ALPHABETICA’s pilot actions put its holistic, participatory approach into practice. Each pilot applies a multi-level, reflexive methodology to explore how arts-based education shapes the experiences of children and young people, involving different participants and stakeholders as co-researchers in co-constructing knowledge and in co-creating experiential arts-based activities in 12 research pilot actions. In the spirit of participatory action research and co-creation, the creative methods adopted for each pilot action are co-decided by the involved participants, with the support and creative reflexivity of participating artists. By combining qualitative and quantitative methods, the pilots create spaces where participants actively contribute to knowledge production through co-creation, dialogue and shared reflection.
These pilot actions are implemented in a variety of settings, including in-school and out-of-school settings, covering also de-schooled youths. Examples of out-of-school settings include urban spaces, learning centres, youth associations, community libraries, and gatherings of young people in places and spaces. The participants are young people aged from pre-school (3 years and above), through primary school (e.g., 5-11 years) and secondary school (e.g., 11-18 years), to young adulthood (around 24 years). Some pilots will also involve adult stakeholders in intergenerational connections with children and young people, as well as other stakeholders such as teachers, youth workers, and cultural mediators, and, above all, policymakers.
Grounded in a common conceptual and methodological framework, the 12 purpose-built pilot actions work together to generate meaningful insights and test innovative practices. This synergy ensures that each pilot informs the others, helping us collectively understand the potential of arts-based education to foster inclusion, well-being and engagement across diverse contexts.
Through these pilot actions, the project researchers seek to examine three different aspects of the impact of art and arts-based education: Three pilot actions pursue the development of practices against educational poverty, four pilot actions examine the transformative effect of art-based education, and three pilot actions co-create solutions to foster civic engagement. Click on the pilot actions below to learn more about them.
