Centre de ressources

Objectives: This study investigates the systemic challenges encountered by nonprofit civil society organizations (CSOs) dedicated to music education and cultural advocacy in Amman, Jordan. From the perspective of institutional administrators, the research identifies the critical factors hindering the achievement of cultural and pedagogical objectives, particularly within marginalized communities and those hosting significant refugee populations. By evaluating these barriers, the study proposes strategic frameworks to enhance organizational resilience and long-term programmatic impact.

Methods: Adopting a mixed-methods research design, this study synthesizes qualitative and quantitative data to provide a holistic evaluation of the nonprofit landscape. Primary qualitative data was obtained through in-depth interviews with senior officials from key organizations, including the Abdul Hameed Shoman Foundation, Tajalla, Action for Hope, the Madrasati Initiative, Caritas Jordan, Ruwwad, and the Jordanian Women’s Union. Quantitative datasets, derived from institutional reports and music program metrics, were analyzed using a sophisticated reconciliation approach to ensure empirical precision and contextual depth.

Results: The findings reveal a complex intersection of social, cultural, and economic obstacles. Key challenges include limited community acceptance of music as a developmental tool, logistical impediments in sustaining instructional sessions, and chronic funding instability. Despite these pressures, the data confirms that music programs significantly bolster students’ cognitive skills and foster social cohesion within displaced and local communities.

Conclusions: The study advocates for a shift toward sustainable partnership models. It concludes that fostering robust local and international alliances is essential for maintaining programmatic continuity amidst shifting socio-economic conditions, ensuring that music remains a viable vehicle for cultural and educational empowerment in Jordan.

Keywords: Challenges, civil society organizations, non-profit, music, partnerships.

There are few thematizations of inclusive education in international comparative research that do not refer directly or indirectly to culture: be it society as a cultural entity, questions of inclusion in schools being embedded in cultural, political and social conditions, or culture being the explicit framing of an overarching regional context. There is a long tradition of raising cultural questions in the discourse on inclusive education. It is surprising, then, that in the discourse and practice of comparative research on inclusive education, culture as a comparative entity has so far rarely been explicitly picked up on as a methodological issue. Moreover, questions of using and dealing with categories (e.g. dis/ability) against the background of cultural differences and commonalities have received little attention.
METHODS: In this article, we take this as an opportunity to explore methodological challenges in cross-cultural comparison. By mapping different understandings of culture, we describe cross-cultural comparison as a methodological approach. This aims to elaborate on ambivalences in cross-cultural comparison in the field of inclusive education. To illustrate these, we present examples from an exploratory scoping review of how culture is articulated in inclusion-related journals, before offering considerations for methodological approaches in cross-cultural inclusion research.
RESULTS: Based on an analytical grid, certain formations of how culture is articulated in relation to inclusive education could be identified: (a) culture as a national reference; (b) culture as a cultural-historical process and practice; (c) culture as a group; (d) culture as a system of production and representation.
CONCLUSION: With regards to the presented formations, it is noticeable that national references remain an important and yet rather static entity of comparison, despite inclusion/exclusion being a complex and dynamic phenomenon. Furthermore, disabilities play a specific role within the discourse on inclusive education in cultural comparison.

Within the framework of current educational policies on citizenship education, which promote the appraisal of the local dimension of educational activities as a direct context for the development of situated citizenship practices (AR, 2018), this article examines community-based approaches to citizenship education in rural schools and communities located in the border regions of mainland Portugal. From a theoretical perspective, the study adopts a maximalist conception of citizenship education, emphasising its experiential nature and community orientation, and draws on place-based education approaches. These perspectives place local realities, collective action, and the involvement of community actors at the centre of citizenship formation. Methodologically, we use data from a mixed-methods study conducted in 29 schools, including documentary analysis of schools’ educational projects, activity programmes and citizenship education strategies, semi-structured interviews with teachers coordinating citizenship education, and a questionnaire survey distributed to secondary education students. The results reveal a variety of initiatives and areas of community engagement led by schools, aimed at promoting well-being and valuing local cultures and realities. At the same time, the study identifies the different roles played by community actors – including schools, stakeholders, and young people – in fostering community well-being and social cohesion.

