“It has helped me discover parts of myself that I was trying to hide, even to myself”
“I’ve learnt to get more involved and reflect, and that if make an effort, I can achieve anything”
These are just a few of the positive testimonies from the young people who experimented the Authentic Inquiry methodology of the RENYO project.
This last year, with RENYO – Re-engaging young offenders with education and learning, 36 young people from 7 community for minors in Sicily were involved in the implementation of this innovative methodology developed by the University of Gloucestershire, UK.
Authentic Inquiry aims to promote and facilitate the participation of young offenders or young people at risk in education and learning. Based on the conviction that motivation in learning comes from the valorization of personal interests, this methodology starts from the identification of a topic or object and, through their own narratives and stories and navigation, he/she arrives at the production of an ‘artefact’ such as a piece of art, poster or other product that has some external educational public value.
With the support of their previously trained educators, the young people have created pieces of poetry, videos, drawings and much more; but above all, they have learnt to dig into their own interests and emotions, and hence, re-discover the beauty and motivation in learning while strengthening their self-esteem and their potential.
The interviews collected from the experience of young people and educators will allow to measure the impact of the Authentic Inquiry and to collect testimonies useful for the production of the RENYO Research Report. This document, available next autumn, will analize the potential of the Authentic Inquiry to support the re-engagement of young offenders and young people at risk in education and learning through the analysis of significant case studies from Sicily and all the other European partners of the project.
We thank all the communities for minors and institutions in Sicily and Italy who chose to take part in the project:
- Comunità Mediterraneo, Palermo
- Casa dei Mirti, Palermo
- Cooperativa Talenti, Santa Ninfa
- Comunità Paideia, Partinico
- Cooperativa il Sorriso, Mazara del Vallo
- Associazione il Favo, Caltagirone
- Comunità Emmanuel, San Giovanni la Punta
- Cooperativa Aquilone, Castelbuono
- Educators from the Municipality of Cefalù
- Other participation educators.
We leave you with this beautiful final artefact, written by a young person who participated in the project, and kindly decided to share her lovely poem with us:
I’ll be like a swallow lost in the sky
I look at you from the sky and continue my journey
I’ll be a little angel that will forever observe you
And I’ll make sure every one of your desires becomes true
I’ll be a sparkling and special light
To light the most correct way you have to take
In winter, I’ll be your warm sweater
To warm you who are best
I’ll become unique; I’ll make you happy
Because I’ll be sweet and delicate like the wind
Nothing else I ask but your smile
Because with it I need the paradise no more.
About the project
RENYO – Re-engaging young offenders with education and learning is cofinanced by Erasmus+, KA2, Strategic Partnerships for vocational education and training.
Partners
- University of Gloucestershire (United Kingdom, coordinator)
- Private Fachhochschule Dresden gGmbH (Germany)
- Fundacion Diagrama Intervencion Psicosocial (Spain)
- JEARNI (United Kingdom)
- CESIE (Italy)
For further information
Read more about RENYO, see the project website and follow us on Facebook.
Contact Cloé Saint-Nom: cloe.saintnom@cesie.org.
