Cultural encounters as resources for social cohesion and language and literacy learning

This project (CERCLE) sets out from the challenge of understanding, from both interpretivist and critical perspectives, how non-formal education experiences in the cultural sphere (i.e. in libraries, museums, cultural centers) contribute to building social cohesion while offering novel solutions for language and literacy learning. It enquires into the aesthetic and affective experiences of learning and relating, highlights the perspectives of different social actors (cultural agents, mediators, diverse participants, policy), and foregrounds the intersections of language and literacy education with culture and the arts. CERCLE builds on collaboration among diverse stakeholders (higher education, non-formal education, cultural institutions) and interdisciplinary expertise (language and literature education, music education, psychology, critical policy analysis). It will create sustainable synergies validating non-formal educational experiences offered in the cultural sphere as relevant sites for building social cohesion and for generating novel theories and practices of language and literature education. The project will unfold in five phases. Phase 1 will engage stakeholders and gather their perspectives on the studys central question, including a digital observatory of practices, an open call for participants, and an initial focus group with stakeholders. Phase 2 will consist of nine ethnographic case studies across different settings, involving interviews with mediators and participants, a participant survey, and field observations. In Phase 3, the interdisciplinary team will conduct an in-depth co-analysis of the data to identify emerging cross-site patterns. Phase 4 will include a second focus group to discuss results and co-create recommendations and practice models with and for cultural institutions. Finally, Phase 5 will culminate in a symposium bringing together representatives from cultural and academic sectors, public authorities, and European observers engaged throughout the project. CERCLE will offer four overlapping contributions: 1. Create critical understanding of how non-formal educational initiatives in the cultural sector, as sites of linguistic, literary and cultural (re)encounter and interpersonal relations, support belonging and social cohesion. 2. Build knowledge on the subjective experiences of language and literacy learning in non-formal educational settings, and on the aesthetic, relational and affective mediational processes through which meaningful learning experiences are achieved. 3. Offer a collaborative model of research across disciplines (language and literature education, music education, psychology, critical policy analysis) and with different social sectors (higher education, non-formal education, cultural institutions). 4. Identify recommendations and models of practice for validating non-formal educational experiences in the cultural sphere as loci of language and literacy learning and social cohesion.