Across European societies there is identified a need for strengthening social cohesion through enhanced knowledge on cultural literacy practices in diverse educational contexts. In a social justice perspective, methodological (meta)reflexivity has been a long-lasting focus for critical literacy studies (cf. Anderson & Irvine, 1993). Methodological (meta)reflexivity is particularly important in research projects on cultural literacy in order to ensure that projects contribute to the promotion of social justice rather than reenforcing current educational and social inequalities. Thus, critical methodological (meta)reflexivity is an imperative in research on cultural literacy given the interconnections between culture and power (McLaren, 2017) and the ways in which societal notions of ‘culture’ can be saturated in nationalistic, hegemonistic, discriminatory discourses. In this context, there is a need for involving children and other research participants directly in the research process, using participatory methods as these are considered ideal for engaging participants in the research projects and reducing power asymmetries (Brown et al., 2020).  Designing and implementing research projects on cultural literacy involves, in return, intense scrutinization of key theoretical notions to ensure that potential blind spots and unforeseen downsides are discovered.

This symposium brings together methodological and theoretical reflections from the initial phases of the three Horizon Europe projects d@rts (dialoguing@rts – Advancing Cultural Literacy for Social Inclusion through Dialogical Arts Education; 2024-2027), CLiViE (Cultural Literacies’ Value in Europe; 2024-2427), and EXPECT_Art (EXPloring and Educating Cultural literacy Through Art; 2024-2026), which together comprises the cluster of projects on Cultural Literacy under HORIZON Pilar II.

Each paper discusses the main potentials and perspectives of the project’s participatory research designs regarding promoting social justice through research in different European educational contexts such as Denmark, Finland, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Norway, Poland, Serbia, Slovenia, and Spain.

In particular, the symposium offers a reflections and discussion of potentials and perspectives of how to draw on the theoretical perspectives of  Theory of Change, empowerment and decolonial theory when developing and carrying out social justice-oriented research on cultural literacy.

Anderson, G. L. and Irvine, P. (1993). Informing critical literacy with ethnography. In Lankshear, C. and McLaren, P. L. (ed.): Critical Literacy: Politics, Praxis, and the Postmodern (p. 81-104). State University of New York Press. McLaren, P. (2017). Introduction Critical Pedagogy: A Look at the Major Concepts”. In Darder, A., Baltodano, M. P., & Torres, R. D. (eds.): The Critical Pedagogy Reader, Routledge. Brown, A., Spencer, R., McIsaac, J.-L., & Howard, V. (2020). Drawing Out Their Stories: A Scoping Review of Participatory Visual Research Methods With Newcomer Children. International Journal of Qualitative Methods, 19, 160940692093339-undefined. https://doi.org/10.1177/1609406920933394