Policy Brief: Dialogue, Argumentation, and Creative Practices as Tools in Cultural Literacy Learning in Europe

Abstract

One of the greatest challenges in today’s European societies is the polarization of societal groups and opinions. Attempts to tackle this challenge need to start from children and young people. Cultural literacy learning is a key to advance tolerant, empathetic, and inclusive attitudes towards diversity and differences. It is important that the EU strengthens its current education initiatives and policies and creates new ones emphasizing cultural literacy learning based on dialogue and argumentation as core skills for participating in a pluralistic society. These initiatives and policies should recognize creative practices as an effective arena for teaching empathy. The EU’s education policies and initiatives could better acknowledge young children and early education.