Conference Program

This paper presents a research conducted as part of a program for the development of cross-curricular skills and career guidance (PCTO): SORGETE! – Voices and Bodies of Democracy. The project’s title refers to the dance-theater performance directed by Simona Lisi and produced by Collettivo Collegamenti, which was used as a starting point to explore issues related to gender equality. The theatrical performance, in fact, centers its reflection on the story of the ten Italian female teachers who, in 1906, temporarily obtained the right to vote, inspired by Maria Montessori’s proclamation, “All women, rise up!”
The project establishes a network of schools, research institutions, and cultural organizations. It is carried out with the support of the European DEAR program—Development Education and Awareness Raising—as part of the GEAR UP! project (NDCI Challenge /2023/448-378), co-funded by the European Union. Promoted by Welcome APS – European Projects Collettivo Collegamenti, with the support of the Regione Marche.
The research sample involves two fourth-year classes (4AT and 4BT) at the “Giulio Perticari” Classical High School in Senigallia (An), specializing in the Humanities track.
1. The preparatory phase of the project involves presenting the content through workshops on issues related to gender equality.
2. Preparation for the play “Sorgete Donne”,
3. Viewing of the play, used as a starting point for classroom discussions on the themes of democracy, gender equality, civil rights, and active participation.
4. The Human Sciences classes will participate in a series of 4 sessions over 4 weeks, for a total of 10 hours distributed as follows: four hours of presentation of methodological tools specific to facilitating Philosophy for Children (hereinafter P4C) sessions, with particular reference to mirroring, non-judgment, and active listening, four hours of P4C sessions and two hours of planning a P4C session to be offered to groups of 6 fifth-grade students at the Mercantini Elementary School in Senigallia (An).

The research question

This exploratory research begins with an analysis of the facilitator’s interventions, asking whether and how the facilitator’s questions or interventions support discussion, the expression of divergent thinking, reflection, and conversation.

Other elements that are part of democratic education will be taken into consideration, such as: active participation of individual group members (for example: do group members participate actively?); depth of arguments (are arguments used that demonstrate cognitive decentralization?), quality of alternative, novel, and non-conformist proposals, increasing progressively from the first to the fourth meeting and the evolution of cohesion within the research community.
Research tools:
Participants will be asked to complete a logbook at the end of each meeting. At the conclusion of the program, a focus group will be conducted, in which participants will participate voluntarily. The sessions, which will be fully recorded and transcribed, will be analyzed according to the guidelines from Gail Jefferson’s system (2004) and analyzed using a discourse analysis approach (Mantovani, 2008)