Porto (Portugal)

Main aim: To foster intercultural competences, critical thinking and active citizenship, using participatory methodologies to combat violence.

Aim

The Interculturalism Club, developed by Bruno Prudêncio, an Intercultural Mediator at Espaço T – Association for the Support of Social and Community Integration, as part of Porto City Council’s Municipal and Intercultural Mediators Team project,[1] was an initiative aimed at Year 4 pupils at Cerco Primary School. Based on a participatory, reflective and collaborative methodology, it promoted inclusion, democratic participation and active citizenship, encouraging critical thinking, reflection on diversity and the deconstruction of cultural and gender prejudices. Throughout the programme, pupils explored and celebrated cultural diversity, developed social, emotional and intercultural competences, and took part in activities that reinforced respect, mutual understanding and the values of peace.

Background/rationale

The Cerco Primary School is in a priority educational area, characterised by rates of academic underachievement and school drop-out significantly above the national average, and by a school population predominantly of Roma origin, reflecting the demographic composition of the Cerco neighbourhood itself.

The choice of the Cerco Primary School as the setting for the intervention was based on several factors:

• It is officially designated as a priority educational area;[2]
• It has a completion rate for the first grade within four years that is well below the national average (35% compared to 70%), even when compared with schools of a similar socio-economic profile;
• It has a retention or drop-out rate in the fourth year of schooling that is much higher than the national average (11 per cent compared to 2 per cent).[3]

The educational community identified difficulties in pupils’ transition from the first cycle of basic education (1st CEB – 1^st to 4^th grades) to the second cycle (2nd CEB – 5^th and 7^th grades); as such, the circumstances highlighted the urgent need for an intervention specifically targeted at Year 4 pupils.

The Interculturalism Club was therefore set up in response to the need to:

• Create a safe and inclusive space for reflection on diversity and the fight against discrimination;
• Develop skills in active citizenship and intercultural understanding;
• Promote democratic participation and the peaceful resolution of conflicts;
• Engage the school community in awareness-raising activities.

Although the Club’s main aim was not early intervention in learning, its implementation proved to be an effective tool for supporting the development of essential skills. The work carried out enabled pupils to acquire the tools to exercise more active citizenship, develop critical thinking and strengthen intercultural competences, contributing to a more inclusive and participatory school environment.

Process

The Interculturalism Club was run as part of the ‘Team of Municipal Intercultural Mediators’ project by a mediator from Espaço T, and was organised into six stages, each with its own aims and activities. Based on a Participatory Action Research (PAR) methodology[4] and the CIPP Model (Context, Input, Process, Product)[5] , which integrated theoretical knowledge with its practical application, the educational programme was structured into six sequential stages.

The programme began by introducing young people to the concepts of inclusion, diversity and violence through a series of reflective and participatory activities. Using R. Roosevelt Thomas's fable The Giraffe and the Elephant, participants explored how environments designed for one group can unconsciously exclude others, leading them to reflect on what they would change in the world around them and what they would teach adults. This established a key learning point: that true inclusion requires structural change, not merely individual adjustment. Participants then took part in role-play exercises to identify and respond to different forms of violence — physical, verbal, psychological, social and symbolic — reinforcing values of empathy, respect and social responsibility. A democratic vote was subsequently held to choose the theme the club would focus on, giving young people direct experience of active political citizenship and collective decision-making, with all forms of violence emerging as the winning topic.

Building on this foundation, participants moved into a creative and action-oriented phase, exploring strategies such as art, petitions, peaceful demonstrations and video-making before voting on the format they wished to adopt. Brainstorming sessions led to the creation of posters and banners with powerful messages, while a stop-motion short film project guided participants through the process of developing a script, characters, settings and what they called real superpowers. Practical planning sessions helped structure their work, addressing questions such as what they would do, how, where, and when. The programme culminated in a school demonstration using the posters they had created, alongside a dialogue with the Porto Municipal Police on violence and online safety. This final stage gave young people hands-on experience of the challenges and rewards of collective action, reinforcing active citizenship, intercultural understanding and trust in institutions.

Impact

The project had a significant impact on the pupils and the school community. Participants gained a more solid and critical understanding of the different types of violence, strengthening their sense of agency and social responsibility.

The project demonstrated significant results in terms of skills acquisition, school engagement and the educational participation of the pupils involved. In the area of learning, there was a consolidation of critical understanding of the different types of violence, reflected in a greater capacity for analysis, questioning and individual and collective accountability. Qualitative indicators, such as increased self-confidence, improved ability to express oneself and enhanced collaborative work, were evident through active participation in practical activities, notably the school demonstration and the production of a stop-motion short film, which served as tools for developing cross-curricular skills.

At the community level, awareness-raising initiatives helped to strengthen links between the school, families and the authorities, contributing to the creation of a more inclusive and participatory school environment. A notable example was participation in International Roma Day, during which pupils organised activities and presented work of an ethnic and cultural nature. The public display of the work over the course of a week fostered recognition and appreciation of cultural diversity within the school community, highlighting the project’s impact beyond the class group.

In quantitative terms, the attendance figures reveal a high level of student engagement. The Interculturalism Club sessions recorded an average attendance rate of 81 per cent, reaching 94 per cent at times. These figures demonstrate consistency and regularity in attendance, which are fundamental to the project’s sustainability. There was also an improvement in the class’s overall attendance compared with the previous academic year (2023/2024 – 2024/2025), suggesting a positive correlation between the implementation of the project and increased commitment to schoolwork.

Regarding academic progress, according to the school’s official data, 100 per cent of pupils progressed to the next year group, reinforcing the idea that the project contributed not only to personal and social development, but also to improved educational outcomes. This indicator, together with the high levels of participation and engagement, provides clear evidence of the project’s impact on promoting inclusion, active citizenship and school cohesion.

In this way, the Interculturalism Club project contributed to the following aims:

• To empower pupils to be agents of positive change in the school and the community.
• To promote empathy, respect and the peaceful resolution of conflicts.
• To develop civic and intercultural competências in line with the principles of global citizenship.
• To produce awareness-raising materials with a strong visual and social impact (posters, videos, events).
• To involve the school community and external partners in joint initiatives.

Key reference documents

Espaço T – Association for the Support of Social and Community Integration. (n.d.). What we do. Retrieved from https://espacot.pt/oque-fazemos

Directorate-General for Education. (n.d.). Educational Territories for Priority Intervention Programme (TEIP). Retrieved from https://www.dge.mec.pt/teip

Santos, A. R., & Bertão, A. (2020). The impact of the Participatory Action Research Methodology on the support provided to families receiving Social Income and Integration benefits. Sensos-e, 7(2), 5–13. https://doi.org/10.34630/sensose.v7i2.3620

Stufflebeam, D. L. (2000). The CIPP model for evaluation. In D. L. Stufflebeam, G. F. Madaus, & T. Kellaghan (Eds.), Evaluation models: Viewpoints on educational and human services evaluation (pp. 279–317). Dordrecht: Springer Netherlands.

 Thomas, R. R. (1999). Building a house for diversity. New York, NY: American Management Association.