Conference Program

Accessing information has never been easier than it is nowadays (Wineburg & McGrew, 2016). However, accessing the tools to critically evaluate and analyze information is not as simple. Never before have young students been so exposed to misinformation, fake news, subtle and captivating reporting, and misleading news. Constantly bombarded by rushed and often conflicting news, it is difficult to independently develop the skills needed for informed and critical reading. But schools and education can contrast this phenomenon: subjects such as mathematics and computer science can be used as training to recreate new mental habits (Carrisi et al., 2025) in the democratic citizens of the future. For this reason, we felt it was essential to develop an educational kit for primary and lower secondary schools in data literacy (Wolff et al., 2016). The kit was developed within the broader framework of the Scuola di Cittadinanza Europea, a civic education platform created by the Fondazione Giangiacomo Feltrinelli to support civic education pathways in secondary schools. The project aims to be a large space of knowledge and participatory teaching, as well as a pathway of awareness and reflection on contemporary challenges, grounded in the growing conviction that education is one of the most relevant factors in improving quality of life in contemporary society. The kit offers an 8-hour modular pathway in data literacy structured around five key steps: understanding what data are, distinguishing data from information, collecting data, reading data, and representing data. Through historical case studies (from the Lebombo bone to Florence Nightingale’s polar diagram and early computers), hands-on laboratories (building an Inca quipu), real-world data collection tasks, and guided analysis of media articles and graphs, students are progressively trained to question sources, recognise bias, interpret statistical representations and reflect on how data can shape narratives. By combining mathematical tools such as statistics, probability, data classification and graphical representation with activities in history, language and technology, the kit promotes an integrated and inquiry-based approach to learning. Seven years after the launch of the broader project, a research process was conducted to evaluate and update both the data literacy kit and the pedagogical methodologies underpinning the entire Scuola di Cittadinanza Europea initiative, with the aim of providing teachers with more flexible and inclusive materials, suited to an increasingly diverse student population. Through teacher feedback, classroom experimentation, and revision of instructional materials, the project refined its didactic strategies and updated guidance resources in response to evolving media environments and educational transformations. Enabling students to independently assess the information they encounter daily becomes a powerful tool in fostering critical news literacy, with the ultimate goal of training active, informed, and reflective European citizens.