Conference Program

Within the framework of its Academic Freedom in Action project, the Council of Europe has expressed the ambition to “protect and promote the values of academic freedom, ensuring that higher education remains a stronghold of democracy and critical thinking.” From this perspective, the mission of universities can no longer be limited to the production and transmission of knowledge; it also includes the development, among both staff and students, of critical skills enabling them to assess the validity of arguments and information.

However, these critical skills do not appear to be evenly distributed across academic disciplines. A survey published by the Jean Jaurès Foundation in 2023 (Kraus & al. 2023) shows that adherence to misinformation varies according to students’ field of study: students in Health and Law appear more likely to endorse false information than those enrolled in the Social Sciences and Humanities or in the Arts. Based on this observation, we formulate the general hypothesis that disciplinary affiliations shape differentiated relationships to knowledge, which are more or less conducive to the development of critical thinking skills.

This raises the question of which dimensions are actually decisive in explaining adherence to or resistance against misinformation. Do these variations stem from students’ ways of learning, with a more instrumental relationship to knowledge being, for instance, less conducive to the development of reflexivity? Is rote learning necessarily associated with weaker critical capacities, or should greater attention be paid to modes of assessment, which may impose particular relationships to knowledge (Abrami & al, 2015) ? Do they relate to the degree of consensus within disciplines regarding what counts as legitimate knowledge to be taught, potentially limiting the questioning of highly stabilised forms of knowledge (Millet, 2003 ; David, 2024) ? Do they depend on the place given to epistemology within disciplinary curricula (Bernstein, 1971 ; Young, 1971 ; Forquin, 2008 ; Shay, 2016) or on the specific histories of disciplines and the additional efforts some have had to make in order to establish themselves as sciences ? Finally, what role do major sociological variables such as gender and social background play in these processes?

Drawing on a questionnaire survey conducted with 2,000 students at the University of Nantes, aimed at measuring their degree of adherence to misinformation and collecting data on their ways of learning and accessing information, as well as twelve collective interviews carried out with students grouped by discipline focusing on their relationships to their field of study and to the knowledge transmitted within it, this paper analyses the factors most likely to influence adherence to or resistance against misinformation. Based on these findings, it outlines possible avenues for action to strengthen the development of critical thinking skills in the university of tomorrow.

This paper explores whether and how Philosophy for Children can function as a tool for the professional development of early childhood and primary school teachers through a structured training programme and the subsequent implementation of the approach in classroom practice. The study is framed within a pragmatist and dialogic conception of education (Barak, 2024; Biesta, 1995; Freire, 1970 Kazepides, 2012), according to which schooling is a space for shared inquiry and for the cultivation of democratic dispositions. Drawing on Dewey’s theory of experience and community (1902; 1938), on the Philosophy for Children tradition (Lipman, 1991; 2010), and on the notion of professional habitus as a system of embodied dispositions orienting practice (Feldman, 2016; Nairz-Wirth & Feldmann, 2019), the project assumes that introducing community of philosophical inquiry may generate transformations not only at the level of techniques, but in teachers’ epistemic and relational stance.

The research focuses on the following questions:

• Does participation in a structured Philosophy for Children training programme modify teachers’ conceptions of knowledge, learning and teaching?
• How does the implementation of regular philosophical inquiry sessions affect their professional posture, particularly in relation to dialogue and classroom authority?
• Are changes observable in questioning practices and in attention to the relational dimension of teaching?

Fourteen in-service teachers participated in the project: ten from primary schools (ages 6–11) and four from early childhood settings (ages 3–6). The training consisted of 25 hours combining theoretical input on the epistemological and pedagogical foundations of Philosophy for Children with experiential workshops based on the community of inquiry model. Teachers then implemented fortnightly community of philosophical inquiry sessions in their classes over a six-month period.

A qualitative, longitudinal design (Lichtman, 2010 Walford, 2001) was adopted. Data were collected through these tools:

• an initial written open-ended interview exploring beliefs about teaching, learning and dialogue;
• participant observation during selected training meetings and classroom sessions, documented through field notes;
• in-depth semi-structured interviews conducted at the end of the implementation phase.

Data were analysed through thematic coding (Braun & Clarke, 2022), integrating inductive procedures with analytic categories derived from the theoretical framework. Triangulation across sources (Ma & Norwich, 2007; Oliver-Hoyo & Allen, 2006) supported the credibility of interpretations.

