for young people”, Prospects, 30, pp. 349-362.

Valeria Damiani, L’approccio whole-school per l’educazione civica e alla cittadinanza: risultati di uno studio di caso multi-prospettico su partecipazione e relazioni a livello di classe e scuola in "CADMO" 1/2025, pp 57-81, DOI: 10.3280/CAD2025-001005