We are living through a paradigm shift in a society that is constantly changing, where challenges and opportunities coexist. On the one hand, there is a growing awareness of our rights, which is reflected in the recognition of children’s rights. On the other hand, we face an educational and technological landscape that often doesn’t keep pace with this evolution in an effective way.
Education is one of the great pillars of our success as a society. But how can we guarantee that children are truly at the centre of this transformation process? That they participate effectively in the issues that concern them (Article 12)? How can we ensure that the rights enshrined in the Convention on the Rights of the Child are respected and applied in everyday school life? How can we empower educators to promote more inclusive, innovative and relevant learning experiences? How can we prepare children to be active citizens and succeed in a labour market for which little is expected?

It was with these questions in mind that, when Braga Media Arts set me the challenge of creating a training course for teachers, based on my experience as a researcher and activist in the relationship between children’s rights, technology and design, the ‘Post-Digital Educators: Child-Centred Literacy and Participatory Methodologies’ training course was born. The workshop took place on 8 February at the Gnration in Braga and brought together educators from different levels of education, both public and private, with the aim of exploring new approaches to more child-centred teaching.

It would be contradictory if this training was intended to be just another theoretical learning space for the traditional teaching model. The training was supposed to be an example of what was intended. From the outset, the aim was to create a space for experimentation, reflection and collective construction, where each participant would bring their experience and be able to rethink their role as a facilitator of learning and leave equipped with concrete tools to apply in their educational context.

In the course of creating the workshop, which I wanted to be eminently practical, I developed a tool: a card deck with exercises for training. The aim is to help educators apply participatory methodologies, promoting creativity, critical thinking and reflections on the integration of technology in education. The prototype in the form of exercises was tested at the workshop, and the intention is to turn it into an accessible product to support future training and to help teachers and educators develop more participatory and innovative experiences.

The structure of the workshop was designed to guide participants through five moments:

Workshop Structure

1- The Impact of Digital and Literacy as an Core Competence
2 – Child-Centred Education: Turning Challenges into Opportunities
3 – Participatory Methodologies, Creativity and Design Thinking in Education
4 – Digital Literacy: Design Thinking and Co-creation with Artificial Intelligence in Educational Processes
5 – Designing a Concrete Educational Experience for Implementation

1- The Impact of Digital and Literacy as an Core Competence

The first part of the training addressed the challenges and opportunities of contemporary education, focussing on the impact of the digital age on teaching and learning.

How is digital transforming the way children learn?
What are the main challenges and risks of the digital age in education?
How can we prepare students to be critical and active citizens in the digital environment?

The participants mapped out the challenges through a SWOT analysis, identifying the strengths and weaknesses of current teaching and the opportunities that could be exploited. Digital literacy was discussed as an essential skill, not just from a technical point of view, but above all as a tool for empowerment and for children’s active participation in their own learning process.

2 – Child-Centred Education: Turning Challenges into Opportunities

The second axis focused on the fundamental principles of a truly child-centred education and their rights as protagonists of their own educational journey. The Convention on the Rights of the Child advocates the active participation of children in all decisions that affect them, but to what extent do our educational practices reflect this vision? What strategies can we use to implement this approach in schools?

How can we ensure that children’s voices are heard in decisions that impact their learning?
What are the obstacles to children’s active participation in the educational process?
How can we transform the challenges identified into a more participatory and innovative vision of education?

Through group dynamics and collaborative exercises, participants explored ways of adapting their teaching methods to put the child at the centre of the process, promoting a more inclusive, participatory environment geared towards the development of essential skills.

3 – Participatory Methodologies, Creativity and Design Thinking in Education

This part of the training, dedicated to exploring concrete strategies to make teaching more participatory and inclusive, brought a practical approach to active and participatory methodologies, through Design Thinking, as an effective tool for educational innovation.
We analysed examples from the construction of an educational infrastructure, a learning ecosystem to the construction of the curricula themselves, with references to the Reggio building in Madrid and the Agora School.

How can we make students co-creators of their own learning?
How can we apply the principles of Design Thinking to education?
How can we involve children in solving challenges and creating their own curriculum and school ecosystem?

This module was essential for demonstrating the potential of active methodologies in building an education where children are agents of their own learning process. Participants were challenged to experiment with co-creation processes with AI technologies, developing practical solutions to real problems in their educational practice. This module demonstrated how to make teaching more engaging and meaningful, empowering educators to design learning experiences that encourage creativity, experimentation and collaborative problem-solving.

4 – Digital Literacy: Design Thinking and Co-creation with Artificial Intelligence in Educational Processes

We analyse AI tools and projects. With this approach, participants chose one of the challenges/opportunities identified in the SWOT analysis and explored how co-creation with technology and experimentation can generate innovative solutions. The moment was enriched by a practical Design Thinking exercise with Artificial Intelligence, exploring the potential of AI as a creative tool and facilitator of the educational process.

The exercise followed the following steps:

1. Educational Challenge and Persona Creation: Starting with a SWOT analysis, the participants identified a real educational challenge. Giving context to a chatbot (in this case we used ChatGPT) to develop a persona representing an educator, giving details such as age, experience, challenges faced and aspirations.
2. Interview with the Educator/Persona: They simulated an interview with the persona they created, using ChatGPT to answer questions about the educational challenge, including the causes of the problem, the feelings it provokes and the needs that emerge from this situation.
3. Problem definition: Based on the information gathered from the interview, they formulated a defined and concise problem that captured the essence of the educational challenge.
4. Solution ideation: They carried out, with the support of the AI tool, a brainstorming session to generate as many solutions as possible. They were asked to suggest 10 fun and innovative ideas that used child-centred participatory methodologies, taking into account the insights from the interview.
5. Choosing and Implementing the Solution: They chose one of the ideas generated by ChatGPT that best aligned with the needs identified and asked for a detailed plan on how to implement this solution, including steps, resources needed and possible challenges.
6. Visual Prototyping: They used DALL-E (now incorporated into ChatGPT) to create a visual prototype of the proposed solution.
7. Presentation and Feedback: They presented the visual prototype to their colleagues and gathered feedback on the proposed solution, discussing what worked well and what could be improved.

This exercise demonstrated how AI can be used as a co-creation tool, helping educators to explore innovative approaches, adapt methodologies and boost creativity in teaching. We also addressed the biases of AI technology and discussed the ethical dimension of technology. The results were surprising for the participants.

5 – Designing a Concrete Educational Experience for Implementation

In groups, they chose a specific educational context and developed a concrete proposal on how to adapt the concepts and tools learnt in that context. They considered 3 fundamental axes:

1 – Technology: Which digital tools are best suited to implementing the proposal?
2 – Creativity and Critical Thinking: How can creativity and critical thinking be promoted among students?
3 – Inclusion and Safety: How can we guarantee the inclusion and safety of students during the educational experience?

The participants took away concrete and detailed plans that they had created during the 6-hour workshop to implement in their educational contexts. It was a very empowering and transformative experience.

The energy in the room and the will to change education

What struck me most about this training was the enormous desire for transformation shown by all the participants. Teachers and educators from pre-school to high school shared their concerns, challenges and dreams and dedicated a Saturday to working towards a more inclusive and child-centred education.
The diversity of experiences made the reflections even richer. At the end of the day, it was clear that there is a growing movement of teachers and educators who want to innovate, include and rethink the way we teach and learn.