ANNUAL CONGRESS 2025

Educational Poverty and Experiential Education to Empower Youth in the Community Planning Process

Not scheduled

20m

Yildiz Technical University, Istanbul

Oral Track 07 | INCLUSION

Speaker

Mrs Stefania Crobe (University of Palermo)

Description

A recent study conducted by ‘Save the Children’ identifies the scarcity of childcare services and the inadequate quality of educational offerings as the main causes of educational poverty, emphasizing how this phenomenon is closely linked to the level of material poverty in which families live.
This issue is particularly evident in Palermo (Sicily, Italy), where disparities are especially pronounced. Like many Southern European cities, Palermo sits at the intersection of globalization and deeply rooted inequalities. Here, uneven access to educational and social opportunities significantly shapes young people's futures. In 2019, 22.4% of young Sicilians left school without obtaining a diploma or professional qualification—nearly 10 percentage points above the national average, even before the exacerbating effects of the pandemic (Osservatorio #conibambini).
Starting from these premises, this contribution explores how experiential education and Learning by Experience (Smith & Knapp, 2011) workshops, using embodied and visual methods, can foster critical spatial thinking (Dewey, 1958, 2004; Bleazby, 2012; Sandercock, 2002) among youth, transforming them from passive participants into active agents of urban and social change.
By examining the ongoing case of the Comunità Educante (Educating Community) in the Capo neighborhood—an area precariously balanced between degradation and touristification—we investigate how diverse actors, including associations, a theater, a library, a school, and the university, collaborate to combat educational poverty and early school leaving. Their efforts aim to establish a permanent educational hub and co-design a shared patto educativo (educational pact) for local youth, actively involving families in the process.
In this ongoing initiative, which merges radical pedagogy, participatory action research, and community planning, experiential education serves as a methodology for constructing knowledge, developing skills, and clarifying values by engaging learners in direct experiences and structured reflection. Utilizing experience-based learning and creative methods in urban research and planning not only enhances participation and engagement but also amplifies marginalized voices often excluded from decision-making processes. Furthermore, by integrating non-formal, sensory-driven experiences into spatial exploration, this approach strengthens cognitive, socio-emotional, and multisensory skills, ultimately stimulating new ways of perceiving, imagining, and shaping more just and inclusive cities. The results achieved so far contribute to the development of a collaborative methodology that deconstruct participatory knowledge processes concerning urban space, fosters critical subjectivity, and strengthens relational ties.
Education emerges as a vital and irreplaceable catalyst for social change and community empowerment, serving as a vehicle for envisioning future urban and social transformations within the neighborhood and beyond.

References

Bleazby, J. B. 2012. “Dewey’s Notion of Imagination in Philosophy for Children.” Education and Culture 28(2): 95–111.
Dewey, J. (1958). Art as experience. New York: Capricorn Books.
Dewey, J. (2004). Democracy and education. New York: Dover Publications.
Sandercock, L. (2002). “Practicing Utopia: Sustaining Cities.” disP - The Planning Review, 38:148, 4-9, DOI: 10.1080/02513625.2002.10556791
Smith .., Knapp C.E. (2011). Sourcebook of Experiential Education. Key Th inkers and Th eir Contributions, New York: Routledge.