The Erasmus+ project "EU-Reading Circles" experience in Abruzzo. The reading group as a strategic element of the educational community

Abstract

The reading group, a methodology for promoting reading experienced mainly in non-formal contexts, is configured as a free, social and participatory experience linked to text sharing and negotiation of meaning, capable not only of enhancing deep reading skills, but also to develop the social and citizenship skills of the subjects involved. From a theoretical and practical point of view, the reading group is configured as a space characterized by a constant tension between the individual and social dimensions (Gavazzi, 2019). Intrinsically connoted in educational terms, the reading group is based on the practice of shared reading, which develops according to relational, participatory and social trajectories, recognizing the negotiation of meanings as a characterizing aspect (Di Carlo, 2021). With a view to promoting reading and combating educational poverty in the territories, the Erasmus+ EU-Reading Circles project has identified in the reading group a transformative device for intervention in communities for the promotion of literacy, an essential objective for the prevention of exclusion cultural and social. The project, which took place between 2020 and 2023, involved universities, libraries and associations from Spain (lead partner), Italy, France, Greece and Poland. EU-Reading Circles has identified an innovative strategic choice in the active involvement of the educational community. The experience that has developed in Abruzzo, thanks to EU-Reading Circles, calls for an analysis of the "reading circle" as an incubator of connections between school and territory, as well as a space for the exchange of experiences and good practices between subjects who identify reading group the design feature of an engaged educating community, with a view to the co-responsibility of the various local training agencies, in the creation of more literate and inclusive environments.