Developing citizenship skills through cultural heritage and social media networks

This paper presents the outcomes of a project carried out with Cesano Boscone (Milan, Italy) students (6th-7th grade), consistent with the National Operational Programme, For School - Competences and Learning Environments, 2014-2020 (MIUR), on citizenship education in an intercultural and interdisciplinary perspective, with a focus on an aware use of social networks. The project was evaluated using the “fourth generation” approach, activating a reflexive comparison between participants. The perception of the project’s educational impact shows a coherent relationship between the objectives that guided the design work and the learning outcomes that emerge from the analysis of the classroom activities. The results of the content analysis of the conversations with children highlighted the effectiveness of the educational alliance between teachers and educators and the assumption of a reflective attitude towards their own practices. The first identified learning outcome is a responsibility towards a common heritage, a second outcome is a greater awareness of the potential and risks of the digital environment, a third point underlined by the students is the ability to interact in a group, understanding different points of view, valuing one's own and others' skills, contributing to common learning and implementing collective activities.