Preliminary results indicate a shift from a predominantly instructional and outcome-oriented stance towards a more dialogic and inquiry-based posture. Teachers report greater awareness of the relational dimension of their role and of the ethical responsibility involved in facilitating dialogue. Observations confirm an increased use of open, generative questions, a reduction of evaluative interventions, and a broader distribution of speaking turns. Participants describe a progressive decentring of the teacher’s epistemic authority and a stronger focus on listening and on building on pupils’ contributions.

These findings suggest that sustained engagement with Philosophy for Children can affect teachers’ professional habitus, particularly in relation to questioning practices and relational attention. The study highlights the relevance of long-term, practice-based training in promoting pedagogical transformations aligned with democratic and dialogic aims, while acknowledging the exploratory nature and limited scale of the research.

In line with the need to promote democratic skills and sound critical thinking (Dewey, 1916; European Commission JRC, 2020), this paper presents an innovative experience carried out as part of the Pathways for Transversal Skills and Orientation (PCTO) in a fourth-year class at a vocational institute for health and social care. As part of an initiative aimed at promoting the recognition of children's thinking skills among secondary school students, the intervention utilised the Philosophy for Children (P4C) methodology (Lipman, 2003) with a twofold objective: to develop adolescents' critical thinking through philosophical inquiry and to equip them with the relational skills necessary to operate in primary school contexts.

In the first phase, the students participated in four P4C sessions, through which they began to build a community of inquiry and experienced first-hand how a P4C session functions. Initially, in agreement with the class teachers, it was assumed that this phase would provide the adolescents with sufficient foundational knowledge to attempt to act as facilitators in the primary school class, supported by the teacher. This initial objective proved to be overly ambitious; consequently, in reshaping the proposal, the focus was recalibrated towards the acquisition of skills for structured observation (Cohen, Manion, Morrison, 2017). Students were subsequently provided with a 'Discussion Checklist' (Heesen, 2002), a tool designed to assess children's behaviour and the quality of dialogue.

The second phase of the project involved two P4C sessions in a fifth-year primary school class, led by an external expert acting as the facilitator, with the direct involvement of a small group of adolescents: each session included two co-facilitators and four observers.

The debriefing phase (the third phase), structured in two parts, was crucial for reflecting upon democratic attitude. The first part, reserved for the operational group, brought out significant reflections on the complexity of active listening and the challenge of 'suspending judgement'. In particular, the adolescents experienced the difficulty of listening to children without feeling the urge to intervene to correct them, provide the 'right answer', or impose an adult perspective on thoughts that sometimes manifest as unpredictable (Kohan, 2006). This constitutes a fundamental democratic discovery: learning to tolerate differing opinions and allowing others to construct their own thoughts. The students recounted their surprise at witnessing the depth of the children's reasoning, effectively dismantling age-related prejudices and recognising the dignity of every voice—a core pillar of democracy.

The second part of the debriefing involved the entire class and took the form of a P4C meta-session. Starting with the sharing of data collected by the observers and the impressions of the co-facilitators, the class philosophically explored the role of the facilitator and the importance of respecting the ideas of all session participants (Kennedy, 2004).

The experience demonstrates how the integration of philosophical practice, observational responsibility, and shared meta-reflection can transform the PCTO into a genuine learning environment that cultivates democracy. Collaboration towards a common goal and the shared analysis of practices have enabled students to develop the skills required to face the challenges of contemporary society with democratic openness.

