What educational and didactic planning to promote citizenship education? Critical reflections starting from an evaluation research on the experience of the Municipal Youth Councils

Abstract

The present contribution intends to give voice to a quantitative evaluation research on the Project of Municipal Youth Councils in the province of Bologna. The purpose of research was to hypothesize this educational project as an effective path to acquire citizenship education competences. The research involved a sample of 657 secondary school students, 298 project participants and 359 not. Both groups were administered a test on issues of citizenship edu-cation and a questionnaire on socio-political beliefs and attitudes. The results involved in a si-gnificant impact of the project in promoting attitudes of trust towards the institutions while suggesting improvement strategies to promote other aspects of citizenship competence: knowledge and skills.