In today's socio-economic and political climate, it is crucial for students to actively shape their world rather than be shaped by it. To achieve this, we sought to enhance teachers' pedagogical skills, enabling them to better facilitate discussions on active and responsible citizenship. Addressing the inadequacies in professional development schemes, limited teaching time, and lack of resources was essential to making citizenship education a core focus in schools. We raised awareness about the importance of promoting active and responsible citizenship education through dialogue and argumentation. Secondly, we aimed to build the pedagogic competencies of teachers in this area, providing them with the skills and resources needed to teach these concepts effectively. Thirdly, we developed hands-on resources for teachers to improve students' critical thinking and decision-making skills, enabling them to participate in democratic discussions. Lastly, we supported teachers in reflecting on their practices through a vCoP, fostering a collaborative environment for continuous professional development.
This project addresses the urgent need for students to become active citizens capable of making informed decisions with moral and ethical implications. In today's socio-economic and political climate dialogue and argumentation skills are crucial to engage in productive discussions. However, the inadequacy of teachers' professional development, lack of adequate resources and support make it challenging to emphasize citizenship education. Teachers struggle to coordinate discussions around social, moral, and ethical issues, which introduce uncertainty and make it difficult to guide student learning. ACT-DI-V was initiated to address this gap by enhancing teachers' pedagogical competencies. It helped them transform their teaching practices to better facilitate discussions on active and responsible citizenship. ACT-DI-V raised awareness about the importance of promoting active and responsible citizenship education through dialogue and argumentation. It built teachers' pedagogical competencies in this area, developed hands-on resources to improve students' critical thinking and decision-making skills for democratic participation, and supported teachers in reflecting on their practices through virtual communities of practice.