Place as a microcosm: Community-based citizenship education approaches among schools and rural low-density communities
DA SILVA, Nicolas; Marques da Silva, Sofia
2026 • In Educar, 62 (1), p. 131-147

Keywords : citizenship education; place-based education; community participation; rural schools; students

Funders :
Foundation for Science and Technology
Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia
Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia
European Regional Development Fund
European Regional Development Fund

This published article explores the deep-seated historical, political, and conceptual entanglements between Europe and North Africa by highlighting how European imperial expansion—beginning with the conquest of Algiers in 1830 and culminating in the establishment of the Moroccan Protectorate in 1911—transformed the Maghreb into a colonial periphery subsequently incorporated into a Europe-dominated capitalist system. These interventions dismantled Ottoman influence, restructured religious hierarchies, and introduced settler colonialism, resulting in material dispossession, cultural transformation, and enduring legacies that continue to shape postcolonial North African states. Consequently, nation-state models in the region remain profoundly influenced by colonial structures. This deep historical imprint on modern North Africa raises critical questions about the extent to which these states have truly undergone decolonization.

Using the city of Marseille as a case study, the discussion further examines how colonial expansion reshaped Europe itself. Marseille evolved from a regional port into a central hub of empire, experiencing economic modernization, demographic transformation, and shifting identities—from the “Gateway to the Orient” to a contested site associated with globalization and crime. These dynamics demonstrate how imperial networks reconfigured urban, social, and political structures on both shores of the Mediterranean.
At a conceptual level, the dialogue traces the imperial origins of Mediterranean studies, showing how notions of Mediterranean unity were shaped by European archaeology, colonial ideology, and competing nationalist projects. While the Mediterranean framework can serve as a valuable analytical tool for understanding historical and contemporary entanglements, it must be applied critically to avoid reproducing Eurocentric or imperial narratives.

Finally, the conversation emphasizes a nuanced historiography, arguing that neither colonialism nor postcolonial nationalism should be treated as monolithic. It underscores the importance of fostering interdisciplinary dialogue, linguistic inclusivity, and comparative maritime perspectives in order to situate the Mediterranean within broader global contexts.

Contemporary democratic societies are facing numerous social, economic, and political challenges, two of which are particularly significant for their future socio-political and economic development. On the one hand, contemporary societies are undergoing rapid demographic changes, most notably an aging population and a decline in the number of young people. Such demographic trends lead to a shortage of qualified labor, especially in specific trades and professions. As a potential response, many societies are seeking to equip young people in vocational education with the skills needed to enter the labor market as quickly as possible, often by encouraging them to spend part of their schooling in workplace settings. However, with this approach, general educational content, including civic education, is increasingly marginalized in vocational schools.

The marginalization of civic education in vocational schools is occurring precisely at a time when contemporary societies are facing another major challenge: the rise of extreme political options, particularly rightwing populist movements, which question core values of liberal democracy. There is a growing concern that young people with lower levels of education are more likely to vote for such political options, and even more worryingly, they may adopt attitudes that reject liberal democracy as a political system.

In this paper, while acknowledging and building upon the insights from the first study, the perspective is somewhat shifted. While it builds on the findings of some earlier comparative research, this study aims to offer a more in-depth insight into national systems. Therefore, the analysis is limited to three countries: Croatia, Romania, and Thuringia (Germany). The primary objective of this study is to gain a deeper understanding of how civic education is implemented in these countries and to identify the key challenges associated with its delivery in vocational schools.

In collaboration with Mirovni Inštitut, University of Ljubljana and Novosadska novinarska škola, Centre for Peace Studies developed the manual for teachers: Preventing Hate Speech Online.The publication is developed with the idea to support secondary school teachers and school staff to better understand the phenomenon of hate speech and hate speech online, to become familiar with crucial terms, definitions and legislation in order to address this growing phenomenon with students, colleagues and parents. It is also equipped with developed teaching units, school projects and ideas to be further developed and implement in classrooms and schools, thanks to all teachers who helped with their feedback and participation.
This publication was produced through the project SEE Beyond Hate: Learning and Acting to Counter Hate Speech Online in South East Europe with the financial support of the European Union.
The goal of this publication is to:
- Inform teachers about key international and national legislation regarding hate speech online,
- Help teachers recognize key actors dealing with hate speech in their countries and recall their specific expertise (specific social networks, Ombudsperson, CSOs, police)
- Recognize hate speech as discriminatory speech and as potential basis for hate crime
- Deconstruct hate speech and distinguish fake news
- Identify and recognize media, social groups and channels which are spreading hate speech online
- Help them to analyse and interpret the imbalance of power related to hate speech
- Empower teachers to react on hate speech and encourage other colleagues and students to react
- Formulate and to plan activities for preventing and solving emerging hate speech in their
classroom and school

