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Service-learning (SL) activities provide multifarious benefits for students, faculty members, and community members. Although the literature includes considerable research on students' and faculty members' outcomes, it also reports a lack of attention to benefits for community members. This study sought to address this gap, giving voice to community partners of a SL module in Community Psychology. We collected 12 interviews, complemented by a brief questionnaire exploring community partners' understanding of SL, their perception of the mutual gain and reciprocity aspects, their motivations, and their challenges. Results show that open attitudes toward collaboration from faculty members strengthen the partnership; community partners consider the opportunity to be coeducators of students as a motivation for their SL involvement; from the perspective of reciprocity, they also particularly appreciate its generative dimension. Giving voice to community partners offers new and useful insights that can contribute to improving SL community--university partnerships.

The aim of this study was to assess the quality of the processes of a Youth-led Participatory Action Research (YPAR) citizenship education project by examining a 2-year intervention that involved 43 Italian high school students. We collected qualitative data (focus groups with students and interviews with teachers) to capture participants' perspectives, as well as longitudinal quantitative data to monitor the process over time (assessing school climate, perceived quality of participation, and group participation norms). The results revealed that YPAR was successful in reducing hierarchy, facilitating group activities, and recognizing youth voice, thus changing students' perception of their school environment and views on participation and active citizenship. The intervention also changed teachers' perceptions of students. YPAR proved to be a suitable option for citizenship education in school.

The COVID-19 pandemic caused abrupt and profound changes to teaching and learning. The present study seeks to understand adolescents' experiences of the emergency adoption of online school learning (OSL) during the first national lockdown in Italy. Sixty-four students in their final two years of high school were interviewed and content analysis was performed. The findings describe students' views of the changes related to OSL according to structural, individual and relational dimensions. Schools' lack of organization, overwhelming demands, as well as experience of difficulties in concentration, stress and inhibited relationships with teachers and classmates were among the challenges evidenced in the transition. OSL, however, has also made it possible to experience a new flexibility and autonomy in the organization of learning. The study stresses the importance of fostering adaptation of teacher-student relationships and collaborative learning in order to improve schools' preparedness for digital transitions in and out of emergencies., Author(s): Iana Tzankova [sup.1] , Christian Compare [sup.1] , Daniela Marzana [sup.2] [sup.3] , Antonella Guarino [sup.1] , Immacolata Di Napoli [sup.4] , Alessia Rochira [sup.5] , Emanuela Calandri [sup.6] [...]

Purpose: In this article we investigated how the Italian school curricula incorporated European and national recommendations concerning European and Citizenship education, analysing how much and which kind of space is devoted to Europe and active citizenship in Italian high school textbooks. Design/methodology/approach: We selected a sample of bestseller textbooks of different disciplines (History and English as a Second Language) for secondary (lyceum and technical) school students (18 years old), including books explicitly designed for citizenship education, and analysed them using a mixed methods approach (quantitative analysis, and thematic content analysis). Findings: We argue that the current European recommendations on citizenship education are far from being incorporated in the architecture and the contents of textbooks used in Italian secondary schools. We identified some shortcomings which should be addressed to increase the capacity of textbooks to form young European citizen. Practical implications: The opportunities that the EU offers to young people to practice active citizenship and supporting the acquisition of critical and reflective skills beyond formal knowledge deserve more attention.

Youth-led participatory action research (YPAR) is a theoretical-methodological approach that has been designed to promote positive development (e.g., well-being and health, social-emotional and cognitive development, academic or career advancement) and civic engagement among young people. Although YPAR holds particular promise, there has been little systematic assessment of its effects. Moreover, no study has investigated the role of YPAR in the promotion of active citizenship. We report on an effectiveness evaluation of a YPAR project designed to promote European active citizenship (i.e., identification and attitudes toward a political entity, institutional trust, participation, and political alienation) and social well-being among adolescents. Our sample included 69 Italian high school students (35 in the intervention group; 34 in the control group). We evaluated the impact of YPAR using a pretest-posttest control group design and fitting the generalized estimating equations procedure. The results showed that participants in the intervention group reported increased scores on social well-being, institutional trust, and participation and decreased scores on political alienation compared with the control group. We found no significant effects for identification as European and attitudes toward a political entity. Findings support the benefits of YPAR in terms of social well-being and active citizenship.

