Conference Program

In the 2020/21 school year, the Italian Ministry of Education introduced Civic Education as a compulsory subject within the national curriculum. The framework identified a broad range of themes to be addressed, including the Constitution, sustainability, and digital citizenship. However, an explicit international dimension of citizenship remains largely absent. Therefore, Fondazione Intercultura and Scuola Democratica conducted the study 'Citizenship Education and International Pupil Mobility', which explores how individual mobility experiences in secondary education may foster global citizenship competences. One of the most innovative features of the study lies in its ambition to generate an educational impact not only on pupils directly involved in international mobility, but also on the wider school community. The research was structured in three phases, and this paper presents findings from the first phase, which focused on the conceptual background of the project. The main aim of this phase was to identify the theoretical connections between civic education, globalò citizenship and international pupil mobility. The paper adopts a theoretical approach based on desk analysis and offers a critical overview of the principal perspectives on citizenship education, global citizenship education, and international pupil mobility, with particular attention to their educational implications and outcomes. The central argument is that one of the main learning outcomes of international pupil mobility is the development of intercultural competence. This may be understood as a constellation of knowledge, skills, attitudes, and values, including appreciation of cultural diversity, respect for others’ beliefs and worldviews, empathy, flexibility, adaptability, plurilingual competences, and cultural self-awareness. These components are also reflected in the Competences for Democratic Culture developed by the Council of Europe, which are regarded as a foundation for citizenship and civic education. From this perspective, the internationalisation of school education emerges as a promising pathway for rethinking citizenship education in contemporary schooling through an intercultural lens.