This work presents the key aspects of an innovative educational approach developed within the project “The Magic of Knowledge: The Night of the Little Explorers”. The project was conceived in 2025 by a group of researchers from the University of Palermo (Italy) with the aim of combining experiential learning with the principles of embodied cognition in order to promote dynamic, multisensory, and participatory forms of knowledge construction in primary education. The initiative was first implemented in June 2025 at the “Ignazio Buttitta” Comprehensive School in Bagheria (Palermo, Italy). During this event, local educational communities, primary school students, and families were actively involved. The project formed part of a broader university Third Mission research program aimed at experimenting with innovative educational models capable of integrating scientific learning, bodily experience, and community participation. The theoretical framework of the project was grounded in embodied learning, which emphasizes the deep connection between cognitive processes and bodily, perceptual, and relational dimensions of experience (Barsalou, 2008; Wilson, 2002). Within this perspective, the school is reinterpreted not only as a place of knowledge transmission but also as a relational and cultural environment capable of activating immersive learning experiences in which knowledge emerges from the interaction between body, environment, and social context. The project proposed a symbolic and pedagogical transformation of the school into an “archipelago of knowledge”, composed of five thematic experiential spaces that children could explore through circular and multimodal learning pathways. These spaces included “Senti-Menti”, dedicated to sensory and emotional exploration; “Debug”, focused on logical and computational thinking through unplugged coding activities; “Tutti Suonati”, a collaborative music laboratory centered on rhythm and collective sound experiences; “Young Scientists”, an inquiry-based environment devoted to observation and experimentation; and “Body to Body”, a space designed to promote learning through movement, imitation, and relational interaction. Within this experiential structure, knowledge was not transmitted passively but co-constructed through embodied experiences, social interaction, and sensory engagement that simultaneously activated cognitive, emotional, and relational dimensions. A distinctive element of the project was the active involvement of families, who participated in preparatory training sessions and engaged in the activities together with their children, strengthening the connection between school, university, and the local community. Following the initial implementation, the project was replicated in a more structured research format that introduced systematic observation tools aimed at collecting data on children’s cognitive, emotional, and social behaviors during the activities. This research-oriented development reinforces the scientific dimension of the intervention and supports its potential replicability in other educational contexts.

This contribution reflects on Service Learning (SL) as an educational approach capable of fostering democratic competences and critical thinking in schools, in response to the profound social, cultural, and technological transformations affecting contemporary democracies. Drawing on the Deweyan idea of school as an environment of and for democracy (Dewey, 1916), the paper argues that SL represents a pedagogical framework able to integrate meaningful learning, civic participation, and the co-construction of knowledge (Eyler & Giles, 1999; Furco, 1996).

In a context marked by the crisis of democratic practices, the polarization of public discourse, and forms of onlife existence increasingly mediated by digital platforms and artificial intelligence systems (Floridi, 2015, 2025), it has become urgent to develop students’ capacity to critically interrogate information, relationships, collective needs, and decision-making processes. Schools are therefore called upon to support the development of democratic competences and critical thinking skills that enable young people to participate responsibly in public life. This need is consistent with European educational frameworks that recognize the central role of schools in preparing active, responsible, and participatory citizens (Council of Europe, 2018; Sala et al., 2020).

Within this perspective, SL (Furco, 1996; Tapia, 2006; Orlandini et al., 2020) can be understood as a curricular and interdisciplinary approach in which teachers, students, and community stakeholders co-design learning pathways aimed at addressing real social issues. Local authorities, associations, cultural institutions, and third-sector organizations may all be involved in these processes, strengthening the relationship between school and community. The methodological core of SL lies in the integration of participatory inquiry, experiential learning, cooperative work, and structured moments of reflection (Bringle & Hatcher, 1995; Dewey, 1938). Students are engaged in analysing a community problem, defining shared goals, and implementing service actions with a tangible impact.

In this perspective, the “service” component is not conceived as occasional volunteering but as an intentional, curricular, and reflective practice that connects disciplinary knowledge with social responsibility and students’ agency (Mitchell, 2008). Particular attention is therefore devoted to the teaching conditions that enable SL to support student-centred pedagogies. Through these practices, the classroom becomes a deliberative space where students learn to negotiate meanings, make reasoned decisions, and evaluate the consequences of their choices (Westheimer & Kahne, 2004).

Finally, the paper discusses possible assessment criteria and tools consistent with the transformative nature of SL. These include democratic competence rubrics, reflective journals, systematic observations, self- and peer-assessment practices, and evidence of impact on the local context. Previous research highlights positive effects of SL on student engagement, academic achievement, and socio-civic development (Billig, 2000; Celio et al., 2011).

The aim of the contribution is to show that curricular innovation does not simply consist in adopting active methodologies, but in building educational ecologies where learning means participating responsibly in shared civic life. The presentation will also include examples of SL projects implemented in Italian primary and secondary schools, highlighting enabling factors and critical issues, such as time management, the construction of local partnerships, and organizational sustainability, and offering insights into the transferability of this approach to other educational contexts.