There are no youth policies without youth participation. This sentence may sound like a cliché, but for us – youth organizations, youth workers and all those who work for and with young people – it is a fundamental compass. When young people are not included in discussions that affect them, policies are created that do not recognize real needs. Participation is not a luxury or an add-on – it is a basic right and a necessary prerequisite for good decision-making. Despite all the available tools and declarative support for participation, young people are still too often only present symbolically – as “voices” that are listened to but not heard. From school boards and student bodies, to youth councils and national consultations, real decision-making power is rarely in their hands. However, this is not a reason to give up – but a call to action. That is why we have created this handbook. It is a tool, a guide and support for everyone who wants to use advocacy for positive change – whether it is to change a school decision, a local rulebook, a national law or a European policy. There are no "too big" or "too small" topics - every step towards greater involvement of young people is valuable.
The manual is intended primarily for youth organizations and for young people, as well as anyone who work with young people, from local initiatives to national networks. It is also useful for those who just getting into advocacy work, and for the more experienced who want to improve their methods.

This study examined the relationship between school belonging and mental health among adolescents with different migration backgrounds in Finland. The article is important, as the first aim was to investigate whether there are differences in perceived school belonging between Finnish-born youth, labor migrants, and refugee-background youth. The second aim was to explore how school belonging is associated with internalizing symptoms, externalizing symptoms, prosocial behavior, and resilience. The third aim was to determine whether these associations differ depending on migration background. The study utilized cross-sectional survey data collected in autumn 2019 as part of the Psychosocial Support for Immigrant Youth in School Intervention Research Project (n = 1,981). Results indicated no significant differences in perceived school belonging between Finnish-born adolescents, labor migrant youth, and refugee-background youth. Stronger school belonging was significantly associated with lower levels of internalizing and externalizing symptoms, and higher levels of prosocial behavior and resilience. These associations remained significant after controlling gender, age, and time of response. Migration background did not significantly moderate the associations between school belonging and mental health outcomes. However, the interaction between refugee background and school belonging was close to statistical significance for resilience, suggesting that belonging may be particularly important for resilience among refugee youth. This pattern underscores how school environments can play a stabilizing role for young people navigating different cultural or migratory experiences. Overall, the findings highlight the central role of school belonging in supporting adolescent mental health, regardless of migration background. Strengthening students’ sense of belonging at school may serve as a key target for universal and preventive mental health interventions.

This study examines the cost-effectiveness of policy interventions aimed at integrating digital tools into education in Germany, with a focus on the interplay between technical infrastructure, teacher training, and socioeconomic factors. Despite significant investments in technology for schools, the intended outcomes remain largely unmet due to insufficient infrastructure, inadequate training, and fragmented policy execution. Disparities in digital resources, particularly in rural and socio-economically disadvantaged areas, exacerbate inequalities in access to digital education. Key findings suggest that the successful integration of digital tools necessitates addressing both technical and pedagogical aspects. Studies highlight that the availability of devices alone is insufficient; teachers’ instructional practices, attitudes towards technology, and the broader school ecosystem – encompassing leadership, infrastructure, and community support – are crucial determinants of success. Socio-economic disparities further impact the effectiveness of interventions, with vulnerable student populations facing heightened barriers to participation.,

The integration of digital tools in education in Germany underscores the importance of addressing multiple interconnected challenges to achieve effective and equitable outcomes. While substantial investments have been made to improve digital infrastructure and equip schools with technology, the results indicate that significant gaps remain. These gaps stem from insufficient teacher training, inadequate infrastructure, and a lack of strategic coordination in policy implementation. Furthermore, socio-economic disparities, particularly in rural and economically disadvantaged regions, continue to impede access to quality digital education, highlighting the urgent need for targeted interventions.
Effective teacher training must address not only the technical aspects of digital tools but also their pedagogical integration, ensuring that educators are well-prepared to foster engaging and inclusive learning environments.