Civic education as a “lived” experience of active and intercultural citizenship between school and extra-school. Insights from a research experience with youth from an Italian multicultural neighborhood.

Introduction: In the context of global and multicultural societies, civic education could reveal its formative potential if declined in a wider project of intercultural and transformative citizenship education inside and outside school. The theoretical discussion will be combined with insights from an ongoing empirical study on active citizenship education, framed within an interdisciplinary and inter-agency project (“Abitare Insieme”), carried out in a multicultural and peripheral area in Northern Italy. Method: 107 young people (secondary school and adult students) were involved as participants in a training-research project in which we experimented with innovative methodologies and approaches for promoting active citizenship in workshop settings. Data were generated through the qualitative observation of students’ participation in the workshops and analyzed with the aid of a Computer-assisted qualitative data analysis software. Results: Preliminary insights from this ongoing research project corroborate the idea that fostering active citizenship requires empowering pedagogies. Suggestions in this direction come from the empirical study, characterized by the administration of a questionnaire as a tool to give voice to students, a talent-mapping activity as a way to make their resources and competences visible and the promotion of connections between curricular and extra-curricular activities related to civic education. Conclusion and Discussions: The study, grounded on theoretical reflections on civic engagement in our contemporary societies, has empirically supported the necessity to frame civic education in an intercultural, empowering, and active perspective, providing helpful guidance to teachers, educators, and policymakers.