Service-learning (SL) has gained global popularity for promoting students' civic engagement and democratic and pluralistic values and impacting faculty and communities. It relies on foundational pillars (the 4 Rs): respect, reciprocity, relevance, and reflexivity. While the drivers of faculty motivation have received attention from researchers, a gap remains in understanding what sustains their motivation and engagement over time. This study aims to address this gap by exploring the perspectives of a group of European scholars through the lens of Self-Determination Theory. A hybrid thematic analysis was employed to analyze the 22 semi-structured interviews collected in 14 European countries. The findings reveal that SL exerts a transformative influence on the community, students, faculty, and higher education institutions, nurturing a heightened sense of competence among faculty members. Institutionalization is a pivotal factor in sustaining and rewarding engaged faculty scholarship, enabling autonomy in academic roles, and aligning personal values with institutional endeavors. Finally, the community experience within SL fosters positive connections with colleagues and communities at local, national, and international levels. As a result, this study introduces a fifth foundational pillar, extending the existing 4 Rs model: relatedness. Future research directions and implications are proposed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

School sense of community has been associated with lower levels of students' aggressive behaviors. The main aim of the study was to examine whether the magnitude of the influence of school sense of community on students' aggressive behavior is similar or different across schools with different levels of aggressive behaviors. Participants were 1,800 Italian students attending 44 middle and high schools. Using multilevel modeling (a random intercepts and slopes model), we found that the magnitude of the negative relationship between sense of community in the school and students' aggressive behaviors was stronger in schools with high levels of aggressive behavior.

The community concept underwent a series of adaptations and integrations throughout the decades. One of these transitions was supported by the rise of virtual communities, especially social network sites (SNSs). These platforms are recognized to serve as spaces for marginalized groups like transgender and gender diverse (TGD) individuals to create safe and inclusive communities for self‐expression and activism. To investigate how TGD activists engage with SNS, 21 activists were interviewed, exploring challenges, potentials and perceptions. Reflexive thematic analysis revealed that participants perceive SNS in line with the community experience framework, viewing them as resources for accessing information, providing support and fostering belonging and investment, and as acts of responsibility aimed at nurturing reciprocity, sense of duty and social justice advocacy. However, SNS also proved to expose activists to vulnerability within the TGD community itself, where a hierarchy that marginalizes TGD identities with transnormative experiences is often reproduced. Additionally, SNS anonymity offers a safer environment for TGD individuals to come out but protects hate speech perpetrators. Thus, while pivotal in TGD activism and community building, the dual nature of SNS underscores the complexities of virtual spaces. Finally, the study calls for redefining the concept of community beyond the virtual–physical dichotomy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

By using a panel design in a sample of 298 undergraduate/master students at an Italian public university, the present study aimed to test longitudinally the interplay among environmental attitudes, pro-environmental behavior, social identity, and pro-environmental institutional climate. The relationships were tested with cross-lagged analysis based on two waves over a 2-month period. The cross-lagged panel analysis revealed positive cross-lagged effects of social identity on environmental attitudes and pro-environmental institutional climate perceptions on social identity. Environmental attitudes and social identity at Time 1 did not predict Time 2 pro-environmental behavior. Pro-environmental behavior at Time 1 did not predict Time 2 environmental attitudes. Pro-environmental institutional climate perceptions at Time 1 did not predict Time 2 pro-environmental behavior. Finally, social identity at Time 1 did not predict Time 2 pro-environmental institutional climate perceptions.

Democratic school climate, critical reflection, and student participation at school have been linked to the development of civic and political attitudes. The study aims to identify the contribution of these characteristics to the development of civic and political attitudes and their impact on students' participation (civic, political, activist, and lifestyle/online). Questionnaire data were collected in two waves with 1589 students from four European countries (Italy, Sweden, Germany, and the Czech Republic). Structural equation modelling tested the effects of school characteristics on different types of participation, mediated by institutional trust, political efficacy, and political interest. The results highlight the importance of opportunities for active involvement and critical reflection in fostering interest, efficacy, and all forms of participation activities. Democratic school climate was found to positively impact institutional trust and efficacy, but not participation. The findings highlight the need for a school environment that invites critical reflection and gives value to students' participation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

By integrating a learning experience with community organizations, service-learning (SL) can be considered a tool to facilitate rural communities' development, acting as a resource mobilizer. This study presents a participatory process based on the assets-based approach for community development approach. Six local organizations and 16 university students in three Italian rural communities were engaged to assess local resources and co-construct rural SL (RSL) projects. A two-phase rural participative process was developed and evaluated using qualitative instruments, such as focus groups and students' reflexive journals. Results indicated that rural communities uncovered a set of material and intangible inner assets to develop. Indeed, they identified internal (and potentially external) resources that could effectively bring some insights to rural challenges. Moreover, community members experienced new paths through SL to count on their internal assets through effective collaboration with university students. The collaboration between students (and university) and community organizations delivered new local and rural development opportunities while supporting the partnership for RSL. Students experienced themselves as potential agents of change, enhancing their psychosocial resources and competencies, and strengthening rural development. The result's implications involve the development of rural policies, including effective participation of rural communities (and organizations) and regarding different dimensions of development, like economic or psychosocial development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]