Attend astronomy classes at night in the school garden or set up a vegetable garden hour to grow vegetables together with new friends; organise “high-altitude colleges” where discussions between school leaders take place on mountain paths. In some Italian institutions, these micro-practices of change, which come from the imagination of students, teachers and managers, have shattered the “this is how it has always been done” mentality and improved the life of the entire school community. To give a voice to all those who have ideas for new approaches to schooling , the “Cinque minuti per cambiare la scuola” (Five minutes to change the school) project was set up, involving the launch of a crowdfunding campaign as part of the 6th edition of BiUniCrowd, the University of Milano-Bicocca initiative that allows the university community to gain support and visibility from the outside world.
“Our proposal stems from years of research in schools of all levels, during which we have observed practices of organisational creativity centred on the well-being of pupils, who differ in terms of their background, origin, abilities, passions and learning styles,” explains Anna Granata, Professor of Pedagogy at the University of Milano-Bicocca and head of the research group. “Now we want to give a voice to the hidden protagonists of the school world by having them recount in a few minutes ideas, even very minor ideas, that have been put into practice thanks to the possibilities offered by school autonomy.” The belief is that the effects of these amazing practices of change are inspiring and can be replicated in different contexts.
To develop the project, a campaign was launched to raise 10,000 euro on Ideaginger.it, the crowdfunding platform with the highest success rate in Italy: the funds raised will be used to make videos with a duration of a few minutes, in which each actor will present their proposal for change, and to organise a TEDx-style event to present the ideas of organisational creativity and spread them throughout Italy. The project was selected by Fondazione EOS – Edison Orizzonte Sociale ETS , which will co-finance the crowdfunding campaign with an additional 5,000 euro once the 50% target has been reached. “We decided to join the ‘Cinque Minuti’ initiative because we believe in the importance and urgency of starting a debate about the world of schools, which play an increasingly decisive role in developing the skills and potential of tomorrow’s citizens. The Fondazione EOS – Edison Orizzonte Sociale ETS was set up with the aim of helping to improve the lives of boys and girls aged between 11 and 17 in vulnerable situations, and is committed to implementing projects like this, in which the younger generations can express themselves and be listened to in order to open a dialogue together on how to first imagine and then build the society of the future,” explains Francesca Magliulo, the Foundation’s director.
To support the “Cinque minuti per cambiare la scuola” campaign, simply log on to their page and make a donation, choosing your preferred payment method. Rewards for supporters include the opportunity to receive a book about school, a cartoon to reflect over with a smile, online training on the initiative’s themes or spending a whole day in an innovative school.